现任美国总统唐纳德•特朗普打算在他位于首都华盛顿的酒店里举行一场“大选之夜”庆功派对。
在过去几天的竞选活动中,特朗普以总统名义向人们发送了筹款电邮,并承诺称,那些提供资助的人将有机会“在我最喜欢的酒店举行的大选之夜庆功派对中加入特朗普队”——该酒店位于美国首都华盛顿。也就是说,特朗普将在自己公司旗下的奢华酒店中迎接大选结果。竞选活动中还特别强调了特朗普儿子小唐纳德•特朗普为这一派对筹集资金的计划。
“11月3日将被载入史册,这一夜将见证着我们赢来了下一个四年。这绝对是史诗般的夜晚,如果说还有什么能锦上添花,那就是你们可以到场。”特朗普在筹款活动中说。
对特朗普而言,在自己的酒店举行大选之夜派对是具有象征意义的——作为一名商人,他利用自己“真人秀明星”和纽约房地产大亨身份的名人效应,赢得了美国总统这一最高职位。
批评人士则指出,这再次提醒人们,特朗普是如何一边利用自己的总统办公室谋利,一边又将华盛顿特朗普国际饭店的大厅打造成一个非正式的大本营,让那些支持特朗普连任的外国领导人、保守派支持者和政府官员能够在此聚会。
自2017年以来,总统和共和党全国委员会已经在特朗普这家位于华盛顿的酒店里举行了几场筹款活动。该酒店坐落在历史悠久的旧邮局大楼里,由特朗普的公司从联邦政府处租得。
在总统任期内,特朗普的竞选活动、共和党全国委员会及其联合筹款委员会在特朗普名下的资产上投入了740万美元。
特朗普这家位于华盛顿的酒店距离白宫仅几步之遥,早在数周前,11月3日大选日及其前后几天的预定就已经爆满。标间房价涨到1200美元/晚,几乎是10月26日476美元/晚的三倍。
“在整个任期内,特朗普已经将他从纳税人、竞选活动、特殊利益集团和外国政府中获得的资金都流向了自己名下的产业。”华盛顿非营利性政府监督组织“公民与道德规范”的副主席唐纳德•谢尔曼说。“在某种程度上,大选之夜将达到他这种‘自循环交易’的顶峰。”
白宫将有关总统大选之夜计划的问题转交给了特朗普竞选团队,该团队未予以置评。
目前尚不清楚特朗普“大选之夜”派对的规模会有多大。根据哥伦比亚特区相关疫情防控条约,当地集会的上限人数最高只能有50人,但显然特朗普早已屡次破例。在美国独立纪念日及共和党代表大会当天,他都邀请了上百人于白宫前观礼,上个月艾米•康妮•巴雷特的新任大法官提名典礼亦是如此。
以上活动中都鲜少有人带口罩。同时,也就是在提名典礼后的几天内,特朗普及若干与会者就被检测出了新冠病毒。
哥伦比亚特区的市长穆里尔•鲍泽于10月26日告诉记者称,她已经获悉特朗普的“大选之夜”派对计划,并补充说:“将尽快与酒店取得联系。”
巴雷特的白宫就职典礼已于10月26日晚举行。对此,鲍泽强烈质疑了特朗普这种在新冠肺炎疫情高峰期还坚持进行大型集会的行为。“如果你去白宫,你可能安然无恙,也可能被感染新冠肺炎。”鲍泽说:“你还有可能承受死亡风险。”
2016年,特朗普在老家纽约举办了上一次的“大选之夜”派对,但他当时预定的是曼哈顿中城的希尔顿酒店,并未设在自家酒店,因为附近的特朗普国际酒店没有足够大的房间。
目前也不清楚特朗普本人会在派对现场停留多久。由于相当一部分选民选择邮寄选票,这也可能会拖慢票数的最终统计过程。
谢尔曼指出,无论特朗普是否能够成功连任,他的余生都会像前几任总统一样受到美国特勤局的保护。特朗普每到一处自己的房产,纳税人都将承担一定的代理费以保护特朗普这位美国历史上第45任总统的权益。
“我相信特朗普总会找到办法帮自己的酒店注资,不管下周的选举结果如何。”谢尔曼说道。(财富中文网)
编译:陈聪聪,陈怡轩
现任美国总统唐纳德•特朗普打算在他位于首都华盛顿的酒店里举行一场“大选之夜”庆功派对。
