American courts are not supposed to be venues(场所、地点) for performance art(行为艺术). If counter-parties in a lawsuit do not have adverse interests(相反的利益)—say, because they answer to the same person—judges balk(犹豫、拒绝). So when Donald Trump sued his own administration seeking $10bn in damages, the judge had questions. Rather than address them, on May 18th the president dropped his suit altogether.(5月18日，总统非但没有回应这些质疑，反而完全撤回了诉讼。) In exchange he secured a commitment by his own administration to compensate victims of government “lawfare”, to the tune of $1.8bn.(作为交换，他让自己的政府承诺补偿政府“法律战”的受害者，金额高达18亿美元。)
美国的法院不应该是行为艺术的场所。如果诉讼双方没有利益冲突——比如因为他们听命于同一个人——法官就会犹豫。所以当唐纳德·特朗普起诉自己的政府，要求100亿美元的赔偿时，法官提出了质疑。然而，5月18日，总统非但没有回应这些质疑，反而完全撤回了诉讼。作为交换，他让自己的政府承诺补偿政府“法律战”的受害者，金额高达18亿美元。
In maga-speak(MAGA圈的说法), that means political allies prosecuted by Democrats: think January 6th rioters, pro-life activists and the like. The scheme is of a piece with(与……一致) the self-dealing(以权谋私) and the shakedown(勒索、敲诈)s that have defined this presidency. Rather than line his own pockets with taxpayers’ money—Mr Trump is not taking a cut himself—this one will line those of his supporters.(特朗普没有用纳税人的钱中饱私囊（他自己没有抽成），而是用来装他支持者的腰包。)
用MAGA圈的说法，这指的是被民主党起诉的政治盟友：想想1月6日的暴乱者、反堕胎活动人士等等。该计划与贯穿本届总统任期的以权谋私和勒索是一脉相承的。特朗普没有用纳税人的钱中饱私囊（他自己没有抽成），而是用来装他支持者的腰包。
The lawsuit originated with(起源于) a genuine wrong to the president. Between 2018 and 2020 a contractor at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) named Charles Littlejohn illegally leaked Mr Trump’s tax returns(纳税申报表) to the New York Times and ProPublica, an investigative outlet. Mr Littlejohn was prosecuted and sentenced to five years in prison. Other billionaires also had their information exposed, including Ken Griffin, a hedge-fund tycoon. Both Mr Griffin and Mr Trump sued the IRS. But whereas Mr Griffin only sought an apology, which he got, Mr Trump demanded $10bn. Never before had a president sued his own administration.(此前从未有总统起诉过自己的政府。) “Essentially the lawsuit’s been won,” he said back in February, a seeming acknowledgment of the stitch-up(串通、阴谋).
这起诉讼源于总统确实受到的不公正对待。2018年至2020年间，美国国税局一名叫查尔斯·利特尔约翰的承包商非法将特朗普的纳税申报单泄露给了《纽约时报》和调查性媒体《ProPublica》。利特尔约翰被起诉并被判处五年监禁。其他富豪的信息也被暴露，包括对冲基金大亨肯·格里芬。格里芬和特朗普都起诉了国税局。但格里芬只是寻求道歉（他得到了），而特朗普要求100亿美元。此前从未有总统起诉过自己的政府。他曾在2月说：“基本上诉讼已经赢了”，这似乎承认了这是一个预谋好的结果。