加布里埃拉·阿翁·安格伊拉 报道：在中期选举的最后冲刺阶段，总统唐纳德·特朗普已将紧急救援变成竞选议题，他在关键州批准了灾难声明，并将支持声明与资金援助的宣布相结合。随着美国正为即将袭击墨西哥湾沿岸的一场强飓风做准备，这些举动再次引发了关于政府是否将灾难恢复政治化的质疑。
GABRIELA AOUN ANGUEIRA President Donald Trump has turned emergency relief into a campaign talking point in the final sprint to the midterm elections , approving disaster declarations in consequential states and coupling endorsements with funding announcements. As the country braces for a major hurricane barreling toward the U.S. Gulf Coast, the moves have revived questions about whether the administration is politicizing disaster recovery.
最新的例子出现在周三，当时特朗普在威斯康星州州长选举中表达了对共和党众议员汤姆·蒂芙尼的支持，同时承诺拨款数百万美元用于应对近期的风暴。
The latest example came Wednesday, when Trump voiced support for Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany in Wisconsin’s governor race while pledging millions to help with recent storms.
此外，总统最近还开玩笑说，如果共和党参议员候选人迈克尔·沃特利落选，他将切断对北卡罗来纳州的资金援助——该州仍在从两年前飓风“海伦”中恢复。而在上周六与参议员乔恩·赫斯特在俄亥俄州举行竞选集会的前一天，特朗普批准了该州的灾难声明，但另有15项申请仍在待处理中。
In addition, the president recently joked that he would cut off money to North Carolina, which is still healing from Hurricane Helene two years ago, if Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley lost. And the day before an Ohio campaign rally with Sen. Jon Husted last Saturday, Trump approved a disaster declaration for the state while leaving 15 other requests pending.
灾难幸存者倡导者表示，他们希望民选官员优先考虑灾区的恢复工作，而不是将其用作政治工具。
Disaster survivor advocates say they want elected officials to prioritize their recovery — not wield it as a political tool.
“灾后恢复不应涉及党派之争，”非营利倡导组织“极端天气幸存者”的联合创始人兼联合执行主任西耶拉·林赛-科斯说道。
“Recovery isn’t partisan,” said Sierra Lindsey-Kos, co-founder and co-executive director of Extreme Weather Survivors, an advocacy nonprofit.
“邻居之间互相帮助时，不会去问对方投了谁的票，而事情本来就应该如此，”她说。
“Neighbors help each other without asking who anyone voted for, and that’s exactly the way it should be,” she said.
白宫驳斥了将政治因素介入灾难恢复的指控。发言人劳伦·比斯周二表示：“总统在灾难救援方面所做的决定并不存在政治化问题。”
The White House rejected accusations that it’s injecting politics into disaster recovery. “There is no politicization to the president’s decisions on disaster relief,” spokesperson Lauren Bis said Tuesday.
特朗普在有关中期选举的社交媒体帖子中频繁提及对灾区的援助，有时还会在宣布新资金的同时，提醒人们他对共和党候选人的支持，例如艾奥瓦州的艾什利·欣森和肯塔基州的安迪·巴。
Trump has frequently mentioned disaster support in social media posts about the midterms, sometimes announcing new funding in conjunction with reminders of endorsements for Republican candidates like Ashley Hinson in Iowa and Andy Barr in Kentucky.
周三，特朗普发文称，他已与蒂芙尼通话，“她获得了我对她成为威斯康星州下一任州长的完全且全面的认可”，并告知他将有约1790万美元的救灾资金拨给该州。“1800万美元应该能帮上大忙，”特朗普写道。
On Wednesday, Trump posted that he’d spoken to Tiffany, “who has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next Governor of the Great State of Wisconsin,” and told him about $17.9 million in disaster funds were coming to the state. “18 Million Dollars should help, A LOT,” Trump wrote.
民主党籍州长托尼·埃弗斯的一名发言人表示，他们的办公室并未收到有关这笔资金的通知，而埃弗斯也在社交媒体上回应了这一声明。
A spokesperson for Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said their office had not been informed about the money, and Evers responded to the announcement on social media.
“显然，特朗普总统和国会议员蒂芙尼仍在拿本应帮助社区从龙卷风和洪水等灾害中恢复的紧急援助来做政治文章。”蒂芙尼正在威斯康星州州长选举中与民主党候选人戴维·克劳利展开角逐。
“Clearly, President Trump and Congressman Tiffany are continuing to play politics with emergency aid that’s meant to help communities recover in the wake of disasters like tornadoes and floods.”Tiffany is up against Democratic nominee David Crowley in Wisconsin’s governor’s race.
前总统巴拉克·奥巴马时期联邦紧急事务管理署（FEMA）发言人拉斐尔·勒梅特表示，即使只是制造出救灾援助与选票之间存在关联的表象，在传统上也被视为“越界行为”。
Even creating the perception that disaster relief and votes are connected has traditionally been “out of bounds,” said Rafael LeMaitre, FEMA spokesperson under former President Barack Obama.
“这会损害灾害管理体系的公信力，也会削弱公众对政府应对灾害方式的信任，”他说。
“It diminishes the integrity of the disaster management system and it erodes trust in the way the government addresses disasters generally,” he said.
