特朗普总统经常用来形容他的共和党对手的一个称呼是“RINO”（即“名义上的共和党人”）。然而，事实表明，总统应该牢记那句古老的谚语：“住在玻璃房子里的人不应该扔石头”。随着他的第二个任期即将过半，特朗普已经背弃了那些多年来一直维系着共和党保守派阵营的核心价值观。这与他的第一个任期截然不同——在那个时期，他凭借自己的商业头脑，通过减税和放松监管措施推动了经济的稳定增长。
One of President Trump’s most frequent and favorite epithets for his Republican antagonists is “RINO” — that is, “Republican in name only.”But the evidence suggests that the president should be mindful of the old adage: “People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.”Nearing the midpoint of his second term, Trump has turned his back on long held Republican principles which have glued together the conservative movement for decades. This is very different from his first term, when he used his business acumen to produce solid economic growth through tax cuts and deregulation.
2020年2月，特朗普的的支持率还高达49%，他的连任前景看起来非常乐观。然而，新冠疫情严重扰乱了人们的日常生活，经济遭受重创，这使得选民对执政党产生了强烈的不满。
In February 2020, Trump’s approval rating stood at 49 percent and reelection prospects looked good. That was when COVID severely disrupted to everyday life and its economic wreckage soured voters on the party in charge.
四年后，特朗普的名字与格罗弗·克利夫兰（Grover Cleveland）一同被载入史册——克利夫兰是唯一一位连任两届但任期不连续的美国总统。但从第二个任期开始，特朗普就开始推行自己公开宣布的“复仇计划”，任由自己的虚荣心主导政策决策，只为取悦那些支持他“让美国再次伟大”（MAGA）的追随者。
Four years later, Trump put his name into the history books alongside that of Grover Cleveland, the only other president to serve two non-consecutive terms. But from the start of his second term, Trump pursued his publicly announced revenge agenda and allowed his insatiable ego to drive policy decisions aimed to please only his MAGA base.
因此，他的执政缺乏任何明确的哲学或原则可言。保守主义的核心价值观被彻底抛到了九霄云外；这位自称为“非常稳定的天才”的总统，将全部精力都投入到集中权力于行政部门的过程中。他根本不在乎法院的裁决，也不在乎宪法中关于“联邦政府由三个平等的部门组成”这一基本原则。就连那些由他亲自任命的法官，也无法幸免于他在社交媒体上发泄的愤怒言论……尼尔·戈萨奇（Neil Gorsuch）、布雷特·卡瓦诺（Brett Kavanaugh）和艾米·科尼·巴雷特（Amy Coney Barrett）大法官就是明证。
Thus, there was no overriding governing philosophy. The principles of conservatism were left on the cutting room floor as the self-proclaimed “very stable genius” mode of operation became focused on the accumulation of power to the executive. Damn the courts! Full speed ahead. Trump routinely attacks judges who issue a decision he does not like, throwing on the trash heap of governance our constitutional doctrine that the federal government consists of three co-equal branches. Even judges appointed by Trump himself are not exempt from his late-night tantrums on Truth Social. Ask Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
与多个长期盟友发动贸易战，这种行为在共和党的以往竞选纲领中从未出现过。特朗普对加拿大重新怀有的敌意，最终可能会让共和党失去对参议院的控制权——因为密歇根州和缅因州的选民会通过投票给那些明显更优秀的民主党参议员候选人来发泄他们的不满。或许特朗普会解释自己为何不等到中期选举之后才对美国的这个长期盟友采取经济制裁措施。
Starting trade wars with multiple longtime allies is nowhere to be found in previous Republican Party platforms. Trump’s renewed spite for Canada may end up costing Republicans control of the Senate as voters in Michigan and Maine take out their frustration by voting for clearly inferior Democratic Senate candidates. Perhaps Trump will explain why he did not wait until after the midterm election to economically attack America’s neighbor and longtime ally.
美国的自由价值观已经遭到严重破坏：特朗普削弱了美国对北约的承诺，反而与残暴的独裁者普京勾结在一起，甚至邀请他参加了在特朗普所属的多拉尔乡村俱乐部举行的G20峰会。如今，特朗普还想用柴油燃料来换取普京的军事支持（而柴油燃料目前供应紧张，价格高昂）。特朗普对伊朗的错误决策会导致多少无辜的乌克兰平民丧生？
America’s commitment to freedom lies in tatters as Trump has weakened our commitment to NATO and cozies up to the murderous dictator Putin, even inviting him to the G20 meeting at Trump’s Doral Country Club. Now Trump wants to fund Putin’s war machine in exchange for diesel fuel, which is in short supply and now comes at an exorbitant cost. How many innocent Ukrainian civilians will die as a direct result of Trump’s ill-planned attack on Iran?
