美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump Picks Heather Nauert, Former Fox News Anchor, As U.N. Ambassador

Trump¹ Picks Heather Nauert, Former Fox News Anchor, As U.N. Ambassador

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

All right, as Ailsa just mentioned, something else the president was talking about today - the woman he is nominating to become the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. That would be State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, a former "Fox & Friends" host.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: She's very talented, very smart, very quick. And I think she's going to be respected by all. So Heather Nauert will be nominated for the ambassador to the United Nations.

KELLY: Well, to find out more about her, let's bring in our State Department correspondent Michele Kelemen. Happy Friday to you.

MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE²: Hi there.

KELLY: Hi there. So how has Heather Nauert's tenure³ as spokesperson been seen?

KELEMEN: Well, I kind of look at it in two different periods because when she first got there, her boss was Rex Tillerson. She didn't have much access to him, and she spent a lot of Time kind of getting to know the State Department, getting to know the diplomats⁴. And by the time Mike Pompeo came to office, Nauert was, you know, on the secretary's plane traveling, unlike during the Tillerson time. She had been elevated to undersecretary of state for public diplomacy⁵. She was the highest-ranking woman at the time.

KELLY: So much more in the loop.

KELEMEN: Exactly. And she - when she did give briefings, she was quite a strong defender⁶ of President Obama's "America First" approach.

KELLY: I want to ask about her record. State Department spokesperson - before that, we mentioned she was at "Fox & Friends" as a journalist. I noticed you and I have not been fielding phone calls for the U.N. ambassador post.

KELEMEN: (Laughter).

KELLY: So how do her qualifications stack up against people who have held that job before?

KELEMEN: Well, her credentials⁷ compared to the others who came before her are quite thin, and that has some U.N. watchers worried because it says not so much about her, but it says what - you know, it has a lot to say about what this administration thinks about the United Nations - you know, sending someone who's a spokesperson, who is quite good at delivering a message but not necessarily one who's steeped in diplomacy.

I mean, think about the people who held it before - you know, George H.W. Bush, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Madeleine Albright, Richard Holbrooke. You know, the list goes on. And even Nikki Haley who didn't have the foreign policy chops necessarily did have the political skills. You know, she came in as being a governor of South Carolina and was quite respected and earned respect on the council for that.

KELLY: You mentioned Nikki Haley, who served in this post. And it was Cabinet-level under her. Will it stay that way for Heather Nauert?

KELEMEN: No. You know, usually, Mary Louise, the Democrats⁸ elevate it to a Cabinet-level post, kind of showing how important the United Nations is. Haley insisted that it remain that way because she wanted a seat at the table in the Trump administration. But the White House has confirmed that it's going to be downgraded for Nauert.

KELLY: OK.

KELEMEN: She does still have to get Senate confirmation⁹.

KELLY: So we'll watch that. But I want to turn you to one other thing. You mentioned Nauert's old boss Rex Tillerson, who has been mostly quiet since leaving the State Department. He made a rare public appearance in Houston this week that's creating some waves, let's say.

KELEMEN: Oh, yeah, Rex Tillerson called Trump a pretty undisciplined person who doesn't read a lot, doesn't read his briefs. He said it was a challenge to work with him especially. He's a guy who came from ExxonMobil and was very disciplined himself. And portions of this public event that he had in Houston aired on "CBS This Morning."

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "CBS THIS MORNING")

REX TILLERSON: We did not have a common value system. When the president would say, well, here's what I want to do and here's how I want to do it - and I'd have to say to him, well, Mr. President, I understand what you want to do, but you can't do it that way. It violates the law. It violates a treaty.

(LAUGHTER)

TILLERSON: You know, it - he got really frustrated¹⁰.

KELEMEN: Yeah, so he said he didn't share any values with the president, which was quite something. Hours after that aired, the president issued his rebuke¹¹ via Twitter of course. He said Tillerson - and this is a quote from the president - Tillerson is dumb as a rock and lazy as hell, and...

KELLY: Dumb as a rock.

KELEMEN: And I couldn't get rid of him fast enough.

KELLY: Wow. And remind us. I mean, how many months since Rex Tillerson, the man that Trump appointed to the State Department, was running the State Department?

KELEMEN: He was the shortest tenured State Department secretary of state in history.

KELLY: Wow. NPR State Department correspondent Michele Kelemen - thanks, Michele.

KELEMEN: Thank you.

[POST-BROADCAST CORRECTION: : In this story, President Trump is mistakenly referred to as President Obama in one instance.]

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

4 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

6 defender   

n.保卫者，拥护者，辩护人

参考例句：

• He shouldered off a defender and shot at goal.他用肩膀挡开防守队员，然后射门。
• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。

7 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。

8 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

10 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 rebuke   

v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise

参考例句：

• He had to put up with a smart rebuke from the teacher.他不得不忍受老师的严厉指责。
• Even one minute's lateness would earn a stern rebuke.哪怕迟到一分钟也将受到严厉的斥责。