美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump Accomplished A Lot In 2017, But At What Cost?

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

For much of 2017, it looked like President Trump¹ and the Republican-controlled controlled Congress were at risk of having no major legislative² accomplishments³ to show for the year. Now, that all changed last week. Trump signed a $1.5 trillion tax cut bill that also contained a provision knocking out the Affordable⁴ Care Act's individual mandate⁵. NPR's White House correspondent Tamara Keith has a look at what Trump got done in 2017.

TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE⁶: In his own trademark⁷ way, President Trump has in recent weeks offered a presidential performance review.

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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I will tell you this in a non braggadocious way.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: There has never been a 10-month president that has accomplished⁸ what we have accomplished.

KEITH: That was in late November before it was even clear whether the tax legislation would pass. Here he was last week celebrating its passage.

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TRUMP: We have done a job like no administration has done.

KEITH: Presidential history offers many a counterpoint. Still, Press Secretary Sara Sanders started off a recent briefing with what turned out to be a very long list.

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SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: As December winds down, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to look back at what has been by any measure a historic year. Nearly 1.7 million new jobs have been created, and...

KEITH: Her recitation of the list of Trump's accomplishments lasted a full two and a half minutes.

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HUCKABEE SANDERS: We've rolled back 22 regulations for every one new regulation.

KEITH: Trump pulled out of or started to renegotiate trade deals. There was a new emphasis on energy production over environmental protection.

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HUCKABEE SANDERS: We approved the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines⁹, directed the EPA to end the job-killing war on coal.

KEITH: The Trump administration amped up immigration enforcement, and the travel ban executive order is now at least partially¹⁰ in effect after months of legal challenges, a focus on veterans issues and military might.

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HUCKABEE SANDERS: Under the president's leadership, ISIS has lost nearly all of its territory and its most important strongholds in Iraq and Syria.

KEITH: Through executive action, he's eroded¹¹ pieces of Obamacare. And then there were the courts.

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HUCKABEE SANDERS: We've reshaped the American judiciary for generations. Justice Gorsuch was confirmed to the Supreme¹² Court, and 22 judges have been confirmed including a record-setting 12 circuit judges.

KEITH: There's plenty of room to disagree over whether what the president and Republicans in Congress have accomplished this year has been good for the country. But for conservatives, who initially¹³ weren't sure what they would get with a President Trump, there's plenty to celebrate. Ramesh Ponnuru is a senior editor at National Review.

RAMESH PONNURU: The policy changes that Trump has helped to bring about are roughly what you would expect from a Republican president with a narrowly Republican Senate and a Republican House.

KEITH: Ponnuru says for an unconventional candidate Trump has turned out to be a surprisingly reliable conservative as president, conventional even, aside from the tweeting and the occasional feuding¹⁴ with fellow Republicans.

PONNURU: There are some issues where he disagrees with the conventional conservative view, but he has either been unwilling¹⁵ or unable to put them into practice.

KEITH: On the other side of the aisle¹⁶, the analysis of Trump's first year in office isn't all that different.

NEERA TANDEN: It depends on how you define success, but he has definitely accomplished some key goals of the conservative movement.

KEITH: Neera Tanden is president of the Center for American Progress, a group which has been fighting Trump's agenda at every turn.

TANDEN: I expected Donald Trump to pursue a far-right agenda, and he is meeting those expectations and he's succeeding. I mean, if we think a Republican was going to come in to be president and have a Republican Congress and not succeed, that would be odd.

KEITH: But as Tanden sees it, Trump's success is coming at a cost. The left is energized¹⁷, and his approval rating is south of 40 percent.

TANDEN: He will reshape American, you know, life in fundamental ways around - you know, particularly in the regulatory code and what he's done on taxes. But I think where he has failed is to bring the American people with him.

KEITH: Naturally, Trump sees it differently, tweeting, quote, "the fake news refuses to talk about how big and how strong our base is," adding, "we are doing well. Nobody is going to beat us. Make America Great Again!" The American people will get to issue their judgment¹⁸ of President Trump's accomplishments and the way his party has governed next fall in the mid-term congressional elections.

Tamara Keith, NPR News.

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 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

3 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

5 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 trademark   

n.商标；特征；vt.注册的…商标

参考例句：

• The trademark is registered on the book of the Patent Office.该商标已在专利局登记注册。
• The trademark of the pen was changed.这钢笔的商标改了。

8 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

9 pipelines   

管道( pipeline的名词复数 )； 输油管道； 在考虑（或规划、准备） 中； 在酿中

参考例句：

• The oil is carried to the oil refinery by pipelines. 石油通过输油管输送到炼油厂。
• The oil carried in pipelines. 石油用管道输送。

10 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

11 eroded   

adj. 被侵蚀的，有蚀痕的 动词erode的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The cliff face has been steadily eroded by the sea. 峭壁表面逐渐被海水侵蚀。
• The stream eroded a channel in the solid rock. 小溪在硬石中侵蚀成一条水道。

12 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

13 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

14 feuding   

vi.长期不和（feud的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Riccardo and Cafiero had been feuding so openly that the whole town knew about it. 里卡多和卡菲埃罗一直公开地闹别扭，全城的人都知道此事。 来自辞典例句
• The two families have been feuding with each other for many generations. 这两个家族有好多代的世仇了。 来自互联网

15 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

16 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

17 energized   

v.给予…精力，能量( energize的过去式和过去分词 )；使通电

参考例句：

• We are energized by love if we put our energy into loving. 如果我们付出能量去表现爱意，爱就会使我们充满活力。 来自辞典例句
• I am completely energized and feeling terrific. 我充满了活力，感觉非常好。 来自辞典例句

18 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。