He’s down, but not quite out. Barring divine or other intervention, Donald Trump will remain in the Oval Office for a further two years and 10 weeks. Or, as the White House put it in a plaintive(哀怨的，凄凉的) social media post brimming with neediness(充满渴求与不安): “PSA [Public Service Announcement]: Trump is still your president.” But that’s not the only reason why the global celebrations that greeted the Democratic tidal wave that swept Republicans out of even their deepest heartlands should be tempered, if only a tad.(但这并非全球庆祝活动应当稍稍降温的唯一原因。)
他倒下了，但并未完全出局。除非出现神迹或其他干预，唐纳德·特朗普将在椭圆形办公室再待上两年零十周。或者，正如白宫在一条充满渴求的哀怨社交媒体帖子中所说：“公益广告：特朗普仍然是你们的总统。”但这并非全球庆祝活动应当——哪怕只是稍稍——降温的唯一原因。这些庆祝活动是对民主党浪潮的回应，这股浪潮甚至将共和党人从他们最深的腹地席卷而出。
Don’t get me wrong, the results of Tuesday’s midterm elections are cause for genuine international jubilation(欢欣鼓舞，庆祝). The defeats of Trump allies in Serbia and Brazil were delicious appetisers(美味的开胃菜（比喻前奏）), but this was the feast. No mere electoral setback in line with midterm tradition, this was a thorough repudiation(彻底否定，拒绝) of the second Trump presidency and of Trumpism. The 16% swing to Democrats in the popular vote for the House of Representatives was greater even than the 11.2% swing recorded in the Watergate midterms(水门事件后的1974年中期选举) of November 1974, following the resignation in disgrace of Richard Nixon. Trump had worked hard for many months to undermine these elections, either by gerrymandering districts in his favour or preparing the ground for a later claim the vote was rigged, but to no avail: the democratic system proved too resilient, and the American public too determined to have their say.(特朗普数月来竭力破坏选举，但徒劳无功：民主制度太坚韧，公众太坚决。) And have it they did, in a voice loud and clear.
别误会，周二中期选举的结果确实值得国际社会真心欢庆。特朗普盟友在塞尔维亚和巴西的落败是美味的开胃菜，而这次选举才是正餐。这不仅仅是中期选举传统中的一次选举挫折，而是对特朗普第二任期和特朗普主义的彻底否定。民主党在众议院普选票上取得16%的压倒性优势，甚至超过了1974年11月水门事件中期选举中创下的11.2%的摇摆幅度——那是在理查德·尼克松耻辱辞职之后。特朗普数月来一直努力破坏选举，要么通过不公正的选区划分为自己谋利，要么为日后声称选举被操纵埋下伏笔，但都徒劳无功：民主制度证明了自己足够坚韧，美国公众也决心发出自己的声音。他们确实做到了，声音响亮而清晰。
Beyond the US, the temptation will be strong to see this as the moment the wheels came off(脱轨，崩溃) the authoritarian, nationalist populist bandwagon(潮流，浪潮) that has rolled through so much of our politics this past decade. Viktor Orbán(匈牙利总理，民族主义民粹领袖)’s fall in April was pivotal(关键的，至关重要的), but the humiliation of Trump was always going to matter more. Thanks to the sheer might of the US, Trump has for a decade been the engine of the illiberal international(反自由国际（指全球右翼联盟）). And now it is sputtering(熄火，噼啪作响).
在美国之外，人们会强烈地倾向于将此视为一个转折点：过去十年间席卷我们大部分政治的威权主义、民族主义民粹主义浪潮，此刻终于脱轨。维克托·欧尔班在四月的倒台至关重要，但特朗普的耻辱始终更为重要。凭借美国的强大实力，特朗普十年来一直是反自由国际秩序的引擎。而现在，这个引擎正在熄火。