愿林赛·格雷厄姆推动的俄罗斯制裁措施能够得到应有的认可与尊重……这些行为与戈尔巴乔夫当年所说的“戈尔巴乔夫先生，拆掉这堵墙吧”截然相反。美国的债务规模已经到了令人难以想象的地步：在特朗普执政的六年以及拜登执政的四年里，美国的债务从20万亿美元增加到了40万亿美元，其中超过一半的增长发生在特朗普执政期间。曾经有一段时间，保守派人士还反对增加债务。
May Lindsey Graham’s Russian sanctions legacy rest in peace. Those actions are a very long way from “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”America’s level of debt is beyond comprehension. Six years of Trump and four years of Biden has taken America’s debt from $20 trillion to $40 trillion with more than half of that increase on Trump’s watch. There was a time when conservatives were opposed to increasing the debt.
“负责任联邦预算委员会”指出：当社会保障基金在2032年耗尽时，现行法律要求所有领取养老金的老年人必须削减24%的养老金金额。特朗普本可以像里根在1982年那样，以负责任的态度推动改革来稳定社会保障体系；然而他却选择了与拜登站在同一阵营，坚持“不改变现状；现在不行；永远都不改变”的立场。他们俩都该感到羞愧。
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget tells us that when the Social Security fund hits zero in 2032, current law requires a reduction in benefits of 24 percent for every senior citizen receiving payments. Trump could responsibly lead as Reagan did in 1982 to implement reforms that would stabilize the system. Instead, he chose to join the ostrich caucus with Biden and adopt a position of “No changes; Not now; Not ever.”Shame on both of them.
特朗普的小气和冲动结合在一起，实实在在地把美国前高级官员置于人身危险之中。他撤销了前国家安全顾问约翰·博尔顿和前国务卿迈克·蓬佩奥的安保细节，尽管全世界、特别是伊朗都知道，他们参与了特朗普下令暗杀伊朗高级军事官员的策划。
Trump’s pettiness and impetuousness has combined to literally put former high ranking American officials in physical danger. He removed the security details of former National Security Advisor John Bolton and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, even though the world, and specifically Iran, knows that they were involved in planning the Trump-ordered assassination of high-ranking Iranian military officials.
想想看。总统公开下令，让那些帮助执行他命令的美国前高级官员陷入人身危险，因为……为什么呢？作为美国公民，你认为这是可以接受的行为吗？
Think about that. The president publicly orders that former high-ranking American officials who helped carry out his orders should be placed in physical danger because … why? Is that an acceptable action to you as an American citizen?
特朗普最近还动辄把某些民主党人称为社会主义者。毫无疑问，其中有些人确实是。但对于一个在31家私营企业中持有部分所有权的政党的领导人来说，指责别人搞社会主义实在是荒唐。你可能还记得社会主义的一条原则：政府拥有生产资料。特朗普显然已把它当作自己的标准操作方式。
Trump has also recently taken to labeling certain Democrats as socialists. Undoubtedly, some of them are. But for the leader of a party that has taken partial ownership in 31 private corporations it is indeed rich to castigate others as socialistic. You may recall a principle of socialism: government ownership of the means of production. Trump has apparently adopted it as his standard mode of operation.
真正的保守派正在意识到，特朗普是在为自己方便而利用共和党。特朗普的总统任期似乎植根于一种“每日一策”的心态，这种心态首先回应的是满足他那无法餍足的自我。
True conservatives are realizing that Trump is using the Republican Party for his own convenience. Trump’s presidency seems rooted in a policy du jour mindset which responds first and foremost to pleasuring his insatiable ego.
美国将挺过这场“一切都关于我”的总统任期。如果我深爱的共和党想挺过去，就必须回归其保守主义根基：小政府、个人自由、以实力求和平、热爱自由人民的道德领导，尤其是对我们宪法原则的尊重。
America will survive this “all about me” presidency. If my beloved Republican Party wants to survive it, it must return to its conservative roots of small government, personal freedoms, peace through strength, moral leadership of freedom-loving people and especially respect for our constitutional principles.
凯文·伊戈是共和党全国委员会前副主任、马里兰共和党前执行主任。他曾担任马里兰预算与管理部幕僚长，是里根白宫的任命官员。
Kevin Igoe is the former deputy chief of staff of the Republican National Committee and former executive director of the Maryland Republican Party. He served as chief of staff of the Maryland Department of Budget and Management and was a Reagan White House appointee.