唐纳德·特朗普对埃隆·马斯克旗下公司的个人投资，掩盖了他与这位最喜欢的亿万富翁之间所有令人尴尬的关联。
Donald Trump’s personal investments in Elon Musk’s companies loom over all of his cringeworthy associations with his favorite billionaire.
特朗普的最新财务披露凸显了为什么总统与马斯克及其航空航天公司SpaceX的所有互动，看起来更像是自我致富的手段 — — 而不仅仅是总统在帮助一个政治盟友致富。
Trump’s new financial disclosure underscores why all of the president’s interactions with Musk and his aerospace company, SpaceX, seem like self-enrichment ploys — rather than just the president enriching a political ally. Why?
原因在于：总统的个人财富部分与马斯克的商业成功挂钩。鉴于此，特朗普最近试图将这位科技大亨 — — 一个经常从事偏执行为的人 — — 描绘成工业天才的努力，就显得更有说服力了。
Because the president’s personal fortune is partially tied to Musk’s business success. And given this, Trump’s recent efforts to portray the tech mogul — someone who routinely engages in bigotry — as though he is an industrial genius make more sense.
随着选民对政府腐败和政治中的金钱日益不满，特朗普在其第二个任期内进行的股票交易次数，超过了国会全体成员的总和 — — 包括对他议程获利的企业的巨额投资，如私营监狱公司、石油公司和人工智能公司。
As voters increasingly sour on government corruption and money in politics, Trump has made more stock trades during his second term than every member of Congress combined — including massive investments in businesses that have profited off his agenda, such as private prison companies, oil companies and artificial intelligence companies.
他的交易还包括对马斯克旗下SpaceX至少100万美元的投资 — — 最高可达500万美元。正如CNN报道的那样：就在特朗普总统上个月发起削减商业空间交通繁文缛节的行动前两天，他购买了最高达500万美元的SpaceX发行的债券 — — SpaceX是由埃隆·马斯克运营的主要联邦承包商，根据周四公布的伦理申报文件所示。
His dealings include an investment of at least $1 million in Musk’s SpaceX, too — and as much as $5 million. As CNN reported: Just two days before launching an effort to slash red tape for commercial space transportation, President Donald Trump last month purchased up to $5 million of bonds issued by SpaceX, a major federal contractor run by Elon Musk, according to ethics filings made public on Thursday.
这笔SpaceX债券买入是特朗普8月份进行的517笔交易之一，这些交易凸显了一直笼罩在他总统任期上的利益冲突担忧。
The SpaceX bond buy was among 517 trades Trump made in August, transactions that spotlight conflict of interest concerns that have hovered over his presidency.
CNN还补充说，特朗普“根据申报文件，购买了最高达2500万美元的Meta股票，最高达600万美元的微软股票，以及少量的甲骨文股票。”他之前的财务披露表也显示，他在7月份曾买卖过SpaceX股票。
CNN added that Trump “purchased up to $25 million of Meta shares, up to $6 million of Microsoft stock and a smaller amount of Oracle shares, filings show.”His previous financial disclosure forms showed he bought and sold shares of SpaceX stock in July as well.
Meta、Oracle和微软在开发AI工具的竞赛中投入巨资，随着对数据中心的反对声浪上升，他们面临着两党的反对。特朗普虽然持有这些公司的股票，但一直试图阻止对数据中心的监管，并建议允许AI公司进行“自我监管”。考虑到特朗普政府试图将SpaceX纳入他及其家人从中获利的战争经济的方式，特朗普对SpaceX的投资尤其值得怀疑。
Meta, Oracle and Microsoft are heavily invested in the race to develop AI tools and have faced bipartisan backlash as opposition to data centers has mounted. Trump, while holding stock in these companies, has sought to block regulation of data centers and suggested that AI companies should be allowed to engage in “self-policing.”Trump’s SpaceX investments are particularly suspect when you consider the ways his administration has sought to incorporate the company into the war economy he and his family are profiting from.
五角大楼最近将马斯克列为新成立董事会的三名主席之一，国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯表示该董事会将制定计划，使美国军队“实现绝对的技术优势”，看来可以合理地假设SpaceX将以某种方式受益。
The Pentagon recently named Musk as one of three chairs on a newly created board that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says will devise plans for the U.S. military to “achieve absolute technological dominance,” and it seems fair to assume SpaceX will benefit in some way.
白宫告诉CNN，特朗普的股票和债券投资组合由第三方金融机构独立管理，总统及其家人无法参与交易。“利益冲突不存在，”白宫发言人戴维斯·英格尔说。
The White House told CNN that Trump’s stock and bond portfolio is managed independently by third-party financial institutions and that the president and his family have no ability to be involved with transactions. “There are no conflicts of interest,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said.
在我看来，这种理由听起来就像特朗普所说的“最愚蠢”的事情之一，他期望他的追随者接受。
From where I stand, that rationale just sounds like one of the “stupidest” things Trump said he utters and expects his followers to eat up.
特朗普对SpaceX的投资显然是他公然自我致富的完美例子——也是一种政治负担。如果民主党人不在中期选举前的几周内突出展示这些涉及极不受欢迎的总统和马斯克（他本人也相当不受欢迎）的交易，那就是在犯政治失误。
Trump’s investments in SpaceX are seemingly a perfect example of his brazen self-enrichment — and also a political liability. Democrats will have committed political malpractice if they don’t spotlight these trades involving the massively unpopular president and Musk -— who’s quite unpopular himself —- in the weeks remaining before the midterms.