The reported rule change allows executives to donate shares that participants in the programme can retain. Its legal basis remains unclear. The I.R.S. guidance reportedly defines an eligible investment as a mutual fund or exchange-traded fund, while a broader clause allows investments meeting “other criteria that the secretary considers appropriate.”
That gap has placed the Treasury at the centre of the debate. The report says it is not yet clear how officials reached the decision, particularly without approval from Congress.
The financial figures have made the issue harder to separate from the football. Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s president and chief operating officer, and her husband reportedly rank among the first beneficiaries of the new rule.
They are said to have donated more than two million shares. Based on the reported current share price, those holdings would be worth at least US$320 million.
That is not a minor administrative adjustment. It gives the controversy a scale capable of competing with the usual pre-match focus on tactics, form and selection. For United States-Belgium, the investment dispute has become part of the event’s public identity.
The match will still be decided on the field, but the political story will not end at kickoff. With the accounts active and the investment programme changed, scrutiny is likely to focus on the Treasury’s explanation, the interpretation of the I.R.S. rules and whether the arrangement faces further institutional challenges.
The next storyline is therefore clear: United States-Belgium will provide the immediate sporting spectacle, while the decisions surrounding Trump accounts could shape the tournament’s off-field debate for years.