在过去的几周里，特朗普总统再次越过了“卢比孔河”（即不可逾越的界限）。毫无疑问，最高法院作出的那项允许他免于因总统任期内的行为而受到刑事起诉的糟糕裁决让他更加肆无忌惮；如今，他开始公然无视法律，尤其是当他的自尊心受到威胁时。
Over the last few weeks, President Trump has crossed yet another Rubicon. No doubt encouraged by the Supreme Court’s very bad decision exempting him from ever being criminally charged for his conduct as president, he has started simply ignoring the law, especially when his ego is at stake.
这一切始于他下令将 CNN、MSNBC 和 Politico 驱逐出白宫的举动。特朗普解释说：“他们故意发布负面新闻，目的就是贬低共和党和共和党政府。”他还补充道：“这种行为实在令人发指；一个允许人们故意传播负面信息的国家，肯定存在严重的问题。”虽然对于非法律专业人士来说，这种行为可能难以理解其严重性，但我可以肯定：美国政府绝不应该因为人们说了关于总统或总统所在政党的负面言论就对他们进行任何形式的惩罚。
It started with his decision to kick CNN, MSNOW and Politico off the White House grounds. Trump explained he banned them because, “They purposely write negative news. And they do that because they want try and to diminish the Republicans and a Republican administration.”He later added, “It’s sick. There’s something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stories.”If you are not a lawyer, it might be hard to process just how shocking this behavior is. But take it from me, it’s really bad. Even if you are not a lawyer, you can appreciate that the U.S. government should not punish people — not even the tiniest bit — for saying unflattering things about the president, much less about the president’s political party.
虽然特朗普的厚颜无耻是最近才表现出来的，但他试图惩罚自己不喜欢的媒体机构的做法其实早已存在。美联社（Associated Press）就因为拒绝更新其新闻写作规范（要求所有媒体必须使用“Gulf of America”这一地理名称）而被部分禁止进入白宫活动；目前，该机构仍在与政府就这一禁令展开法律斗争。
Although Trump’s shamelessness is new, his efforts to punish media outlets he dislikes isn’t. The Associated Press, partially barred from White House events because they refuse to update their style manual to require everyone to refer to “The Gulf of America,” is still in a legal battle with the administration over the ban.
法院迅速下令要求白宫恢复 CNN、MSNBC 和 Politico 的进入权限。然而特朗普依然对 CNN 心怀不满；如今，这些媒体在报道总统出行活动时仍被禁止进入白宫。
A court quickly ordered the White House to restore access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico. Despite that order, Trump still has it in for CNN, which now finds itself barred from covering the president when he travels.
本周，特朗普开始发布这些由纳税人资金资助的政治广告，广告上印有“本广告由美国政府资助”这样的字样。
This week, Trump began releasing taxpayer-funded political s bearing the legend, “Paid for by the U.S. Government.”
第一则广告配乐使用了 JMSN 演唱的歌曲《Love Me》；请记住这一点，因为这非常重要。广告的开头部分通过总统的旁白攻击了马克思主义者、共产主义者和社会主义者。广告的后半部分列举了特朗普所谓的“成就”，并配以这样的旁白：“他是我见过最坚强、最具韧性的人，没有什么能够阻止他为他所热爱的国家而努力奋斗。”我并没有编造这些内容。第二则广告……嗯，你们真的应该亲自去看看。
The first ad is set to a track by JMSN titled “Love Me” — remember that, it’s important. The ad begins by attacking Marxists, communists and socialists with a voice-over by the president. The second part of the ad lists Trump’s claimed achievements with a voice-over that says, “He is the toughest, most resilient person that I’ve ever met, and nothing was going to stop him from fighting so hard for the country he loves.”I am not making this up. The second ad … well, you should really just watch it for yourself.
如果你们觉得这些广告看起来像普通的竞选广告，那确实没错——因为特朗普在 2024 年 1 月也发布过完全相同的广告。
If you think this sounds like it could be a campaign ad, that’s because it is. Trump ran the exact same ad back in January 2024.