在过去几天的竞选活动中,特朗普以总统名义向人们发送了筹款电邮,并承诺称,那些提供资助的人将有机会“在我最喜欢的酒店举行的大选之夜庆功派对中加入特朗普队”——该酒店位于美国首都华盛顿。也就是说,特朗普将在自己公司旗下的奢华酒店中迎接大选结果。竞选活动中还特别强调了特朗普儿子小唐纳德•特朗普为这一派对筹集资金的计划。
“11月3日将被载入史册,这一夜将见证着我们赢来了下一个四年。这绝对是史诗般的夜晚,如果说还有什么能锦上添花,那就是你们可以到场。”特朗普在筹款活动中说。
对特朗普而言,在自己的酒店举行大选之夜派对是具有象征意义的——作为一名商人,他利用自己“真人秀明星”和纽约房地产大亨身份的名人效应,赢得了美国总统这一最高职位。
批评人士则指出,这再次提醒人们,特朗普是如何一边利用自己的总统办公室谋利,一边又将华盛顿特朗普国际饭店的大厅打造成一个非正式的大本营,让那些支持特朗普连任的外国领导人、保守派支持者和政府官员能够在此聚会。
自2017年以来,总统和共和党全国委员会已经在特朗普这家位于华盛顿的酒店里举行了几场筹款活动。该酒店坐落在历史悠久的旧邮局大楼里,由特朗普的公司从联邦政府处租得。
在总统任期内,特朗普的竞选活动、共和党全国委员会及其联合筹款委员会在特朗普名下的资产上投入了740万美元。
特朗普这家位于华盛顿的酒店距离白宫仅几步之遥,早在数周前,11月3日大选日及其前后几天的预定就已经爆满。标间房价涨到1200美元/晚,几乎是10月26日476美元/晚的三倍。
“在整个任期内,特朗普已经将他从纳税人、竞选活动、特殊利益集团和外国政府中获得的资金都流向了自己名下的产业。”华盛顿非营利性政府监督组织“公民与道德规范”的副主席唐纳德•谢尔曼说。“在某种程度上,大选之夜将达到他这种‘自循环交易’的顶峰。”
白宫将有关总统大选之夜计划的问题转交给了特朗普竞选团队,该团队未予以置评。
目前尚不清楚特朗普“大选之夜”派对的规模会有多大。根据哥伦比亚特区相关疫情防控条约,当地集会的上限人数最高只能有50人,但显然特朗普早已屡次破例。在美国独立纪念日及共和党代表大会当天,他都邀请了上百人于白宫前观礼,上个月艾米•康妮•巴雷特的新任大法官提名典礼亦是如此。
以上活动中都鲜少有人带口罩。同时,也就是在提名典礼后的几天内,特朗普及若干与会者就被检测出了新冠病毒。
哥伦比亚特区的市长穆里尔•鲍泽于10月26日告诉记者称,她已经获悉特朗普的“大选之夜”派对计划,并补充说:“将尽快与酒店取得联系。”
巴雷特的白宫就职典礼已于10月26日晚举行。对此,鲍泽强烈质疑了特朗普这种在新冠肺炎疫情高峰期还坚持进行大型集会的行为。“如果你去白宫,你可能安然无恙,也可能被感染新冠肺炎。”鲍泽说:“你还有可能承受死亡风险。”
2016年,特朗普在老家纽约举办了上一次的“大选之夜”派对,但他当时预定的是曼哈顿中城的希尔顿酒店,并未设在自家酒店,因为附近的特朗普国际酒店没有足够大的房间。
目前也不清楚特朗普本人会在派对现场停留多久。由于相当一部分选民选择邮寄选票,这也可能会拖慢票数的最终统计过程。
谢尔曼指出,无论特朗普是否能够成功连任,他的余生都会像前几任总统一样受到美国特勤局的保护。特朗普每到一处自己的房产,纳税人都将承担一定的代理费以保护特朗普这位美国历史上第45任总统的权益。
“我相信特朗普总会找到办法帮自己的酒店注资,不管下周的选举结果如何。”谢尔曼说道。(财富中文网)
编译:陈聪聪,陈怡轩
President Donald Trump has his eye on hosting an election night party at his own hotel in the nation’s capital.
