特朗普到底为什么喜欢当总统？
What Donald Trump Liked About Being President
MATT FLEGENHEIMER, MAGGIE HABERMAN
2020年11月24日
In November 2018, after a vote that did not matter enough to him to push conspiracy theories about the outcome, President Trump stood in the Rose Garden and delivered the hard truth.
2018年11月，在一场还不足以让他推动阴谋论的投票结果出炉后，特朗普总统站在玫瑰园，说出了残酷的事实。
“This was a fair election,” he said to a bird named Carrots, sidelined at the annual White House turkey pardon after being snubbed in an online contest over which privileged poultry (Peas or Carrots) would star in the ritual. “Unfortunately, Carrots refused to concede and demanded a recount, and we’re still fighting with Carrots.”
“这是一场公正的竞选，”他对着一只名叫“胡萝卜”的火鸡说，它在一年一度的白宫火鸡放生仪式上成了配角，因为在关于哪只火鸡（“豌豆”还是“胡萝卜”）将成为仪式主角的网络竞选中落败。“不幸的是，‘胡萝卜’拒绝认输并要求重新计票，而我们仍在与‘胡萝卜’一起争取。”
The crowd laughed, and Mr. Trump smirked a little. Such hammy pageantry in stately settings, aides say, has long been a part of the job he especially enjoys. He gripped his lectern for the punchline, thumbs behind the presidential seal.
人群发出了笑声，特朗普也露出一点假笑。助手们说，在庄严场合进行夸张过火的表演，长期以来都是他在这份工作中特别享受的部分。说到笑点时，他的手会抓住讲台，拇指就在总统纹章后面。
“We’ve come to a conclusion,” Mr. Trump said grandly. “Carrots, I’m sorry to tell you, the result did not change. It’s too bad for Carrots.”
“我们已经得出了结论，”特朗普煞有介事地说。“‘胡萝卜’，我很抱歉告诉你，结果没有改变。这对‘胡萝卜’来说这太糟糕了。”
Two years later, after an election result that was too bad for Mr. Trump, he has been less willing to accept the cold math of whom the people want to see at the White House.
两年后，在一场对特朗普而言太糟糕的大选结果出炉后，他可没那么乐意接受人民希望谁入主白宫的无情数字。
In the weeks since Election Day, the president and his allies have set off on a groundless and dangerous effort to overturn the will of an electorate that rejected him, moving to undercut basic tenets of American democracy to cling to an office he did not expect to win four years ago and has not particularly treasured since, by most accounts.
在大选日之后的几周里，总统及其盟友们进行了一番毫无根据且危险的努力，试图推翻将他否决的选民意愿，削弱美国民主制度的基本原则，以保住他在四年前并没想过会赢下、在那之后的大部分时间里也没有特别珍惜的职位。
On Monday, after the administrator of the General Services Administration formally designated President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. as the apparent winner of the election, Mr. Trump blessed the move on Twitter while still vowing to move ahead with legal challenges.
周一，当总务管理局(General Services Administration)局长正式宣布候任总统小约瑟夫·R·拜登(Joseph R. Biden Jr.)为这次大选的明确赢家时，特朗普在推特上对此举表示赞同，但仍誓要继续推进法律诉讼。
Yet the president’s desperate gambit until this point has been so all-consuming, his aversion to losing so well known, that little attention has been paid to a knotty question underpinning it all: What, exactly, was he holding onto? Why fight so hard, and put the country through so much, to keep a position he has often not appeared to want?
然而直到这一刻，总统的孤注一掷是如此让人心力交瘁，他对失败的厌恶是如此众所周知，以至于几乎没人关注那个潜藏于这一切的棘手问题：他到底在坚持什么？他为什么要这么拼命反抗，让国家经历如此多磨难，来保住他似乎并不想要的职位呢？
In some ways, Mr. Trump had seemed to imagine his Washington life more closely resembling a rolling turkey pardon — the pomp and splendor, yes, but also a world largely amenable to his boss-man bearing and binary whims: This bird is spared. Those birds are not. He’d have his people call the turkey people and hammer out the fine print later. But through it all, his word would be final.
在某种程度上，他对自己在华盛顿生活的想象似乎更接近于一场波澜起伏的火鸡放生仪式——诚然，这里富丽堂皇，但也是一个极为贴合他老板形象和忽冷忽热的世界：这只火鸡被放生了，那一群火鸡则没有。他随后会让手下去联系提供火鸡的人，落实相关细节。不过在这个过程中，他的话才是一言九鼎。
This instinct has likewise fueled Mr. Trump’s affection for people-pardoning: He has used his pardon and clemency powers with abandon to reward allies and others whose causes are backed by celebrities. He is still considering a wave of such pardons for the final weeks of his tenure.
