美国国家公共电台 NPR White House Pushes Back Against Michael Wolff's 'Fire And Fury'

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

President Trump¹ is at Camp David for a weekend retreat with Republican congressional leaders and some members of his Cabinet. The goal is to plot out the GOP policy agenda for this year ahead. The White House would also love to turn the focus away from Michael Wolff's new book, "Fire And Fury," which came out today, and paints the Trump presidency² in an incredibly negative light. NPR White House correspondent Tamara Keith reports.

TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE³: As he walked to Marine⁴ One, President Trump paused to talk to reporters gathered on the frozen south lawn of the White House.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Hi, everybody, I'm going over with the senators. We're going to Camp David. We have a lot of things to work on, a lot of things to accomplish. The stock market is up very, very big today.

KEITH: When Trump stops by the cameras, he often lingers to answer questions - not so today.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TRUMP: We're making America great again. Thank you. Thank you very much.

KEITH: As he walked away, reporters shouted questions about Michael Wolff's book and about Steve Bannon, the former top White House aide, who Trump has disavowed after his scathing⁵ comments in that book. And it wasn't just Bannon. On the pages of the book, aides are quoted openly criticizing the president, describing him as a child. Wolff told NPR's Kelly McEvers that the Trump White House isn't just dysfunctional but shattered, with a president at the center of it all unwilling⁶ to learn or grow.

MICHAEL WOLFF: Not only does he not read, he doesn't listen. So it's - it becomes, from day one, the crisis of the presidency. You can't tell him anything.

KEITH: For three days now, White House aides have worked to discredit⁷ Wolff and his book. This was press secretary Sarah Sanders on "Fox & Friends" this morning.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "FOX & FRIENDS")

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: He repeatedly begged to speak with the president and was denied access, and he makes it sound like he was sitting outside the Oval Office every single day, which is just not the case. This is a guy who made up a lot of stories to try to sell books. And I think more and more people are starting to see that his facts just simply don't add up.

KEITH: Wolff disputes that, telling McEvers that from the campaign through the early months of the presidency, he spent about three hours with Trump and was essentially⁸ a fly on the wall in the West Wing.

WOLFF: My intention was to go into the White House and to - and to see what - report what I saw and what I heard. I thought that from the beginning this was going to be an extraordinary story in whatever way it went. And I had no way of knowing what way it would go. So literally⁹ I am not a hit man.

KEITH: But the book that resulted is jam-packed with the kind of quotes and observations no White House would ever want to be hit with. Try as they might, including a cease and desist letter and a threat of a lawsuit¹⁰ from Trump's personal attorney, the White House hasn't been able to quiet the buzz about "Fire And Fury." Tamara Keith, NPR News.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

And you can hear the first part of Kelly McEvers' conversation with Michael Wolff elsewhere in today's program.

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 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

3 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。

4 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

5 scathing   

adj.（言词、文章）严厉的，尖刻的；不留情的adv.严厉地，尖刻地v.伤害，损害（尤指使之枯萎）( scathe的现在分词)

参考例句：

• a scathing attack on the new management 针对新的管理层的猛烈抨击
• Her speech was a scathing indictment of the government's record on crime. 她的演讲强烈指责了政府在犯罪问题上的表现。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。

7 discredit   

vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑

参考例句：

• Their behaviour has bought discredit on English football.他们的行为败坏了英国足球运动的声誉。
• They no longer try to discredit the technology itself.他们不再试图怀疑这种技术本身。

8 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

9 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

10 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。