Regardless of where you land on the political spectrum, you can't contest that President-Elect Donald Trump will be a busy man in his return to the Oval Office.
And few know more about what people should expect from a second Trump term than Sam Nunberg.
The public affairs consultant and former Trump adviser spoke with Covers shortly after Trump's historic Election Night win, which will return him to office as the 47th President of the United States. Nunberg shared his thoughts on what Americans should anticipate this time around, largely from a business perspective.
The first priority, according to Nunberg? More stability from the start.
"Personnel is policy. This is going to be a much more well-organized, well-planned incoming administration," said Nunberg, who served as Trump's political adviser for his 2016 presidential campaign. "They're privately funding the transition. The government has nothing to do with it.
"The reason that's good is because ... he's not going to have your typical type of apparatchiks from both sides of the aisle involved in it. It's all private people, it's private businessmen, it's outside thinkers along with conventional people that you need."
Nunberg, who describes Trump as "very anti-regulation," says that what people see on television or in public view is nothing like the person working behind the desk.
"Whatever your conception of him in the public, that is him in the public," Nunberg told Covers. "He may be playing some kind of role. Most of the time, he knows what he's doing.
"When he's in the background, and he's talking about business, he's talking about tariffs, he's talking about regulation, he's talking about trade policy, he's talking about foreign affairs, he is a totally different person. He is extremely sophisticated. And just because he won't speak in eight-letter words and fancy Harvard-speak ... he understands everything and has a keen insight in it. And anyone who underestimates him in terms of negotiations and business intellect would be making a big mistake."
Sports betting not in danger
Those in the gaming space worried about what a return to Trump rule will mean for the future of the industry can relax. Trump might not be an outspoken supporter of online sports betting and iGaming, but he doesn't oppose it, either.
"Sports gambling is here to stay," Nunberg said, while pointing to Trump's recent appearance on the "Let's Go!" podcast hosted by Jim Gray and Bill Belichick.
"Jim Gray's first question was (about) sports gambling, and Trump's view of it was, 'There's always going to be sports gambling, and there's always going to be corruption. It is what it is. It's very difficult to monitor.' So I just don't see sports gambling going anywhere. I don't think he's in the business of regulating gambling from his past business experience."
That said, the connection between Trump and billionaire philanthropist Miriam Adelson, who recently purchased the NBA's Dallas Mavericks and is in support of bringing legal gambling to Texas, is an intriguing one. Adelson donated $100 million to Trump's campaign, and some are wondering if it might be a precursor to Adelson seeking Trump's help in facilitating a move to legal sports betting and gaming in the Lone Star State.
It was Miriam's late husband, Sheldon, who railed against the potential of online sports betting in the mid-2010s – a battle he ultimately lost when the Supreme Court repealed the Professional and Amateur Sport Protection Act in 2018.
Nunberg wouldn't say if Miriam Adelson's potential connection with Trump would lead to legislative success, but suggested that it might only be a matter of time anyhow before Texas joins the majority of the country in the gambling space.
"She may ask Trump ... she may say, hey, can you talk to the Texas governor for me because she's trying to build a casino in Dallas," Nunberg said. "She may ask for a favor, and I'm not saying she would or she wouldn't. I have no knowledge.
"But the cat's out of the bag on sports gambling. There'll never be a federal ban and the states are getting too much revenue in it."
Digital currency on the rise?
One area where you might see a significant change on the North American gaming front is how operators incorporate Bitcoin transactions. Wyoming is the only state that allows crypto, digital, or virtual currency as payment methods for online gaming, while Colorado and Virginia have rules in place that leave the introduction of alternate payment methods in the hands of their respective gaming regulatory bodies.
Nunberg notes that Trump's interest in Bitcoin has grown significantly since he was last in the White House, and won't be surprised to see digital currency become more prominent.
"His policy will be different this time," Nunberg said. "He spoke at the Bitcoin conference. The Bitcoin bros came out to support him. They despise the Biden administration. They despise the SEC commissioner (Gary Gensler).
"Do I think it will be completely deregulated? No, I don't. What I think is that there's going to have to be, not a medium, but let's call it some kind of system where ... the U.S. government cannot be left behind on this. So this is something where he's going to want the U.S. to have some kind of stake in digital currency, which inherently would mean that it's more regulated."
Nunberg went on to add that "he's actually invested in it now."
Bitcoin's value rose nearly 10% the Wednesday after Trump's presumptive election victory, and sat at an all-time high of $110,376.65 as of Sunday.
Wary of 'deranged' Democrats
Last week's triumph for the much-maligned cryptocurrency industry is a fitting comparable to the Trump Republicans, who saw a surprising groundswell of Election Day support that not only earned them a return to the White House, but helped secure their first popular vote win since George W. Bush in 2004.
Trump found himself as a favorite for most of the race, but rose into positive odds in the early days of Kamala Harris assuming the Democratic candidacy in place of the withdrawing Joe Biden. And as any avid sports bettor would do, Nunberg likened Tuesday's result to a successful underdog wager.
"Something just happened (as with) a team in sports betting," Nunberg said. "They're an underdog but you just know they're always gonna win and they just keep winning regardless of whether they're supposed to or not, they just get on a streak right in the playoffs. That's what happened here."
As for whether he thinks the Democrats will pursue impeachment proceedings against Trump for a third time should they gain control of the House – a scenario looking less likely by the day – Nunberg isn't putting it past them.
"They really are deranged, and they really view him as some sort of existential threat," Nunberg said. "The short answer is, a lot of them will want to. For no reason. (But) I just don't see it actually happening, despite that you'll hear a lot of chatter on the left.
"They were just looking for an excuse last time."