这种本性同样激发了特朗普赦免他人的喜好：他恣意使用自己赦免权和宽宏大量来奖励盟友和其他得到名流支持的人。在任期的最后几周，他仍在考虑进行一波这样的赦免。
But for Mr. Trump, the more consistent reality of the presidency, laced with briefings and congressional obstacles and impeachment and criticism, has never quite measured up.
但对特朗普来说，关于他的总统任期的那个更连贯的现实——充斥着简报会、国会阻碍、弹劾与批评——从来就没有符合过他的设想。
He has generally relished the aspects of the job that allow him to preside over something, fowl-based or otherwise — forums well suited to a leader for whom attention can seem less a wish than a psychic need.
总的来说，他喜欢这份工作能让他在某些事情上主持大局，无论是关于家禽的还是其他——这对一个视他人的关注为精神需求而非只是希望的领导人来说，是一个合适的场所。
The trappings and the title have plainly pleased him the most, placing him at the center of major celebrations for the mere fact of being president. He has marveled at the Bastille Day parade in Paris, taken to the “beautiful phones” at the White House and delighted in serving fast food to college football champions. In July, Mr. Trump, who has for years pressed the federal government to stage an elaborate fireworks display at Mount Rushmore, finally got his way.
显然，这份工作的虚饰和头衔最能让他快活，仅仅因为他是总统这一事实，就足以把他置于重大庆典的重心。他惊叹于巴黎的巴士底日游行，被白宫里“美丽的电话”所吸引，为自己让大学橄榄球冠军队吃上了快餐而开心不已。7月，多年来一直敦促在拉什莫尔山举办一场盛大烟花秀的特朗普也终于如愿以偿。
He has also amused himself showing off Air Force One and the Lincoln Bedroom. Then there is the study off the Oval Office, which he converted into a small dining room — the space, he has informed guests with a twinkle, where Monica Lewinsky would visit President Bill Clinton.
他还靠炫耀空军一号和林肯卧室以自娱。然后还有与椭圆形办公室连在一起的书房，被他改造成了一个小餐厅——他会眨着眼告诉客人，这里就是莫妮卡·莱温斯基(Monica Lewinsky)跟比尔·克林顿(Bill Clinton)总统见面的地方。
Jeff Flake, a Republican former senator from Arizona who spoke forcefully against Mr. Trump before leaving office, recalled Mr. Trump’s manifest glee at posing for pictures in his work space.
亚利桑那州前共和党参议员杰夫·弗莱克(Jeff Flake)在离任前曾激烈抨击过特朗普，他回忆称，在工作场合摆拍照片这件事让特朗普格外开心。
“He loves having people go into the Oval Office — him sitting with a thumbs up and for them to stand,” he said. “He seemed to never tire of that, of showing people the Oval Office and getting that picture.”
“他爱让人去椭圆形办公室——他坐着竖起大拇指，他们则站在他身边，”他说。“他似乎从未厌倦过，向人们展示椭圆形办公室，然后拍下那样的照片。”
The president’s furious bid to keep power, Mr. Flake suggested, reflected Mr. Trump’s realization that his future celebrity might never match the present. “No matter how much fame he had before, it didn’t compare,” he said. “Once he had it, it’s tough to give up.”
弗莱克表示，总统疯狂地想要保住权力，反映出特朗普已经意识到自己未来的名气可能永远都比不上现在。“无论他以前有多出名，都无法与现在相比，”他说。“一旦他拥有过，就很难放弃了。”
Certainly Mr. Trump’s predecessors have appreciated many perks of the post, holding court with favored entertainers or athletes at the White House and growing fond of their privileged temporary address. But this president has taken a more conspicuous shine to such advantages than most.
特朗普的前任们当然对这个职位带来的许多特权很领情，比如在白宫接见大受追捧的娱乐明星或运动员，以及对他们享有特权的临时住址的愈发喜爱。但比起大多数总统，这一位对这些好处的青睐则更加直白。
It is little secret that the mechanics of government never much animated Mr. Trump. He has been on most sides of most major political issues throughout his adult life, depending on the day. His re-election campaign barely bothered with a detailed vision for a prospective second term, focusing far more often on cultural grievance and race-baiting rally fare.
政府的运作机制从未吸引过特朗普多少兴趣，这已经不是什么秘密了。在他的成年生活中，对于大部分重大政治议题，他都有最百变的立场，只取决于他当天的心情。他的连任竞选几乎没有探讨对未来第二任期的详细愿景，而是在文化怨恨和煽动种族矛盾的集会上投入多得多的精力。
While he has effectively abdicated any leadership role in steering the nation’s coronavirus response — generally processing its devastation this year through the lens of how the pandemic would affect him politically — the president plans to see to it that the turkey pardon proceeds as scheduled on Tuesday.
