Donald Trump has framed(构建，塑造（框架）) his theme for the midterm elections. It has come to him as naturally and inevitably as staring into the mirror, beyond any logic or argument, his definitive answer to no specific issue, providing no understanding of any particular problem, but transcending all of them.(这个主题对他而言来得自然而然，就像照镜子一样，超越逻辑，不是针对具体问题的答案，却超越所有问题。) His political theme is more primal(原始的，根本的) than programmatic(纲领性的，计划性的), more instinctive than analytical, a heartfelt expression to protect his greatest romantic attachment, his obsessive(执迷的，强迫性的) fixation(固着，执念), his idealized object: himself.
唐纳德·特朗普已为中期选举框定了他的主题。这个主题对他而言来得自然而然、不可避免，就像凝视镜子一样，超越了任何逻辑或论证，它不是针对任何具体问题的明确答案，也不提供对任何特定问题的理解，却凌驾于所有问题之上。他的政治主题更原始而非纲领性，更本能而非分析性，是一种发自内心的表达，用以保护他最浪漫的依恋、他最执迷的固着、他理想化的对象：他自己。
Trump’s campaign theme is unrequited(单相思的，无回报的) love. Unlike the pollsters(民意调查专家), media consultants and pundits(权威专家，评论员), he alone has grasped the magnitude(巨大，严重性) and the source of the existential crisis(存在危机，生存危机) threatening his politics. He has identified the problem for the Republicans as the faltering(动摇的，衰退的) measure of complete devotion to him. His demand has nothing to do with mutual affection. It is a ploy to reassert his slipping control, a manipulative test to prove loyalty to him, or else(否则，要不然). There can be no absolute rule without an absolute ruler; no absolute ruler without absolute submission; no absolute submission without the expression of absolute love.(没有绝对的统治者就没有绝对的规则；没有绝对的服从就没有绝对的统治者；没有绝对爱的表达就没有绝对的服从。) His sadness at its fading gives way to(让位于，被…取代) anger, paranoia(偏执，多疑) and greater acts of retribution(报复，惩罚). He equates the fear he instills(灌输，逐渐使…获得) as a form of love. Trump accepts subservience(屈从，恭顺), from whatever motive, as affection or its closest equivalent. He cares nothing about sincerity, so it’s all in the show. The less love displayed, the more fear required. Yet there is no rebound, but only deeper rejection.
特朗普的竞选主题是单相思。与民调专家、媒体顾问和权威人士不同，只有他抓住了威胁其政治的存在危机的严重性和根源。他为共和党人确定的问题是对他完全忠诚的衡量标准正在动摇。他的要求与相互的感情毫无关系。这是一种重新确立他逐渐失控的权力的策略，一个考验对他忠诚度的操纵性测试，否则后果自负。没有绝对的统治者，就没有绝对的规则；没有绝对的服从，就没有绝对的统治者；没有绝对爱的表达，就没有绝对的服从。他对爱消退的悲伤让位于愤怒、偏执和更大的报复行为。他把自己灌输的恐惧等同于爱。特朗普接受屈从，无论出于何种动机，都视为爱或最接近爱的东西。他不在乎真诚，所以一切都表现在表演中。展示的爱越少，需要的恐惧就越多。然而没有反弹，只有更深的拒绝。
Trump is heading toward(朝着…方向前进) the floor for presidential unpopularity(不受欢迎，不得人心) – Nixon during Watergate(水门事件，美国政治丑闻) on the eve of his resignation, Truman late in his second term at the depth of the Korean war, and George W Bush at the 2008 financial crash. But Trump’s breakdown(崩溃，瓦解) differs uniquely from theirs. His decline has come earlier in his term, been more sustained, and his disintegration(瓦解，解体) has not stabilized but is accelerating. He is being crushed by the accumulation of catastrophic events of his own making to which his impulsive response is to double down in each and every area.(他正被自己造成的一系列灾难性事件压垮，而他冲动的回应是在每个领域加倍下注。) Stalemated(陷入僵局的) in his reckless Iran war, he has now launched a heedless(不注意的，鲁莽的) trade war against Canada that will devastate(摧毁，严重破坏) Republican candidates in the northern tier of states. His latest vanity(虚荣，自负) project is gestural(姿态性的，象征性的) retribution to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America”, a watery ballroom. Admission of error for Trump would be the denial of self-love.
特朗普正朝着总统不受欢迎程度的历史最低点迈进——水门事件期间、辞职前夕的尼克松，第二任期后期、朝鲜战争最激烈时的杜鲁门，以及2008年金融危机时的乔治·W·布什。但特朗普的崩溃与他们的截然不同。他的支持率下降来得更早，持续更久，而且他的瓦解并未稳定下来，而是在加速。他正被自己造成的一系列灾难性事件压垮，而他冲动的回应是在每一个领域加倍下注。在他鲁莽的伊朗战争中陷入僵局后，他现在又对加拿大发动了一场轻率的贸易战，这将摧毁北部各州共和党候选人的选情。他最新的虚荣工程是做姿态的报复——将安大略湖改名为“美国湖”，一个水上的舞厅。对特朗普来说，承认错误就等于否定自爱。