在共和党反思中期选举惨败之际，唐纳德·特朗普总统周三匆忙召集媒体，报道他在白宫的首度公开讲话——这是自民主党以压倒性优势夺得众议院和参议院控制权以来，他首次在白宫发表公开讲话。
In the midst of the GOP reckoning with massive losses in the midterms, President Donald Trump on Wednesday hastily called the press in to cover his first public remarks from the White House since the Democrats overwhelmingly wrestled control of both the House and Senate.
然而，在20分钟的时间里，总统并未谈及选民周二晚间对其政府作出的历史性否定。相反，总统站在白宫宴会厅施工现场的一根巨大横梁前，对着一群建筑工人发表讲话，谈论他众多旨在“美化华盛顿”的心仪工程——首当其冲的便是这座拥有50英尺高天花板、可容纳数百名宾客的巨型宴会厅。
But for 20 minutes, the president didn’t address the history-making renouncement of his administration that voters delivered Tuesday night. Instead, the president, standing in the construction site of the White House ballroom in front of a large beam, spoke to a crowd of construction workers about his many passion projects to “beautify Washington” — first and foremost, the massive ballroom befit with 50-foot ceilings and the capacity to hold hundreds of guests.
“这里将是宴会厅。就在这儿是宴会厅。这边，这一侧会有宏伟的柱子，外部的室外柱子，非常像最高法院。它们实际上更高，也更加宏伟，”特朗普说。
“This will be the ballroom. Right here is the ballroom. Over here, you're going to have magnificent columns on this side, outside exterior columns, very much like the Supreme Court. They're actually taller and they're even more magnificent,” Trump said.
听起来几乎颇为乐观的特朗普逐一介绍了各项在建工程的进展，他正试图按照自己的构想重塑华盛顿。这与全国各地的共和党人形成了鲜明对比——特朗普在2024年初选中击败的对手罗恩·德桑蒂斯在首次公开讲话中称此次中期选举是“共和党的灭绝级事件”——他们正竭力总结教训，并在周二晚间的惨败后寻找前进之路。
An almost sanguine sounding Trump ticked through a progress report of the various construction projects underway as he looks to remake Washington in his image. It was a sharp contrast from Republicans nationwide — Trump’s defeated 2024 primary foe Ron DeSantis’ first public remarks called the midterms an “extinction-level event for Republicans” — who are grasping for lessons learned and a way forward after a Tuesday night beatdown.
“我热爱建筑，”总统说，随后转过身，用粗黑记号笔在宴会厅最后一根横梁上签下了自己的名字。
“I love construction,” the president said, before turning around and putting his signature on the last of the ballroom’s beams, in thick black sharpie.
当政治策略师们在X平台上发表长文，对中期选举结果进行“尸检”式复盘，共和党内部的相互指责也愈演愈烈之际，内政部长道格·伯古姆——总统在华盛顿各处建设项目上的得力助手——站在人群前，宣布周三是“一个庆祝的日子”，也是“一个感恩的日子”。
As political strategists delivered their autopsies of the midterm results in lengthy X posts and GOP finger-pointing unfolded with fervor, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the president’s right-hand-man on construction projects around the city, stood before the crowd and declared Wednesday “a day of celebration” and “a day of gratitude.”
“这是最后一根将要就位的钢梁，”伯古姆说，“它将被吊装上去，这正是我们在此庆祝的事情。”特朗普明确表示，决定在周三聚焦这项建设工程是他本人的主意。
“This is the last beam that's going into place," Burgum said. "It's going to be raised up, and that's what we're here to celebrate.”Trump made clear that the decision to focus on the construction project on Wednesday was his idea.
“我认为媒体应该到场。这原本是一场不向媒体开放的活动，”特朗普在一群摄影师面前进行了一番友好的闲聊时说道，“我说‘这是最棒的，对吧？’”周三的工地参观——伴随着握手以及为建筑工人准备的硬帽——与他上一次在2018年面对中期选举惨败时的情形相去甚远。那一次，他召开了一场愤怒的新闻发布会，痛斥共和党人，并将失利归咎于他们。
“I thought the press should be here. This was a non-press event,” Trump said, amid some amicable small talk in front of a group of photographers. “I said ‘this is the greatest, right?’”Wednesday’s site tour — accompanied by handshakes andg hardhats for construction workers — was a world away from the last time he faced a midterm drubbing in 2018. That time, he called an angry press conference berating Republicans and blaming them for their losses.
“米娅·洛夫没有给我任何爱。她输了。太可惜了，”特朗普八年前说道，指的是当时处于选情胶着州的犹他州共和党人。
“Mia Love gave me no love. And she lost. Too bad,” Trump said eight years ago, referencing the then-battleground Utah Republican.
周三的活动呼应了总统在中期选举前的最后一次公开讲话，当时他在国家广场的倒影池前发表演讲，为这个陷入困境的项目收尾——该项目旨在重新粉刷这座位于亚伯拉罕·林肯纪念堂前的浅水池。
Wednesday’s event echoed the president’s last public remarks before the midterms, when he closed the cycle with a speech before the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall, an embattled project to repaint the shallow water feature in front of the monument to Abraham Lincoln.
中期选举的话题只是在总统发表讲话之后、在媒体的追问下才被提及。
The midterms only came up after the president delivered remarks, at the prompting of the press.
在回答了几个关于众议长迈克·约翰逊在周二失利后卸任、以及副总统JD·万斯声称其政党之所以惨败是因为总统所力挺的伊朗战争的问题后，特朗普平静地将注意力引回宴会厅。
After taking a few questions about Speaker Mike Johnson stepping down from his post after Tuesday’s losses, and Vice President JD Vance’s assertion that his party lost so handily because of the war in Iran that the president championed, Trump calmly directed the attention back to the ballroom.
“现在看着钢梁升上去，”他说，那块带有他签名标志的金属构件被吊装到天花板上的位置。
“Now watch the beam go up,” he said, as the hunk of metal carrying his signature was hoisted into its place in the ceiling.
“现在想象一下，天花板上挂满枝形吊灯。想象一下大理石地板。哦，那将会非常漂亮。这将是最漂亮的建筑，”总统说。
“Now envision chandeliers all over your ceiling. Envision marble floor. Oh, it's going to be beautiful. This will be the most beautiful building,” the president said.