唐纳德·特朗普总统正推进其从俄罗斯进口柴油的协议，无视其所在政党日益增长的、关于接受弗拉基米尔·普京帮助的抱怨。
President Donald Trump is pushing ahead with his deal to import Russian diesel, blowing past his party’s growing complaints about taking help from Vladimir Putin.
“总统的首要任务和承诺是服务美国人民，帮助降低美国人民的成本，他正在这么做，”一名白宫官员在共和党连日严厉抱怨后表示。“总统在这一问题上的立场没有改变。” 特朗普政府本月早些时候宣布，俄罗斯将出口约220万吨柴油，以缓解损害共和党候选人中期竞选前景的燃油价格飙升，此举在党内引发轩然大波。
“The president’s main priority and commitment is to the American people and to help lower costs for the American people, and he’s doing that,” a White House official said after days of withering complaints by Republicans. “The president has not shifted his stance on it.”The Trump administration caused an intraparty furor earlier this month by announcing that Russia will export roughly 2.2 million tons of its diesel in an effort to ease fuel price spikes that have hurt Republican candidates on the midterm campaign trail.
目前尚不清楚进口柴油何时正式抵达，但来自莫斯科的经济提振正引发不满，陷入胶着竞选的共和党人正忙于应对这一突如其来的宣布。
It’s unclear exactly when the imports will officially arrive, but the economic boost from Moscow is sparking discontent as Republicans in tight races scramble to message around the surprise announcement.
正在竞选参议员的众议员阿什利·辛森（共和党-爱荷华州）周二在辩论中表示，她强烈倾向于其他降低燃油价格的方案——包括暂停燃油税、设立柴油回扣计划以及增加生物燃料使用。
Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, who is running for the Senate, said on Tuesday in a debate that she vastly preferred other options to bring down fuel prices — among them, suspending the gas tax, creating a diesel rebate program, and using more biofuels.
“我们需要降低柴油价格，但我认为我们不需要通过与俄罗斯达成协议来实现，”辛森说。
“We need to lower diesel prices, but I don’t think we need to be making a deal with Russia to do it,” Hinson said.
这项俄罗斯协议完成了特朗普三项经济举措的组合，这三项举措对摇摆州共和党人在政治上具有毒性，另外两项分别是他鼓励进口牛肉的举措和他发动的对加贸易战。这三项举措在特朗普自己党内都不受欢迎，足以对共和党应对物价上涨的计划造成重大分歧。
The Russia deal completes a trio of Trump economic moves that are politically toxic to swing-state Republicans, joining his bid to encourage beef imports and his Canadian trade war. All three are unpopular enough among members of Trump’s own party to create significant discord about the GOP plan to tackle rising prices.
共和党人纷纷签署信函抨击俄罗斯柴油协议，并在竞选活动中与之划清界限：寻求再次竞选参议员的前新罕布什尔州参议员约翰·苏努努本周表示，该举措对降低美国价格作用甚微，“并为俄罗斯提供了优势”；在密歇根州，前共和党众议员迈克·罗杰斯同样与特朗普决裂。但也有其他共和党人为特朗普的政策转变进行辩护。
Republicans areg onto letters bashing the Russia diesel agreement and distancing themselves on the campaign trail: Former New Hampshire Sen. John Sununu, seeking the Senate again, said this week that the move would do little to lower prices in the US and “provides an advantage to Russia” In Michigan, former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers similarly broke with Trump. But other Republicans defended Trump’s policy change.
“总统目前将能源安全和经济安全放在首位。他专注于美国人优先，”共和党籍田纳西州参议员比尔·哈格蒂（Bill Hagerty）本周表示，他是特朗普的核心盟友。
“The president’s got energy security and economic security front of mind right now. He’s focused on Americans first,” Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., a top Trump ally, said this week.
哈格蒂驳回了美国购买柴油会不公平地援助俄罗斯对乌克兰战争的前景：“我们已实施多项制裁，并采取多项努力让普京回到正轨。”对白宫而言，论点很简单：柴油价格过高，即使是小规模进口计划也有助于减轻负担。
Hagerty dismissed the prospect that US diesel purchases would unfairly aid Russia in its war against Ukraine: “We’ve got a number of sanctions in place and a number of efforts to bring Putin into alignment.”For the White House, the argument is simple: Diesel prices are too high, and even a smaller-scale import plan helps ease the burden.
然而，政府内部其他人私下承认，近期价格上涨有一个明确原因：特朗普与伊朗的持续对抗。其政府长期以来也在探索放松对俄罗斯某些制裁的方式，以争取达成乌克兰和平协议——这也将有助于缓解通胀。
Others in the administration privately acknowledge, however, that there’s a clear reason for the recent rise in prices: Trump’s ongoing war with Iran. His administration also has long entertained ways to unwind certain sanctions on Russia in a bid to secure a peace deal with Ukraine — one that would also help ease inflation.
