美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump And Kim Eager To Declare Success In Singapore 'No Matter What Happens'

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

So the story from the White House is President Trump¹ does not want to look weak. In particular, he does not want to look weak as a summit with North Korea's leader looms². And adviser³ Larry Kudlow said over the weekend that that is why Trump lashed⁴ out at Canada's prime minister. He left a trail of angry tweets as he headed for the other side of the globe, not wanting Canada to push him around on trade. Now the president is in a hotel in Singapore less than half a mile from the hotel of North Korea's Kim Jong Un. We have a team of NPR reporters covering the summit, including Scott Horsley, who covers the White House.

Hey there, Scott.

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE⁵: Good to be with you, Steve.

INSKEEP: OK, so glad you're in Singapore. Let me just ask you, do his advisers⁶ think that the president is focused and prepared and backed by allies in the way that they want as this summit looms?

HORSLEY: You know, I'm not sure there was anything so calculated about the president's lashing⁷ out at Justin Trudeau as he traveled from Canada here to Singapore. His tweets about the Canadian prime minister looked very much like the impulsive⁸ reaction of a president who was watching a news conference on television that he didn't like. He had - you know, his advisers had told reporters just hours earlier that the U.S. was going to sign on to the G-7 communique, and then President Trump abruptly⁹ reversed course as he was traveling here to Canada - from Canada here to Singapore. Whether that sort of impulsive change of direction is what you want as you try to convince North Korea that you are a reliable deal-making partner is an open question.

INSKEEP: OK. So it could be that this was sort of retroactive explanation for why the president was angry. But you raise an interesting point. The United States wants North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons. What the United States wants to offer in return, in broad terms, is security guarantees for North Korea. Is it clear in the minds of U.S. officials, at least, what kind of offer they can put on the table that is detailed¹⁰ that would show how to do that?

HORSLEY: Well, you know, Kim Jong Un is already getting a lot of what he wants out of this summit. He will be sharing the summit stage with the U.S. president, the first North Korean leader to meet with a sitting U.S. president. That, all by itself, gives Kim legitimacy¹¹, a show of power. And also, even though the Trump administration insists that the policy of maximum pressure and tough economic sanctions will remain in place against North Korea, we're already seeing cracks in that sanctions regime. And it's going to be very difficult to insist that China, Russia, other countries continue to tighten¹² the screws on North Korea at a time when the president is sitting down, meeting with Kim Jong Un and referring to that North Korean leader as very honorable.

So North Korea is already getting a lot of what Kim wants. On top of that, the U.S. has said they're prepared to offer him security guarantees for his country and his regime, as well as economic aid, although the president says that economic aid would likely come from North Korea's Asian neighbors, not directly from the United States.

INSKEEP: OK, so that is the circumstance as we get ready for the summit on Tuesday - Monday night of the United States, Tuesday morning in Singapore where you are. What's the scene? And where will they be meeting?

HORSLEY: They're meeting at a resort hotel on Sentosa Island here in Singapore. The two leaders are staying in separate hotels, and the resort hotel is sort of a third, neutral space. The president tweeted today that there's a lot of excitement in the air. I can tell you there's certainly a lot of humidity in the air and also some last-minute diplomacy¹³. You know, this summit has come together relatively¹⁴ quickly. It was less than three weeks ago that Trump had withdrawn¹⁵ from it. And since then, we've heard - we've seen a flurry of activity of diplomats¹⁶ trying to flesh out what these two leaders will be talking about tomorrow or late today, U.S. time. And those talks continued right up until this morning.

INSKEEP: Scott, thanks, as always.

HORSLEY: You're welcome.

INSKEEP: And safe travels. NPR's Scott Horsley in Singapore.

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 looms   

n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• All were busily engaged,men at their ploughs,women at their looms. 大家都很忙，男的耕田，女的织布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The factory has twenty-five looms. 那家工厂有25台织布机。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

4 lashed   

adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The rain lashed at the windows. 雨点猛烈地打在窗户上。
• The cleverly designed speech lashed the audience into a frenzy. 这篇精心设计的演说煽动听众使他们发狂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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。

6 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

7 lashing   

n.鞭打；痛斥；大量；许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The speaker was lashing the crowd. 演讲人正在煽动人群。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The rain was lashing the windows. 雨急打着窗子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 impulsive   

adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的

参考例句：

• She is impulsive in her actions.她的行为常出于冲动。
• He was neither an impulsive nor an emotional man,but a very honest and sincere one.他不是个一冲动就鲁莽行事的人，也不多愁善感.他为人十分正直、诚恳。

9 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

10 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

11 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

12 tighten   

v.(使)变紧；(使)绷紧

参考例句：

• Turn the screw to the right to tighten it.向右转动螺钉把它拧紧。
• Some countries tighten monetary policy to avoid inflation.一些国家实行紧缩银根的货币政策，以避免通货膨胀。

13 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

14 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

15 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

16 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》