参议院民主党人正准备对唐纳德·特朗普为其迷因币持有者举办的“专属”晚宴展开调查。该晚宴定于中期选举后几周在总统位于华盛顿特区附近的高尔夫俱乐部举行，这只是特朗普家族通过加密货币行业为自身谋取暴利的大量努力的最新表现。
Senate Democrats are gearing up for an investigation into Donald Trump’s “exclusive” dinner for holders of his meme coin. The dinner, which is scheduled to take place a few weeks after the midterm elections at the president’s DC-area golf club, is just the latest manifestation of the Trumps’ extensive efforts to enrich themselves through the crypto industry.
由参议员亚当·希夫（民主党-加利福尼亚州）牵头的一组八名议员周四致信白宫，要求提供关于该活动的更多信息。该活动由$TRUMP加密货币背后的公司宣传为“世界上最独家的晚宴”。该币种的网站专门将这场“盛大晚宴”推介为与特朗普以及三四位未具名的“传奇人物”——或如网站所称的“世界权力核心人物”——共度夜晚的机会。
A group of eight lawmakers, led by Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), sent a letter to the White House on Thursday demanding more information on the event, which has been advertised by the company behind the $TRUMP crypto coin as “the most exclusive dinner in the world.”The coin’s site specifically pitches this “gala dinner” as an opportunity to spend an evening with Trump and three or four unnamed “legends,”—or, as the website calls them, “The world’s power players.”According to the $TRUMP coin website, the top 185 holders of the $TRUMP coin will be invited to attend the dinner, and the top 29 holders will get access to a special VIP reception.
根据$TRUMP币网站的说法，排名前185位的$TRUMP币持有者将受邀出席晚宴，排名前29位的持有者将获得参加特别VIP招待会的资格。网站的小字条款注明“总统将不举行私人会面。不接受礼物。”尽管如此，这项提议显而易见：如果你在总统从中获利的加密产品上投入足够多的资金，就能获得与他共度时光的机会。
The small print on the website states that there “there will be no private meetings with The President. No gifts will be accepted.”Still, the offer is clear: If you invest enough money in a crypto product that the president profits from, and will get to spend time with him. A recent CBS News investigation found that half of the top 100 holders of the coin trade the crypto product on exchanges that specifically bar US citizens from using them.
CBS新闻近期的一项调查发现，该代币前100大持有者中有一半在专门禁止美国公民使用的交易所交易这种加密产品。参议院民主党人的信函指出，这可能会“引发关于总统出席活动时高度外国参与所带来的潜在利益冲突的担忧”。信函提出了八项信息要求——包括白宫将如何审查与会者并确保不存在利益冲突。但最具体的问题可能是最后一项：议员们要求白宫承诺，在晚宴举行后10天内发布一份完整的“所有与会者未经删减的名单”，包括他们的企业和外国隶属关系。白宫未回应置评请求。
That could create, the Senate Democratic letter says, “concerns about the potential conflicts of interest associated with a high degree of foreign participation at an event with the President.”The letter makes eight demands for information—including how the White House will be vetting attendees and ensuring there are no conflicts of interest. But the most concrete question may be the final one: The lawmakers are asking for a promise from the White House to release a full “unredacted log of all event attendees,” including their corporate and foreign affiliations, within 10 days of the gala. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. The meme coin contest appears to be an effort to goose $TRUMP’s price, which has slumped rather dramatically from $74 after its launch in January 2025 to around $1.75 on Thursday.
这场模因币竞赛似乎旨在拉高$TRUMP的价格，该币价自2025年1月推出时的74美元已大幅下跌至周四的1.75美元左右。如果这是计划，似乎效果不佳。几周前我撰写这场晚宴时，该币价格更高——约为2美元——高于现在的水平。
If that the plan, it doesn’t seem to be working well. When I wrote about this dinner a few weeks ago, the coin’s price was higher—around $2—than it is now. Other than as a metric for such contests—or as a signifier of the holder’s devotion about Trump—the coin doesn’t have any inherent value; it’s a digital asset with no meaningful function.
除作为此类竞赛的衡量指标——或作为持有者对特朗普忠诚度的象征——外，该代币没有任何内在价值；它是一种没有实质功能的数字资产。尽管如此，该代币在特朗普第二次就职典礼前不久创建后被广泛购买。正如暴跌的价格所表明的，这对许多买入者来说是一笔糟糕的交易。据6月份的一项分析，随着币值下跌，超过100万投资者合计损失约38亿美元。
Despite this, the coin was widely purchased after its creation shortly before Trump’s second inauguration. As the plunging price would suggest, it has been a terrible deal for many of those who bought in. According to an analysis from June, more than 1 million investors lost around $3.8 billion, combined, as the coin’s value dropped. Meanwhile, Trump’s latest personal financial disclosure shows that he appears to have earned about $635 million from the arrangement.
与此同时，特朗普最新的个人财务披露显示，他似乎从该安排中获得了约6.35亿美元收益。正如我在活动宣布时所写，这不是新把戏：此前已举办过两场涉及总统的专属活动，一场在马阿拉歌庄园，另一场在同一家弗吉尼亚州高尔夫俱乐部。该纪念币的支持者——他们与特朗普签有许可协议——还设立了竞赛，奖品是世界杯和超级碗豪华贵宾套房的入场资格。
As I wrote when the event was announced, this isn’t a new trick: There have been two previous exclusive events involving the president, one at Mar-a-Lago and another at the same Virginia golf club. The coin’s backers—who have a licensing deal with Trump—have also set up contests with access to swanky hospitality suites at the World Cup and Super Bowl.
目前正在进行的另一场竞赛，奖品则是新加坡F1大奖赛的门票……特朗普推出似乎利用其总统身份的商业机会并非新鲜事，民主党要求提供更多信息和问责也并非新鲜事。但值得注意的是，这封信以要求白宫保存所有相关记录作为结尾。虽然这在国会信函中属于相对标准的措辞，但随着民主党似乎有望在下个月控制国会一院或两院——并随之获得传票权力——这对白宫而言可能显得格外不祥。
Another contest currently running offers the winner tickets to the F1 grand prix in Singapore…Trump launching business opportunities that seem to take advantage of his role as president is also nothing new, nor are Democrat demands for more information and accountability. But notably, the letter ends with a request that the White House preserve all of its records on the subject. While that is relatively boilerplate language for a congressional letter, it may seem particularly ominous for the White House as Democrats appear poised to take control of one or more houses of Congress—and the subpoena power that entails—next month.
晚宴定于11月22日举行，届时仍将是共和党控制的“跛脚鸭”国会。但如果民主党在选举日获胜，该调查切实推进的前景在明年将变得严重得多。
The gala, scheduled for Nov. 22, would be held during a GOP-controlled lame duck Congress. But if Democrats prevail on Election Day, the prospect of the investigation having legs will become significantly more serious in the new year.