Over the past several days, the campaign has pushed out fundraising emails in the president’s name offering donors the chance to enter a drawing “to join Team Trump at the Election Night Party in my favorite hotel,” in Washington, suggesting he will use his luxury hotel as the backdrop for reacting to election results. The campaign has also spotlighted plans for the party in fundraising blasts from the president's son Donald Trump. Jr.
“November 3rd will go down in history as the night we won FOUR MORE YEARS. It will be absolutely EPIC, and the only thing that could make it better is having YOU there,” Trump said in a fundraising solicitation.
For Trump, an election night party at his own hotel is symbolic for a businessman who leveraged his celebrity as a reality star and New York real estate magnate to win the nation's highest office.
Critics see it as one more reminder of how the president has used his office to personally profit as foreign leaders, conservative supporters and administration officials use the lobby of Washington’s Trump International Hotel as an unofficial clubhouse for the Trump presidency.
Since 2017, the president and Republican National Committee have held several fundraisers at the president’s Washington hotel in the historic Old Post Office building, which the president’s company leases from the federal government.
Over the course of his presidency, the Trump campaign, the RNC and their joint-fundraising committees have spent over $7.4 million at Trump-branded properties.
The Washington hotel, which is blocks from the White House, has been sold out for weeks for Election Day as well as the days before and after Nov. 3. A basic room then is going for $1,200 a night, nearly triple the $476 room rate on October 26.
“Donald Trump has spent his entire presidency funneling taxpayer, campaign, special interest and foreign government money into the business that he still owns,” said Donald Sherman, deputy director of the nonprofit government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “In some ways, election night is going to be the pinnacle of his self dealing.”
The White House referred questions on the president’s election night plans to the Trump campaign, which did not respond to requests for comment.
It’s unclear how big Trump’s election night party will be. The District of Columbia, under coronavirus protocols, has capped mass gatherings at 50 people. The president has sidestepped the district’s rules, which hold no weight on federal property, at other recent events. The president hosted hundreds of people on the White House grounds for an Independence Day weekend celebration, for his Republican National Convention speech in August and again at last month’s Rose Garden announcement of the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.
Several attendees, including Trump, tested positive for the coronavirus in the days following Barrett's event. Few guests wore masks.
District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser told reporters on October 26 that she had heard of plans for an election night party and added, “We will be in touch with our licensee, which is the hotel."
Bowser also more broadly questioned Trump’s wisdom in holding large gatherings at a moment when cases are spiking in the U.S. Trump was expected to host a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House on Monday after an anticipated Senate vote to confirm Barrett. “You can believe that you can go to the White House and get COVID and that nothing’s going to happen to you. Perhaps,” Bowser said. “Or you can die from it.”
Trump held his 2016 election party in his then-hometown of New York. But he booked his victory party at New York’s Hilton in Midtown Manhattan because his own nearby Trump International Hotel & Tower didn’t have a big enough room.
It’s unclear how much of a presence Trump himself will be in the election night festivities this time. With a significant portion of the electorate opting to mail in their ballots, that could delay tabulation of results.
Sherman noted that Trump, whenever he leaves office, will have a Secret Service detail for the rest of his life like other past presidents. With every Trump trip to one of his properties, taxpayers will cover the tab of agents protecting the 45th president.
“I have a high level of confidence that Donald Trump will find a way to have government or special interest money go to his hotels regardless of the outcome of next week’s election,” Sherman said.