当特朗普在北卡罗来纳州为共和党参议员候选人迈克尔·沃特利举行集会时，他承认该州仍在等待飓风“海伦”带来的数十亿美元联邦恢复资金。
When Trump held a rally in North Carolina for Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley, the president acknowledged the state was still waiting for billions of dollars in federal recovery funds for Hurricane Helene .
“如果迈克尔输了，我就不会拨款了，”他说。“不，我开玩笑的，你们还是会拿到这笔钱的，”他补充道。
“Now if Michael loses, I’m not sending it,” he said. “No, I’m only kidding, you’re getting it,” he added.
在北卡罗来纳州西部选区参选国会议员的共和党人詹妮弗·巴尔科姆后来为特朗普的言论辩护。
Republican Jennifer Balkcom, a congressional candidate in a western North Carolina district, later defended Trump’s comments.
“我不知道他是不是在开玩笑，”巴尔科姆对WLOS ABC新闻13频道表示。“我认为他是在试图说服选民投票给迈克尔·沃特利。”在北卡罗来纳州本土组织团体工作的乔恩·康塞尔表示，虽然这个笑话可能不会让特朗普最忠实的支持者感到意外，但其他人却觉得令人不适。
“I don’t know if he was being funny,” Balkcom told WLOS ABC News 13. “I think he was trying to persuade voters to vote for Michael Whatley.”While the joke might not faze Trump’s most dedicated supporters, others found it off putting, said Jon Council, who works for the organizing group Down Home North Carolina.
“这完全不像一个认真对待当地实际情况、也认真对待美国纳税人责任的个人或政府，”康塞尔说道。
“That just doesn’t strike me as a person or administration that’s taking the conditions on the ground here seriously, and taking the responsibility to the American taxpayer seriously,” Council said.
上周六，特朗普在俄亥俄州的一场竞选集会上也提到了灾难救助资金。他在范达利亚市一所高中的体育馆内对支持者表示，在8月遭遇恶劣天气后，他已经为该州签署了一项“特别”的灾难声明。
Trump also brought up disaster relief funds at a campaign rally in Ohio last Saturday, telling supporters in a high school gymnasium in Vandalia that he had signed a “special” disaster declaration for the state after August severe weather.
“你们遭遇了一些严重的风暴，乔恩和所有人都希望我提供帮助，而我已经处理好了，”特朗普说道。他指的是共和党参议员乔恩·赫斯特德，后者正在与民主党人谢罗德·布朗展开激烈的连任竞选。
“You had some bad storms, and Jon and everybody wanted me to help, and I took care of it,” Trump said, referring to Republican Senator Jon Husted, who is running a tight reelection race against Democrat Sherrod Brown.
俄亥俄州的重大灾难声明授权向共和党州长迈克·德温所请求的23个县中的7个县居民提供直接援助。与此同时，其他15个来自各州、部落和地区的请求仍在待处理中，其中包括夏威夷州的两个请求——该州在8月和9月接连遭受飓风袭击。
The major disaster declaration for Ohio authorizes direct assistance to residents of seven of the 23 counties requested by Republican Governor Mike DeWine. It came while 15 other requests from states, tribes and territories remain pending, including two from Hawaii, which experienced back-to-back hurricanes in August and September.
在上周前往另外两个共和党占主导地位的州——俄克拉荷马州和内布拉斯加州举行集会之前，特朗普并未回应那些仍在等待处理的灾难援助请求，而这两个州的选举竞争远不如俄亥俄州激烈。
Trump did not answer pending disaster requests before rallying in two other Republican states last week with less consequential races, Oklahoma and Nebraska.
城市研究所的高级研究员安德鲁·伦巴赫长期追踪总统发布的灾难声明。他表示，政治家们“一直以来都试图利用灾难为自己谋利”。不过，他指出，本届白宫的行为“非同寻常，而且坦率地说令人担忧”。美联社7月份的一项分析发现，特朗普批准了2024年选举中支持他的州所提出请求的超过四分之三，但并未批准那些未支持他的州所提出请求的一半。
Andrew Rumbach, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute who tracks presidential disaster declarations, said politicians “have always tried to use disasters to their advantage.”However, he said this White House’s behavior has been “unusual and frankly concerning.”An Associated Press analysis in July found that Trump has approved more than three-quarters of the requests from states that voted for him in the 2024 election but less than half the requests from states that did not.
美国联邦紧急事务管理署（FEMA）周二表示：“任何认为灾难援助决策带有政治动机的说法，都无法反映这一流程的实际运作方式，也无法反映FEMA执行其使命的方式。”然而，政治因素已经渗透到FEMA近期的官方沟通中。
A FEMA spokesperson said Tuesday that “any suggestion that disaster decisions are politically motivated does not reflect how this process works or how FEMA carries out its mission.”Politics has permeated recent communications from FEMA itself.
一份关于为应对东北部风暴做准备工作的九月新闻稿中，列出了18名共和党籍国会议员，并称机构领导层在该天气事件期间正与他们“密切合作”，但并未提及任何民主党人，尽管所列各州均由民主党领导。
A September news release about preparations for a nor’easter storm listed 18 Republican members of Congress with whom it said agency leadership was “working closely” during the weather event, omitting mention of any Democrats despite the states mentioned being Democrat-led.
美国联邦应急管理局（FEMA）的一名发言人并未回应有关为何仅列出共和党代表的提问。
A FEMA spokesperson did not address questions about why only Republican representatives were named.