尽管共和党在中期选举中遭遇历史性惨败，且令一些白宫工作人员大为沮丧，总统唐纳德·特朗普仍将注意力集中在他真正在意的事情上：用他过度华丽的审美装点首都。为此，特朗普周五签署公告，将椭圆形办公室列为国家纪念物。借此，他试图禁止未来的总统效仿他充当“总项目经理”。
Despite the historic beating Republicans took during the midterms, and much to the dismay of some White House staff, President Donald Trump has kept his focus on what truly matters to him: overlaying the nation’s capital with his overly ornate aesthetic. To that end, Trump signed a proclamation Friday naming the Oval Office a national monument. With it, he seeks to forbid future presidents from following him as project-manager-in-chief.
上个月，前总统贝拉克·奥巴马嘲讽了特朗普对椭圆形办公室大肆镀金改造一事，称其看起来“像萨达姆·侯赛因开了一家芝士蛋糕工厂”。甚至在那番讥讽以及保守派反应过度之前，民主党人就已经在讨论要撤销特朗普在白宫所做的改动。即将上任的民主党多数派可能会选择叫停特朗普的一些建设项目，包括在东翼原址上拔地而起的巨型宴会厅。
President Barack Obama mocked Trump’s heavily gilded makeover of the Oval Office last month when he said it looks “like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.”Even before that jab and the overwrought response from conservatives, Democrats had discussed undoing the changes Trump has made at the White House. The incoming Democratic majority may choose to halt some of Trump’s construction projects, including the giant ballroom rising where the East Wing once stood.
特朗普的行政令公告承认，白宫及其院落已被认定为国家历史地标，但为椭圆形办公室——以及内阁室——设立了特殊豁免。国家公园管理局现在将要求，在任何可能大幅改变或拆除该纪念碑或其基本建筑元素的行动之前，必须进行“文件记录、审查和替代方案的考虑”。
Trump’s executive order proclamation acknowledges that the White House and its grounds are already recognized as a National Historic Landmark but gives the Oval Office — and Cabinet Room — a special carveout. The National Park Service will now require “documentation, review, and consideration of alternatives before any action that would substantially alter or demolish the monument or its essential architectural elements.”
特朗普签署公告时，奇怪地声称需要国会的帮助才能使其生效。“我们将宣布其为国家纪念碑，并将其送交国会，予以批准，”特朗普对记者说。“如果他们说，‘我们不要椭圆形了，要改成方形，’那么他们必须回到国会，希望国会，国会里的人，足够聪明，不会让这种事情发生。”
As he signed the proclamation, Trump weirdly claimed he would require help from Congress to make it stick. “We’re going to be declaring it a national monument, and we’re going to send it over to Congress, have it ratified,” Trump told reporters. “If they want to say, ‘Let’s not have oval anymore, let’s make it square,’ what happens is they have to go back to Congress and hopefully the Congress, the people in Congress, will be smart enough not to let that happen.”
特朗普的这番话有很多值得解读的地方。公告并未提及国会，而是依据1906年《古迹法案》，该法案允许总统通过公告在联邦土地上设立国家纪念碑，无需国会参与。虽然有律师认为，该法案不允许后来的总统在没有国会批准的情况下撤销或削减先前设立的纪念碑，但这并非特朗普司法部的说法。当特朗普政府试图撤销乔·拜登总统设立的纪念碑时，它简短地辩称，《古迹法案》赋予总统的“宣布权力也包含撤销权力”。
There’s a lot to unpack in Trump’s statement. The proclamation doesn’t mention Congress but relies on the Antiquities Act of 1906, which allows a president to create a national monument on federal land by proclamation without congressional input. Though there are lawyers who say the statute doesn’t let a subsequent president revoke or diminish a previously established monument without Congress, that’s not what Trump’s DOJ has said. When the Trump administration was looking to undo monuments created by President Joe Biden, it argued tersely that the Antiquities Act that gives presidents the “power to declare carries with it the power to revoke.”