通常情况下，我会对那些试图用“常识”来替代法律分析的人感到非常恼火；但就连我也必须承认：其实不需要法律学位就能明白为什么特朗普不能使用政府的资金来制作共和党的竞选广告。
Normally, I get extremely annoyed with people who try to substitute “common sense” for legal analysis. But even I will admit that you don’t need a law degree to understand why Trump is not allowed to spend the government’s money to run Republican campaign ads.
对此，联邦法律有明确的规定。首先，《综合拨款法案》明确规定：政府资金不得“直接或间接地（包括通过私人承包商）用于美国境内的宣传或宣传目的”，除非获得国会批准。所谓“宣传”包括“纯粹的党派性言论”以及任何旨在自我夸大的行为。
And there are federal statutes that cover this. For starters, the Consolidated Appropriations Act that currently funds the government forbids government funds from being “used directly or indirectly, including by private contractor, for publicity or propaganda purposes within the United States” unless approved by Congress. Propaganda includes “purely partisan communications” and “self-aggrandizement.”
特朗普的第一则广告纯粹就是自我夸大的表现（虽然这则广告也非常令人尴尬，但特朗普的所有言论本质上都是如此）。第二则广告（其中特朗普在走廊里行走的场景）显然属于竞选广告；这种宣传内容已经带有极强的党派色彩了。在广告中，特朗普宣称：“这是最后的决战”，并呼吁美国人加入他的行列，共同“推翻那些憎恨我们国家的腐败政治势力”，并帮助他“击败那些制造虚假新闻的媒体”。
Trump’s first ad is nothing but self-aggrandizement. (It’s also incredibly cringe worthy, but self-aggrandizement always is.) The second ad — the one with Trump walking down a hallway — is literally a campaign ad. Communication doesn’t get much more partisan than that. In it, Trump tells us “This is the final battle.”He urges Americans to join him in his fight to “throw off the sick political class that hates our country” and help him “rout the fake news media.”
特朗普已经花费了250万美元的纳税人资金来制作这些广告；在他完成这些宣传活动之前，他还计划再投入至少2000万美元。
Trump has already spent $2.5 million of your taxpayer dollars running these ads. Before he’s done, he is planning to spend at least $20 million on them.
他的辩护理由是：这些只不过是公共服务公告罢了。“爱国主义与党派无关；这些公共服务公告完全体现了美国的价值观，信息也公开透明，其目的就是服务整个国家——而不是为了在选举中赢得选票。”
His defense is that these are simply public service announcements. “Patriotism isn’t partisan. These public service announcements are unapologetically American, clearly disclosed, and aimed at the country — not a line on the ballot.”
特朗普可能真的相信这一点，但这反而让情况变得更糟。这意味着他认为，批评自己的人是不爱国的。因此，他才对禁止批评性媒体进入白宫、为自己制作宣传广告，以及试图消除“虚假新闻媒体”毫无异议。
Trump might actually believe this, but that makes it worse, not better. That means Trump thinks that it is unpatriotic to write unflattering things about himself. That’s why he sees no problem with banning critical media outlets from the White House or running ads in praise of himself and about getting rid of “the fake news media.”
无论是拆除白宫的东翼建筑、将自己的个人建筑风格强加给华盛顿，还是准备干涉11月的选举，特朗普都越来越坚信：“我就是国家。”我无法代表他最忠实的支持者发言，但对我们其他人来说，区分特朗普与“美国”本身并不难。没有什么比充满活力的新闻媒体对政府进行批评更“美国化”的了……然而，如果一位总统自视甚高、表现得像法国国王一样，那才真正是不爱国的行为。
Whether it’s tearing down the East Wing, imposing his architectural whims on Washington, or gearing up to interfere with the November election, Trump appears increasingly convinced: “I am the state.”I can’t speak for his most loyal voters, but the rest of us have no trouble distinguishing between Trump and America. Nothing is more exuberantly American than a vigorous news media criticizing the government. But a president getting above himself and acting like he’s a French king?
克里斯·特鲁克斯（Chris Truax）是一名上诉律师，曾在2008年担任约翰·麦凯恩（John McCain）竞选活动的南加州负责人。
Now that’s unpatriotic. Chris Truax is an appellate attorney who served as Southern California chair for John McCain’s primary campaign in 2008.