“不得不这样做，是伊朗战争的又一个必然后果，”第二位特朗普政府官员表示，并补充说希望柴油交易成为“更广泛外交战略”的一部分。已有两个两党参议员小组对此决定提出反对，其中包括七名共和党人。一名众议院共和党人表示将提出立法予以阻止。
“Having to do this is yet another inevitable consequence of the Iran war,” said a second Trump administration official, who added a hope that the diesel deal becomes part of “a broader diplomatic strategy.”Already, two bipartisan groups of senators have pushed back on the decision, including seven Republicans. One House Republican has said he’ll introduce legislation to block it.
“特朗普及其团队误判了众参两院共和党党团在这个问题上的态度，”彭博经济学家克里斯·肯尼迪（Chris Kennedy）对Semafor表示。“他们试图回应来自农业州国会共和党人对柴油价格的担忧……但似乎效果不佳。”加剧这种不满的是，共和党人越来越不相信特朗普会选择实施新近颁布的对俄制裁——这些制裁是为了纪念他长期盟友、已故南卡罗来纳州共和党参议员林赛·格雷厄姆（Lindsey Graham）而通过的。
“Trump and his team have misread the room on the Republican caucuses in the House and the Senate on this issue,” Bloomberg economist Chris Kennedy told Semafor. “They’re trying to respond to concerns from congressional Republicans in farm states about diesel prices … and it doesn’t seem to be landing very well.”Fueling that discontent is Republicans’ dimming faith that Trump will choose to impose recently enacted Russian sanctions that were passed in honor of his longtime ally, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
美国贸易代表杰米森·格里尔本月早些时候表示，政府计划“点名道姓”——但是否使用该制裁权力将由总统决定。
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said earlier this month that the administration planned to “name names” — but whether to use that sanctions power would be “for the president to decide.”
本周，当被问及共和党人对其从俄罗斯购买柴油的质疑时，特朗普将他们称为“真正无法认真的共和党人”，并补充说这是“为世界其他地区的交易”。白宫发言人泰勒·罗杰斯称赞特朗普“为全球市场提供大量柴油的伟大交易”。罗杰斯在一份声明中说：“降低美国伟大农民、卡车司机和家庭的价格仍然是首要任务，同时总统敦促俄乌冲突双方停止对炼油厂的袭击，这些袭击正在推高成本并伤害美国消费者。”
Asked this week about GOP skeptics of his diesel purchases from Russia, Trump dismissed them as “Republicans that can’t really be serious,” adding that it’s “a deal for the rest of the world.”White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers praised Trump’s “great deal to supply the global market with massive amounts of diesel.”“Lowering prices for America’s great farmers, truckers, and families remains a top priority as the President simultaneously urges both sides of the Russia-Ukraine conflict to stop strikes against refineries, which are driving up costs and hurting American consumers,” Rogers said in a statement.
肯尼迪表示：“我们当时认为[该法案]不会在制裁方面带来任何改变……我认为这个决定只是强化了这一观点。”肯尼迪曾在特朗普和拜登政府期间担任国家安全委员会成员。
“We didn’t think [the bill] would change anything on the sanctions front … and I think that this decision just reinforces that view,” said Kennedy, who served on the National Security Council during the Trump and Biden administrations.
少数共和党议员，包括密西西比州参议院武装服务委员会主席罗杰·威克，正采取不同的立场，预测这些柴油进口永远不会实现。一些共和党人认为，特朗普的新进口协议违反了2022年禁止美国购买俄罗斯能源产品的法律。另一些人则指出，欧洲制裁和俄罗斯短缺等障碍存在。
A handful of GOP lawmakers, including Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker of Mississippi, are taking a different tack by predicting the diesel imports never materialize. Some Republicans posit that Trump’s new import deal violates a 2022 law that bans the US from purchasing Russian energy products. Others point to hurdles like European sanctions and Russian shortages.
即使这些进口真的实现，也不会对降低价格产生太大影响。肯尼迪表示，投资者已经在预期“几乎没有短期影响”，因为世界使用的柴油远多于俄罗斯将出口的量。
Even if it does become real, it won’t do much to lower prices. Investors are already pricing in “little near-term impact,” Kennedy said, since the world uses far more diesel than Russia will export.
威克表示，他一直在向政府提出替代方案。目前尚不清楚这些方案可能是什么。
Wicker said he’s pitched the administration on alternative ideas. It’s unclear what those could be.
无论是红色染料柴油还是俄罗斯柴油，特朗普政府都在不遗余力地试图说服选民它正在降低价格……尽管它仍在维持一场推高成本的伊朗战争。
Whether it’s red-dye diesel or Russian diesel, the Trump administration is pulling out all the stops to convince voters that it’s bringing prices down … even as it maintains an Iran war that is driving costs up.
到目前为止，总统的顾问们除了让本党其他成员的日子更难过之外，几乎没有什么成果可言。
So far, the president’s advisers have little to show for it beyond making life harder for the rest of their party.