Why did I write this article? 为什么写这篇文章?
美国自冷战之后作为世界上唯一的超级强国，不仅在全球地缘政治经济上有着各种各样的影响，美国文化，社会观念，公开所倡导的价值观也在影响着全球的人们，但是特朗普政府似乎在带领着美国向里看(inward)，向回看(backward)，而不是向外看(outward)，向前看(forward)。某种意义上来讲，这是个遗憾。
从16年美国大选开始，我突然对美国政治感兴趣，在网上通过读传统美国新闻，在油管上持续关注各种政治类脱口秀，同时我也和来自中国，美国，还有世界各地的朋友们，进行关于美国政治现况的讨论，这其中大部分是liberal，也有中间派，也有非常Pro-Trump的极右翼朋友，但是一直让我困扰的是，大家获取信息的渠道完全不同，导致对特朗普的印象也完全不同，大体包括：
1. 特朗普应该是一概不懂怎么去领导一个国家，他甚至都不是一个好的商人，而且他的想法是极端邪恶，危险和无知的，甚至通俄
2. 特朗普应该是表面装傻，但其实大智若愚，做出的举措都是为了美国的国家利益
3. 特朗普的行为，极其不符合一个领导人的道德上的标准，但是他在经济上的行为符合我的利益
4. 特朗普做的一切都是合理的，禁止变性人群参军，让越境的非法移民与孩子分离，对朝核问题强硬，把美国撤出各大国际联合组织，and he's putting America First and Making America Great Again
我一直以来没有办法找到一个可信度高的信息源去彻底了解特朗普的白宫是否真的如此混乱，特朗普本人到底是否极端，他在做这些决策的时候，真的是基于合理的逻辑分析吗？
Bob Woodward's new book, Fear: Trump in the White House
我在Stephen Colbert的show上，看了他简短的关于他新书的访谈，里面有大量的关于特朗普白宫的具体事件的细节，立即引起了我的好奇。原来Bob Woodward就是华盛顿邮报当年报道尼克松水门事件的记者之一，他的报道最终引发尼克松的辞职。他是新闻普利策奖两次获得人，目前写了18本关于美国政府的书，13本被列外最佳畅销书籍。这本书的背后是详细的信息来源和私下的真实对话，加上他的职业道德和职业生涯，这应该是关于特朗普白宫信息量最大的可靠信息来源。
我上周读完了这本书，每一个章节对每个事件细节的描述都是那么的具体，而且美国中期大选在即，回看这两年发生的各个不可思议的事件，真的是有趣的回味。
总结来说：特朗普和我的猜想一样，他的想法貌似停留在美国的六七十年代，不仅对外交，地缘政治一无所知，在经济学上缺少根本性的认知。
他的想法总是飘忽不定，也许他是不邪恶的，但这个人没有同理心，他身边的advisor利用他充满populism色彩的总统大选，在秘密地推动着这些邪恶的目的。
最开始给白宫带来稳定的“成年人”们，国防大臣General Mattis，国务卿Rex Tillerson，经济顾问Gary Cohn，白宫办公厅秘书 Rob Porter，已经相继离去，首席幕僚长 John Kelly已经和Trump关系逐渐恶化, where is this all going and where are we all going?
在读Bob Woodward的书的时候，Trump的行为和言语大部分让我觉得好笑，有的事件细节让我震惊，有些细节甚至让我觉得恐怖。我将这些clips整理，提炼，归类，希望对美国政治有兴趣的人觉得这些信息是有用的。
Clips that I find funny
“Do we call 60 Minutes?” Kellyanne Conway asked. She proposed a public confessional. “You can’t do it Sunday because the debate’s on Sunday. . . . Or you call ABC or NBC and have him on the sofa with Ivanka on one side and Melania on the other, basically crying, saying I apologize.” Melania Trump had come down and wandered behind the sofa where Conway was proposing they sit. It was clear she was seething. “Not doing that,” Melania said in her Slovenian accent.
Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House, loc. 607-611
“I’m Rob Porter, Mr. President. I’m your staff secretary.” It was clear Trump had no clue what that was or who Porter was. Jared told Trump that Porter was going to structure and order Trump’s life. Trump looked at the two of them as if to say, What are you talking about? You’re not doing anything like that. No one’s going to do that. The president walked away without saying anything to find a TV screen.
Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House, loc. 2184-2187
Navarro handed the memo to Porter to be forwarded to Trump and Priebus. Porter was trying to present himself as the honest broker but he had taught economics at Oxford and was convinced that Navarro’s views were outdated and unsupportable. As far as Porter was concerned Navarro was a member of the Flat Earth Society on trade deficits, like the president himself.
Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House, loc. 2211-2213
One day in the Oval Office, Cohn brought in the latest job numbers to Trump and Pence. “I have the most perfect job numbers you’re ever going to see,” Cohn said. “It’s all because of my tariffs,” Trump said. “They’re working.” Trump had yet to impose any tariffs, but he believed they were a good idea and knew Cohn disagreed with him. “You’re a fucking asshole,” Cohn said, half-joking and smacking Trump gently on the arm.
Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House, loc. 2726-2730
The president and the first lady had separate bedrooms in the residence. Trump had a giant TV going much of the time, alone in his bedroom with the clicker, the TiVo and his Twitter account. Priebus called the presidential bedroom “the devil’s workshop” and the early mornings and dangerous Sunday nights “the witching hour.” There was not much he could do about the mornings, but he had some control over the weekend schedule. He started scheduling Trump’s Sunday returns to the White House later in the afternoon. Trump would get to the White House just before 9 p.m. when MSNBC and CNN generally turned to softer programming that did not focus on the immediate political controversies and Trump’s inevitable role in them.
Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House, loc. 3005-3010
All the air seemed to have come out of Tillerson. He could not abide Trump’s attack on the generals. The president was speaking as if the U.S. military was a mercenary force for hire. If a country wouldn’t pay us to be there, then we didn’t want to be there. As if there were no American interests in forging and keeping a peaceful world order, as if the American organizing principle was money. “Are you okay?” Cohn asked him. “He’s a fucking moron,” Tillerson said so everyone heard.
Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House, loc. 3455-3459
It seems clear that many of the president’s senior advisers, especially those in the national security realm, are extremely concerned with his erratic nature, his relative ignorance, his inability to learn, as well as what they consider his dangerous views.”
Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House, loc. 3476-3477
At one point Trump said he had decided to impose tariffs. “Great,” Cohn said. “The stock market will be down 1,000 or 2,000 points tomorrow, but you’ll be happy. Right, sir?” “No, no, meeting’s over! Let’s not do anything.”
Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House, loc. 3562-3565
“If you have natural predators at the table,” Priebus said, “things don’t move.” So the White House was not leading on key issues like health care and tax reform. Foreign policy was not coherent and often contradictory. “Why?” asked Priebus. “Because when you put a snake and a rat and a falcon and a rabbit and a shark and a seal in a zoo without walls, things start getting nasty and bloody. That’s what happens.”
Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House, loc. 3635-3639
“That was the greatest show of self-control I have ever seen. If that was me, I would have taken that resignation letter and shoved it up his ass six different times.” John F. Kelly
Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House, loc. 3834-3835
Same problem, Cohn said. “You’re just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.”
Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House, loc. 4194-4194
Grievance was a big part of Trump’s core, very much like a 14-year-old boy who felt he was being picked on unfairly. You couldn’t talk to him in adult logic. Teenage logic was necessary.
Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House, loc. 4524-4525
At Mar-a-Lago, Trump would come back from playing golf. It’d be a Saturday afternoon in February or March. Absolutely stunningly beautiful. One of the most beautiful things in the world. Melania would be in the room right next door. He would watch CNN’s D-team of panelists, whom Bannon considered super-haters, and get worked up. Bannon would say, “What are you doing? Why do you do this? Cut this off. It’s not meaningful. Just enjoy yourself.” Trump’s response would often go like this: “You see that? That’s a fucking lie. Who the fuck’s . . .” Bannon would say, “Go play some slap and tickle with Melania.” Trump also did not spend much time with his son Barron, then age 11.
Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House, loc. 4529-4534
“Trump is the perfect foil,” he summarized. “He’s the bad father, the terrible first husband, the boyfriend that fucked you over and wasted all those years, and [you] gave up your youth for, and then dumped you. And the terrible boss that grabbed you by the pussy all the time and demeaned you.”
Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House, loc. 4537-4538
Clips that I find shocking
“Not reported in the press is that Treasury Secretary Mnuchin is part of Cohn’s ‘Wall Street Wing,’ which has effectively blocked or delayed every proposed action on trade.”
Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House, loc. 2203-2204
Sonny Perdue gave a presentation in the Situation Room on May 4 on the role of agriculture in trade. Sensitive intelligence showed that if the United States imposed new tariffs on China, the Chinese would retaliate with their own tariffs. The Chinese knew exactly how to inflict economic and political pain. The United States was in kindergarten compared to China’s PhD. The Chinese knew which congressional districts produced what products, such as soybeans. They knew which swing districts were going to be important to maintain control of the House. They could target tariffs at products from those districts, or at a state level. The Chinese would target bourbon from McConnell’s Kentucky and dairy products from Paul Ryan’s Wisconsin.
Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House, loc. 2479-2484
West Wingers and those who traveled regularly with Trump noticed that he and Melania seemed to have some sincere affection for each other despite media speculation. But she operated independently. They ate dinner together at times, spent some time together; but they never really seemed to merge their lives. Melania’s primary concern was their son, Barron. “She’s obsessed with Barron,” one person said. “That is her focus 100 percent.”
Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House, loc. 2714-2717
It made no sense, Priebus realized, unless you understood the way Trump made decisions. “The president has zero psychological ability to recognize empathy or pity in any way.” Caught by surprise, Kelly had gone dark for several hours. He’d had to call his wife and explain that he had no choice but to accept after being offered one of the most important jobs in the world via tweet.
Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House, loc. 3606-3609
Cohn realized that Trump had gone bankrupt six times and seemed not to mind. Bankruptcy was just another business strategy. Walk away, threaten to blow up the deal. Real power is fear.
Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House, loc. 4178-4179
“If you’re the Chinese and you want to really just destroy us, just stop sending us antibiotics. You know we don’t really produce antibiotics in the United States?”
Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House, loc. 4185-4186
Clips that I find scary
Several times Cohn just asked the president, “Why do you have these views?” “I just do,” Trump replied. “I’ve had these views for 30 years.” “That doesn’t mean they’re right,” Cohn said. “I had the view for 15 years I could play professional football. It doesn’t mean I was right.”
Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House, loc. 2171-2174
“There’s some things where he’s already reached the conclusion and it doesn’t matter what you say. It doesn’t matter what arguments you offer. He’s not listening.”
Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House, loc. 3561-3562
文末：在所有的节选中，这段话精辟地总结了Trump
“Trump is the perfect foil,” he summarized. “He’s the bad father, the terrible first husband, the boyfriend that fucked you over and wasted all those years, and [you] gave up your youth for, and then dumped you. And the terrible boss that grabbed you by the pussy all the time and demeaned you.”
Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House, loc. 4537-4538
