唐纳德·特朗普在第二个任期内，一直在大肆宣扬外国对美国的投资。事实上，他对于实际流入美国的资金数额一直说法不一：有时称总额为17万亿美元，有时又说是20万亿美元——而白宫自己提供的统计数据却显示实际数字要小得多。
Donald Trump has spent much of his second term peddling outlandish boasts about foreign investments in the United States. Indeed, the president has struggled to keep his story straight about just how much money he believes is headed to American soil — depending on the day, he has said the total is $17 trillion $20 trillion” — even as the White House’s own tally has shown a vastly smaller number.
特朗普这些夸大其词的言论早已存在诸多问题，但问题的核心在于他故意混淆了“投资”与“其他形式的资金流入”之间的区别。
There have long been a variety of problems with Trump’s deceptive boasts, but at the heart of the matter is his willingness to pretend there’s no real difference between investments and .
本周就发生了这样一个具有政治意义的例子：共和党人对阿拉斯加参议院选举结果极为关注——这并非毫无缘由：前民主党众议员玛丽·佩尔托拉在第一轮投票中就领先于她的共和党对手丹·沙利文；最近的民意调查也表明，现任参议员的处境十分危险。
This week offered a timely, and electorally significant, example of the phenomenon. It’s no secret that Republicans are deeply concerned about Alaska’s Senate race, and for good reason: Not only did former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola outpace her Republican opponent, Sen. Dan Sullivan, in the first round of balloting, but recent polls suggest the incumbent has a real problem on his hands.
鉴于此，特朗普本周宣布韩国同意投资540亿美元用于阿拉斯加的液化天然气（LNG）管道项目，并于周三将沙利文召入椭圆形办公室共同宣布这一消息。其政治动机显而易见：这显然是一个旨在提升沙利文支持率的“利好消息”，尤其是在选举日临近之际。
With this in mind, the president announced this week that South Korea had agreed to invest $54 billion in a liquid natural gas pipeline project in Alaska, and Trump welcomed Sullivan to the Oval Office on Wednesday to tout the developments. The political motivations were unsubtle: This appeared to be a good-news story intended to boost the senator’s fortunes with time running out before Election Day. You can probably guess what happened next.
不过，据路透社报道，韩国政府表示该项目只有在满足某些商业和法律条件后才会继续推进。首尔工业部在一份声明中表示：“目前尚未决定是否进行投资，也未确定投资的具体金额。”
Reuters reported South Korea’s government, however, said the pipeline project would only go forward if certain commercial and legal conditions are met. South Korea will begin reviewing the Alaska LNG project to assess its commercial viability and compliance with legal procedures, Seoul’s industry ministry said in a statement.
《华盛顿太阳报》的报道称，韩国工业部长金正官周四对记者表示，他已就白宫的声明向特朗普政府提出强烈抗议，称该声明“远远超出了双方之前的协议范围”。与此同时，韩国总统文在寅通过社交媒体表示，该液化天然气（LNG）项目的商业可行性仍有待进一步确认。
“No decision has been made on whether to invest or on the size of the investment,” the statement added. report in The Washington Sun noted that Korean Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan told reporters on Thursday that he had “lodged a strong protest” with the Trump administration over the White House’s announcement, which “went far beyond what was agreed.”Around the same time, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said via social media that the commercial viability of the LNG project still needed to be confirmed.
也许特朗普早就知道这些情况，只是希望阿拉斯加的选民们不会察觉其中的差异；或者他只是对相关细节感到困惑。无论如何，如果白宫的这一举措的目的是在提前投票开始前的几周内帮助苏利文（Sullivan）的话，那么他们的计划很快就失败了。
Maybe Trump knew all of this and hoped voters in Alaska wouldn’t know the difference; maybe he was simply confused about the relevant details. Either way, if this was intended to help Sullivan a few weeks before early voting begins, the White House’s gambit fell apart rather quickly. The post South Korea pushes back against Trump’s claims about Alaska investments MS NOW