虽然他实际上已经放弃了领导国家应对新冠病毒的任何角色——在处理今年疫情造成的灾难时，他的视角总是疫情对他的政治影响——但总统仍计划确保周二的火鸡放生仪式如期进行。
It stands to be one of his few public appearances in recent weeks amid runaway virus case numbers and his continued assault on the integrity of the election. Mr. Trump has maintained a light public schedule since Nov. 3 and has often seemed downcast at his handful of engagements, including an announcement about the push to develop coronavirus vaccines, which he had promoted aggressively during the campaign.
由于感染病例数量飙升，以及他对大选公正性的持续攻击，这是他最近几周为数不多的公开露面之一。自11月3日以来，特朗普一直保持着较为轻松的公开行程，在为数不多的几次活动中，他往往显得心情沮丧，这包括一次关于推动新冠病毒疫苗研发的声明，他在竞选期间曾对此进行大力宣传。
Besides his regular golf outings on the weekends, the man who has historically seemed to need human interaction for sustenance — the audience for his perpetual show — is demonstrating little interest in being around others when he cannot point to something he can credibly call a win.
除了周末固定的高尔夫之旅，这个似乎一贯靠人际交往——看他无休止演出的观众——续命的人，并没表现出与他人相处的兴趣，只因他找不到令人信服的宣布胜利的证据。
But then, the image of Mr. Trump merrily addressing turkeys in this context might register as a fitting turn for an executive end-stage that has constantly commingled calamity and absurdity.
但是，在这样的背景下，他愉快地对着火鸡讲话的样子，或许可以被视为一个恰当的转折，象征着灾难和荒谬不断交织的执政进入末期阶段。
It is also something of a culmination after three years of turkey pardons that have at times doubled as surprisingly telling snapshots of Mr. Trump’s frame of mind at various points in his presidency, with cutting asides and easy smiles in equal measure.
在三年的火鸡放生之后，这也可以说是一个高潮，在这三年里，有时的放生数量会翻倍，并伴随着尖刻的旁白，以及轻松的微笑，意外地反映出特朗普在总统任期内不同时刻的心境。
“From what I’ve seen,” said Beth Breeding, a spokeswoman for the National Turkey Federation, “the president seems to have really enjoyed them.”
“就我所见，”美国火鸡协会(National Turkey Federation)发言人贝丝·布雷丁(Beth Breeding)表示，“总统似乎真的很喜欢它们。”
At the event in 2017, as Mr. Trump was working to reverse as much of the Obama legacy as he could, he joked that the White House Counsel’s Office had reminded him that the former president’s turkey pardons could not be revoked.
在2017年的放生仪式上，当时正在尽其所能地撤销奥巴马政治遗产的特朗普开玩笑说，白宫法律顾问办公室提醒了他，前总统的火鸡放生是不能撤销的。
In 2018, with congressional investigations looming as Democrats prepared to take control of the House, the president said he had warned Peas and Carrots that “House Democrats are likely to issue them both subpoenas” despite his clemency.
2018年，面对民主党即将掌握众议院、国会调查可能到来的压力，总统说他警告了“豌豆”和“胡萝卜”，尽管他有仁慈之心，但“众议院的民主党人可能会向两位都发出传票”。
And in 2019, as an impeachment inquiry and the upcoming election weighed on him, Mr. Trump opened with a bit of self-congratulation (“it’s always nice to begin by saying the stock market is up again”), allowed his mind to wander to the emotional comforts of his victory in 2016 (“very great day”) and complained bitterly about Representative Adam B. Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
而在2019年，当弹劾调查和即将到来的大选让他感到压力沉重时，特朗普的开场白就带上了一点沾沾自喜（“首先说到股市又涨了总是好事”），让思绪游离在2016年的胜利（“非常伟大的一天”）带来的情感安慰上，并对众议院情报委员会主席、众议员亚当·B·希夫(Adam B. Schiff)大加抱怨。
By the end, though, the president was fulfilling the part of the job that always made the most sense to him: master of ceremonies. He placed his hand over a turkey named Butter, used the word “hereby” to infuse the proceedings with requisite gravitas (“I hereby grant you a full and complete pardon”) and started clapping on his way back inside.
但到最后，总统还是完成了对他来说最有意义的那部分工作：主持典礼。他把手放在一只名叫“黄油”的火鸡上，用“特此”这个词给仪式带来的必要的庄严（“我特此将你完全彻底放生”），并在回屋路上开始鼓掌。
“That was great,” Mr. Trump said, watching the crowd watch him. “Lot of fun.”
“挺棒的，”特朗普望着正在注视着他的人群说。“真有意思。”
