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The Obama White House was apoplectic.
奥巴马政府对此大为光火。
But Trump wouldn’t cancel the meeting.
但特朗普不肯取消会面。
The sit-down with Abe initiated what would become Trump’s closest relationship with a world leader
与安倍的会谈开启了特朗普最亲密的美国总统-世界领袖关系，
and set the tone for his engagement with Asian powers.
也为他与亚洲多个大国的接触定下了基调。
Trump’s first year in office was marked by running battles between his instincts and his aides.
特朗普执政的第一年，其本能与其助手就经常出现冲突。
Some White House staffers appealed to the President’s gut,
部分白宫官员选择了迎合总统的脾性，
while others tried to outmaneuver or wait out the President’s impulses.
另一些人则试图战胜总统的一时兴起或是静待其冲动自行消退。
In order to manage Trump’s behavior in briefings, for example, his second National Security Adviser, H.R. McMaster,
例如，为了约束特朗普在简报会上的行为，二号国家安全顾问H·R·麦克马斯特
began having aides prepare cards that answered four basic questions:
吩咐特朗普的助手们准备了回答四大基本问题的卡片：
Why are we doing this? What will it cost? What are others paying or doing? And what happens next?
我们为什么要这么做？这么做有什么代价？其他国家是怎么做的，他们又付出了多大代价？接下来会发生什么？
For a while, it worked.
这种方法也奏效了一段时间。
In the summer of 2017, Trump repeatedly demanded to know why the U.S. was still in Afghanistan after toppling the Taliban government in 2001,
2017年夏，特朗普多次要求了解2001年推翻塔利班政府后，美国继续留在阿富汗的原因，
but ultimately agreed to boost troop levels there, in line with Establishment thinking.
然而，他最终还是选择了与当权派一致的考量，同意增加驻阿富汗的美军兵力。
He groused in response to the litany of concerns voiced by aides about moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem,
特朗普的过渡班子为他上任第一天准备的日程便是将美国驻以色列大使馆迁到耶路撒冷，
which his transition staff had prepared for him to do on his first day in office.
此举引发了总统助手们的诸多担忧，特朗普对此颇有怨言。
But he deferred action on the move.
但他推迟了搬迁使馆的时间。
He complained that bureaucrats were overstating the potential fallout of ditching the Iran nuclear deal,
他抱怨称，官员们夸大了放弃伊朗核协议的潜在后果，
but put off pulling out of it as he had promised to do during the campaign.
但他还是违背了竞选时许下的承诺，推迟了退出协议的时间。
When aides like Tillerson, Defense Secretary James Mattis and Trump’s former economic adviser Gary Cohn
蒂勒森、国防部长詹姆斯·马蒂斯和前经济顾问加里·科恩等助手
succeeded in suppressing his instincts, it came at a cost.
成功地压制住了他随性而为的冲动，但也付出了代价。
Trump railed against his Cabinet secretaries and staff.
特朗普内阁多位部长和工作人员都受到了他的责骂。
The Iran deal was a source of particular frustration.
伊朗协议尤其令人沮丧。
Thanks to the checks Republicans placed on the deal when Obama signed it,
多亏共和党人在奥巴马签署协议时留有后手，
Trump was required every three months to certify that Iran was complying with the agreement.
特朗普需要每三个月核实一次伊朗是否遵守了协议。
Advisers predicted that European markets would tank if Trump didn’t.
顾问们曾预测，如果特朗普不核实，欧洲市场恐会崩溃。
Feeling boxed in, the President demanded other options.
感觉到手脚被束缚的总统便提出采取其他办法。
In July 2017, with another three-month certification looming, Trump’s national-security staff had none to offer.
2017年7月，每三月一次的核实时间即将到来，国家安全部门的工作人员却没能拿出任何替代方案。
Trump exploded.
特朗普爆发了。
“This is never f-cking happening again,” he said, according to two people familiar with the meeting.
据两名知情人士透露，他表示，“TMD，下不为例。”
Against this backdrop, the President shook up his inner circle,
在此形势下，总统对他的核心圈子进行了大刀阔斧的整顿，
firing chief of staff Reince Priebus and replacing him with Homeland Security boss John Kelly.
他解雇了雷恩斯·普里巴斯，任命国土安全部部长约翰·凯利接替了普里巴斯的白宫办公厅主任之职。
In exchange for imposing discipline, the retired Marine general demanded tight control over the White House decision-making process.
为整顿纪律，这位前海军陆战队上将要求对白宫的决策过程实行严格的控制。
For a while, Kelly’s guardrails constrained Trump.
然而，凯利的护栏只对特朗普起到了片刻的约束作用。
But over time they, too, have failed.
随着时间的推移，这些护栏也失败了。
