PBS高端访谈:关于特朗普慈善基金会的讨论

 　　HARI SREENIVASAN: We begin with politics tonight and new questions surrounding President-elect Donald Trump¹'s private foundation.

　　Lisa Desjardins has our report.

　　LISA DESJARDINS: 'Tis the season for charitable giving, but charity has been a long-running and controversial topic for President-elect Trump, one that he reignited last night.

　　He posted two tweets, staunchly defending the Donald J. Trump Foundation, his private charity, as both generous and efficient. But those tweets ricocheted. Some say they are misleading or plain false.

　　So what do we know? Let's start with this.

　　Mr. Trump tweeted: "I gave millions of dollars to DJT Foundation." And he did. Tax filings confirm Mr. Trump and his companies donated $6 million of his own money to the foundation.

　　DONALD TRUMP (R), President-Elect: I wanted to make this out of the goodness of my heart.

　　特朗普慈善基金

　　LISA DESJARDINS: But here's the issue: Timing². Tax filings show he donated nothing to the foundation in recent years. Instead, most of the foundation's funding, about $9.5 million, has come from outside donors³, including Vince and Linda McMahon, the professional wrestling tycoons⁴. Linda McMahon is now the Trump nominee⁵ to head the Small Business Administration. The couple gave $5 million in two years.

　　Next, this claim from Trump: that all of his foundation money is given to charity. Again, context is critical here. Most of Trump Foundation money did go to nonprofits or charities, but philanthropy may not have been the only motivation. Public documents show foundation funds also went to help settle lawsuits⁶ against Mr. Trump, or to political allies, as The Washington Post's David Fahrenthold recently explained to the "NewsHour."

　　DAVID FAHRENTHOLD, The Washington Post: They gave to this group called And Justice For All, which is a political campaign committee helping⁷ Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who, at the time, just happened to be considering, her office was considering whether to pursue an investigation⁸ against Trump University. They, later on, after the money came in, decided⁹ not to pursue that investigation. Trump paid that money out of the Trump Foundation, which is against the law.

　　LISA DESJARDINS: Finally, Trump tweeted that his foundation "never paid fees, rent, salaries or any expenses."

　　That is true. His children serve as the foundation's board, and the foundation is run by the staff of the Trump Organization, his business.

　　Now, that creates an efficient family charity, but has raised some serious questions. Charities are not supposed to directly benefit or overlap¹⁰ with for-profit businesses like the Trump Organization, and that's one reason the New York state attorney general is investigating the charity.

　　And all that leads us to what's next for the Trump Foundation. The president-elect has announced he plans to close it. But, legally, he's not allowed to do that until the New York investigation is over.

　　For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Lisa Desjardins.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

3 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 tycoons   

大君( tycoon的名词复数 )； 将军； 企业巨头； 大亨

参考例句：

• The great tycoons were fierce competitors, single-minded in their pursuit of financial success and power. 企业巨头都是激烈的竞争者，他们一心追求钱财和权势。
• Tycoons and their conglomerates are even raising money again on international markets. 企业大亨们以及他们的企业甚至正再次从国际市场上筹集资金。

5 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

6 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 overlap   

v.重叠，与…交叠；n.重叠

参考例句：

• The overlap between the jacket and the trousers is not good.夹克和裤子重叠的部分不好看。
• Tiles overlap each other.屋瓦相互叠盖。