美国国家公共电台 NPR Donald Trump's Been Saying The Same Thing For 30 Years

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: 

For decades, Donald Trump¹ played coy about his interest in running for president. But he never shied away from talking politics. And as seemingly erratic² as he might be with his rhetoric³, his political views have actually remained relatively⁴ consistent. Here's NPR's Don Gonyea.

DON GONYEA, BYLINE⁵: Listen to the clips - I mean, old clips - and some familiar themes jump right out.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "LARRY KING LIVE")

DONALD TRUMP: I was tired and I think a lot of people are tired of watching other countries ripping off the United States.

GONYEA: This is from a chat with CNN's Larry King in 1987. Trump was 41 years old.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "LARRY KING LIVE ")

TRUMP: They laugh at us behind our backs. They laugh at us because of our own stupidity. And the leaders, I mean - what we have - we have a Persian Gulf⁶ situation. You saw what happened today. Billions and billions of dollars are being spent on getting oil for Japan, and they're not paying anything for it. Essentially⁷, they're paying nothing for it.

GONYEA: The specifics of that particular story may be old, but the message from Trump is as clear as it was on the trail in 2016 - other nations take advantage of American generosity⁸. Here's another - 1988, Trump with Oprah.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW")

TRUMP: Kuwait - they live like kings. The poorest person in Kuwait, they live like kings. And yet, they're not paying. We make it possible for them to sell their oil. Why aren't they paying us 25 percent of what they're making? It's a joke.

GONYEA: So vintage Trump is also today's Trump. There are other moments in years past where Trump foresaw a key to his future campaign success. New York-based journalist Glenn Plaskin interviewed Trump for Playboy magazine more than 25 years ago.

GLENN PLASKIN: I asked him who would support a Trump bid for the White House. And back in 1990, he said the working guy would elect me. He likes me. When I walk down the street, those cabbies start yelling out their windows. Well, it is the working guy who is electing him.

GONYEA: The younger Trump would also regularly talk about settling scores with enemies, at one point saying an eye for an eye. Read his Twitter feed, and you'll find out that view hasn't changed. Now in nearly all of these old interviews, Trump denies interest in running for president or other high office while always leaving a bit of wiggle room. This is from 1988 on NBC's "Late Night With David Letterman."

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN")

DAVID LETTERMAN: And politics - we talked about this last time - any interest in any kind of appointment or a commission or a position with this administration or something down the road a ways?

TRUMP: I always had...

GONYEA: Trump answers that he's happy doing what he's doing.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN")

LETTERMAN: I'm talking about maybe in eight years, in 12 years.

TRUMP: Well, I'm not sure that you want to see the United States become a winner. Do you want to see the United States become a winner, David?

LETTERMAN: Of course we want to see - the United States is and always has been a winner for my money, Don.

(APPLAUSE)

GONYEA: Donald Trump, 28 years ago, floating a future campaign slogan and maybe an inaugural⁹ address.

Don Gonyea, NPR News, Washington.

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 erratic   

adj.古怪的，反复无常的，不稳定的

参考例句：

• The old man had always been cranky and erratic.那老头儿性情古怪,反复无常。
• The erratic fluctuation of market prices is in consequence of unstable economy.经济波动致使市场物价忽起忽落。

3 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

4 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

5 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。

6 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

7 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

8 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。

9 inaugural   

adj.就职的；n.就职典礼

参考例句：

• We listened to the President's inaugural speech on the radio yesterday.昨天我们通过无线电听了总统的就职演说。
• Professor Pearson gave the inaugural lecture in the new lecture theatre.皮尔逊教授在新的阶梯讲堂发表了启用演说。