特朗普呼吁国会保护他那些俗气的改动，与其政府关于行政权力的立场不一致。他在大多数事务上坚决拒绝让国会束缚自己的手脚。他的公告是一项公然的企图，旨在阻止未来的总统做他自己正在做的事情。
Trump calling on Congress to protect his tacky alterations is inconsistent with his administration’s stance on executive authority. He has steadfastly refused to let Congress tie his hands on most matters. His proclamation is a blatant attempt to keep future presidents from doing what he himself is doing.
即便国会需要介入，特朗普似乎也没有考虑到，即将上任的民主党人很可能会乐于批准任何推翻他那些镀金装饰的举措。
Even if Congress need to get involved, Trump seems not to have considered that the Democrats taking office soon will likely happily sign off on any efforts to undo to his gold-plated gussying.
这项行政令相当清楚地暴露了这位总统的狭隘视野。选民狠狠教训了他，他们有充分理由相信他只在乎自己的利益，而不在乎他们的利益。中期选举前一天，他举行新闻发布会，吹嘘自己对林肯纪念堂倒影池的翻修。选举后第二天，他与内政部长道格·伯格姆一起在白宫宴会厅签下最后一根横梁。伯格姆的部门现在将负责监督椭圆形办公室和内阁会议室的改造，他称特朗普是“首席建筑者”和“美国历史上最伟大的建筑者总统”，后一种说法感觉像是在抹去新政时期的建筑成就。
The executive order is quite a display of tunnel vision from a president whacked by voters who had every reason to believe he only cares about his own interests and not theirs. The day before the midterm elections, he held a news conference boasting about his renovations to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The day after the election, he signed the final beam in the White House ballroom alongside Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. Burgum, whose department will now oversee changes to the Oval Office and Cabinet Room, called Trump “the builder in chief” and “the greatest builder that has ever been president of the United States,” the latter of which feels like New Deal construction erasure.
这份公告倒是大度地承认，未来的总统可以重新装饰椭圆形办公室而不会有什么后果：“本公告中的任何内容均不得解释为限制总统重新装饰该纪念碑、挑选家具，或进行不会实质性损害该纪念碑历史结构或建筑特征的普通运营和安全改动的权力。”换句话说，如果2029年1月宣誓就职的人想拆掉那些俗气的壁灯、换掉金色窗帘，那他们可以这么做。
Graciously, the proclamation acknowledges that future presidents can restyle the Oval Office with no consequences: “Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to restrict the President’s authority to redecorate the monument, select furnishings, or make ordinary operational and security modifications that do not substantially impair the monument’s historic structure or architectural character.”In other words, if whomever is sworn in January 2029 wants to get rid of the tacky wall sconces and swap out the gold curtains, then they can.
周五的场面感觉像是白宫工作人员在哄一个快要发脾气的幼儿。这份文件对任何事情都没有真正影响，但如果签一张纸能让特朗普感觉好受些，那就递给他一张。
Friday’s spectacle felt like the White House staff placating a toddler on the verge of a tantrum. The document has no real impact on anything, but if it makes Trump feel better to sign a piece of paper, then hand one to him.
试想一下：一名工作人员花时间撰写了这份公告，新上任的白宫幕僚长斯蒂芬·米勒很可能审阅了它，一名通讯助理起草了一份情况说明，一名幕僚秘书安排了议程。为了这种荒唐事投入如此多的资源，实在令人难以置信。正是这类荒唐事让共和党群龙无首，却在本应为民履职之时，给了特朗普某种逃避现实的空间。
Consider that a staffer took the time to write this proclamation, newly installed White House chief of staff Stephen Miller likely reviewed it, a communications aide drafted a fact sheet and a staff secretary scheduled ag. It’s an incredible use of resources on exactly the kind of nonsense that has left the GOP rudderless but provided Trump a degree of escapism when he’s supposed to be working for the people.