特朗普政府回到了经典的老路上去。乔纳森·查伊姆（Jonathan Chait）撰文：世人不会太在意，也不会长久记住凯蒂·扎卡里亚时代。事实上，作为唐纳德·特朗普第二任期的第二位白宫新闻秘书，她的任期在经历了五天和一场短短14分钟的新闻发布会后就结束了，并且已经开始淡出人们的记忆。
The Trump administration returns to classic form. By Jonathan Chait The world will little note, nor long remember, the Katie Zacharia era. Indeed, the tenure of the second White House press secretary of Donald Trump’s second term, which ended after five days and a single, 14-minute press conference, is already receding into memory.
然而，比她在新闻秘书任上的贡献或她所代表的理念更重要的，是扎卡里亚所代表的时期：特朗普政府重新回到了总统第一任期那种无能为力的混乱状态。
Yet what matters more than her press-secretarial contributions, or the ideas she stood for, is the period Zacharia represents: the Trump administration’s reversion to the hapless chaos of the president’s first term.
特朗普最初的执政期主要是一场闹剧，笨拙的助手们面对着种种挑战，比如在内阁会议室里找电灯开关、把汉堡砸向白宫墙壁、以及把四季酒店订错。特朗普更换人事的速度就像乐队“脊椎骨乐队”（Spinal Tap）换鼓手一样频繁，一个又一个受雇的助手在沮丧或羞耻中离职。
Trump’s initial go-round was primarily a farce, setting bumbling aides against challenges such as finding the light switches in the Cabinet room, hurling burgers against the White House wall, and booking the wrong Four Seasons. Trump cycled through personnel like Spinal Tap drummers, as one hired helper after the next left in frustration or shame.
第二任期虽然说不上正常，但至少保持了相对的高效。白宫办公厅主任苏西·维尔斯将行政部门从一个即将爆炸的烟花厂，变成了一台无情地将总统的奇思妙想转化为法律的机器。
The second term has operated with, if not normality, at least comparative efficiency. Chief of Staff Susie Wiles turned the executive branch from an exploding fireworks factory into a machine relentlessly processing the president’s whims into law.
然而，随着中期选举临近，这台机器开始出现故障。在短短几天时间里，国防部长皮特·海格塞斯宣布他将直播一场公开处决，结果却被特朗普推翻；政府解雇了美国驻希腊大使金伯利·吉尔福伊尔，因为她参与的腐败行为是如此明目张胆，以至于让这个历史上最腐败的政府都感到尴尬；据报道，特朗普还在向朋友询问他们对维尔斯的看法，这在历史上往往是他翻脸对付手下的前兆。
Yet as the midterm elections draw near, the machine has begun to sputter. In the span of days, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced he would livestream a public execution, only for Trump to overrule him; the administration fired Kimberly Guilfoyle, its ambassador to Greece, for engaging in corruption so overt, it embarrassed even the most corrupt administration in history; and reported that Trump is asking his friends what they think of Wiles, which is historically the prelude to his turning on an underling.
在这场连环车祸般的混乱中，扎卡里亚短暂地站出来，成为了政府结结巴巴的代言人。
In the midst of this multicar pileup, Zacharia briefly stepped forward as the administration’s stammering face.
如果你曾在公共场合感到过尴尬，她那场唯一的新闻发布会简直就像是一场挥之不去的噩梦。扎卡里亚低着头在讲台前宣读，其语气就像是一个患有严重焦虑症的孩子在全校师生面前宣读三年级的读书报告。她不得不中途多次停下来大口喘气。她在一段典型的发言中说，特朗普“进行了一场历史性的一天战争，现在我们是、有一个蓬勃发展的经济，以及与”——在这里她停下来调整了一下自己——“委内瑞拉的伟大关系。美国在2025年实现了创纪录的国内油气产量，在2026年实现了创纪录的原油和石油产品出口。”
If you have ever felt awkward in a public setting, her single press conference was the stuff of recurrent nightmares. Zacharia read from the podium, head down, in the tone of a third-grade book report delivered verbally in front of the entire school by a child with crippling anxiety. She had to pause multiple times to take gulps of air. Trump, she said in one typical segment, “had a historic one-day war, and now we are, have a booming economy, and a great relationship”—here she stopped to catch herself—“with Venezuela. The U.S. achieved record domestic oil and gas production in 2025 and record crude and petroleum product exports in 2026.”
在另一个时刻，当试图谈论核电站时，她称其为“特朗普总统正在兑现的事情，就像他对每一个承诺的兑现一样。”（停顿，倒吸一口气。）“除此之外，它，我们将要，它，我们将要，有54亿美元与阿拉斯加液化天然气管道挂钩。”随后她对在场的记者说：“我的目标是能够与总统完全同步地进行沟通，因为他自己就是最好的代言人，并且绝对会以——通过那种方式引领方向。”这就好像特朗普能比她做得更好这一想法闯入了她的脑海，并脱口而出。在仅回答了三个问题后，她就结束了新闻发布会。
At another point, attempting to discuss nuclear-power plants, she called them “something President Trump is delivering on, just like he delivers on every promise.” (Pause, gasp for breath.) “In addition to that, it, we will be, it, we will be, there is $54 billion tied to the Alaska LNG pipeline.”Then she told the assembled reporters, “My goal is to be able to communicate that in complete tandem with the president, as he is his own best spokesperson, and will absolutely be leading the way as—with that.”It was as if the notion that Trump could do her job much better than she could had intruded into her thoughts and made its way out of her mouth. She wrapped up the press conference after answering only three questions. Shortly after, she appeared with the president on the White House lawn, and when a reporter asked which state’s bar exam she had passed—Zacharia has described herself as an attorney—she replied, mysteriously, “When I moved to China.”
此后不久，她与总统一起出现在白宫草坪上，当一名记者问她通过了哪个州的律师资格考试时——扎卡里亚曾自称为一名律师——她神秘地回答：“当我搬到中国的时候。”
Matters fell apart quickly.
事情很快就急转直下。她出现在肖恩·汉尼蒂的节目中，或许是期望得到汉尼蒂那种因温和对待而闻名、甚至其姓氏都成了代名词的待遇，以便进行友好的舆论危机公关。然而，汉尼蒂却对她进行了一场她显然毫无准备的审讯。事实上，她的辩护就是承认自己毫无准备。“我的感受是，我在备采时间非常短的情况下勇敢地挑起了大任。考虑到我上任还不到八个小时，早上才拿到简报手册，我觉得我那天已经尽我所能，肖恩，为美国人民做出了贡献。”
She appeared on Sean Hannity’s show, perhaps expecting the tender treatment for which Hannity is so synonymous that his last name has become a portmanteau, , for friendly damage control. Instead he subjected her to an interrogation for which she was predictably unprepared. Indeed, her defense consisted of describing herself as unprepared. “What I feel is I really stepped up to the plate with very little prep time. Given the fact that I’d been on the job less than maybe eight hours and had a briefing book in the morning, I feel like I did my very best, Sean, to deliver for the American people that day.”Sometimes, your best just isn’t good enough.
有时候，你尽了最大努力就是不够好。扎卡里亚如此，整个政府亦是如此——陷入了一场注定失败的战争和持续的通货膨胀之中，并且四处乱撞寻找替罪羊来为这场惨败负责。寻找那些不是唐纳德·特朗普的人。
So it was with Zacharia. So it is with the whole administration—mired in a losing war and persistent inflation, and flailing about for people to blame for the debacle. People who aren’t Donald Trump.