The Trumps have enjoyed a highly lucrative two years, riding a wave of crypto deals and other business enterprises into billions of dollars in new wealth.
asserted
Trumps → enjoy → wealth
But around 7:10 p.m. ET Tuesday night—as some of the early election results were just beginning to stream in—the first family’s fortunes changed.
asserted
fortunes → begin → results
That’s when markets started turning against some of the Trumps’ most valuable ventures.
asserted
markets → ’ → ventures
The drop started with the price of the $TRUMP meme coin—an essentially useless bit of crypto that the president helped create shortly before returning to office.
asserted
president → start → office
Truthfully, $TRUMP has been a bit of a dud in terms of an investment for awhile—after hitting a high of $74, it has slid farther and farther; it was hovering around $1.60 through Tuesday afternoon and early evening.
asserted
it → hit → afternoon
But then it dropped precipitously.
asserted
it → drop → ?
At 7:10 p.m. $TRUMP could be purchased for $1.58 per coin.
uncertain
TRUMP → purchase → coin
By 7:20, it had slid to $1.53, and despite some ups and downs, it has mostly continued falling.
asserted
it → slide → ups
By 12:50 p.m. Wednesday, it had hit an all-time low of $1.23, a decline of more than 20 percent in less than a day.
asserted
it → hit → day
(It’s recovered slightly since then.)
asserted
It → recover → ?
Something similar happened with the WLFI token—a crypto asset created by World Liberty Financial, the Trumps’ decentralized finance company.
asserted
Something → happen → Financial
The token, which can be bought and sold but is mainly used to vote on decisions about the company’s operations, was worth about 5.1 cents at 7:10 p.m.
asserted
which → buy → p.m.
The price briefly recovered overnight but plummeted again Wednesday, hovering around 4.7 cents by mid-afternoon.
asserted
price → recover → afternoon
Shares in Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of the president’s Truth Social platform, also took a nose-dive in after-hours trading, beginning a little after 7 p.m. The stock closed Tuesday at $5.95 per share.
asserted
stock → take → share
It opened Wednesday morning at $5.37.
asserted
It → open → 5.37
By Wednesday afternoon, it had fallen below $4.60, an all-time low.
asserted
it → fall → 4.60
There are lots of reasons these prices could have collapsed—the $TRUMP meme coin is arguably completely pointless to begin with.
uncertain
coin → be → reasons
But it might be related to the sudden empowerment of Congressional Democrats.
uncertain
it → relate → Democrats
The fact that at least the House of Representatives, and quite possibly the Senate, would now be controlled by Democrats was becoming quite clear by about 7:10 p.m.
uncertain
House → control → p.m.
So to was the realization that Democrats would suddenly be armed with subpoena power and the ability to grill anyone under oath on just about any subject.
asserted
Democrats → arm → subject
And by midnight, the full scale of the political earthquake was coming into focus, as news outlets called the Senate for Democrats.
asserted
outlets → come → Democrats
If the Trump financial products have served as a way for people to win the president’s attention, ingratiate themselves, or just get as close as possible, the rebuke voters delivered to Trump last night instantly makes him, and his businesses, a less attractive investment.
asserted
him → serve → Trump
Just last month, Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff and a group of his Senate colleagues sent a letter to the White House demanding that Trump turn over information related to an event he’s holding later this month at his DC-area golf course—the top holders of the $TRUMP meme coin are invited to what has been marketed as “the most exclusive dinner in the world.”
asserted
what → send → world
Attendees will get to bask in the presence of Trump and three unnamed “legends”—”The World’s power players”—according to the company behind the coin, which has a licensing deal with Trump.
uncertain
which → get → Trump
Schiff demanded that Trump preserve records—a hint of future legal action, but also a somewhat boilerplate request that, last month, didn’t have a lot of teeth.
asserted
that → demand → teeth
That request now seems much more ominous for Trump—and likely discouraging for people who thought they could use investments in Trump-linked assets as a way to gain access.
uncertain
they → seem → access
And it won’t just be Senate Democrats pursuing Trump’s businesses.
asserted
it → pursue → businesses
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the top Dem on the House’s Oversight Committee, put out a brief, two-word statement Tuesday night: “Lawyer up.”
asserted
Garcia → put → Lawyer
The Aporia
