2026-09-04T18:06:39.169Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/04/politics/trump-ballroom-fixation-midterms
要选出最贴切形容当前唐纳德·特朗普总统姿态的罗马隐喻，着实有些困难。
是“面包与马戏”——用一系列或有趣或乏味的转移注意力手段，让美国民众不去担忧经济问题？还是尼禄——在共和党中期选举的希望熊熊燃烧之际，却在舞厅规划上浪费时间？
显而易见的是，特朗普及其政府短期内不会调整方向。
过去24小时便是绝佳例证。而对于那些希望特朗普能突然专注于手头政治任务的人来说，过去几周的情况一直不容乐观。
周四距离2026年选举日恰好还有两个月。首批选票即将开始投放，北卡罗来纳州将于周五开始邮寄选票。
然而，尽管多项民调显示美国人希望特朗普聚焦于民生保障和经济发展，但他似乎完全没有将精力放在这些方面。
仅在周四一天，我们就得知特朗普政府聘请了新的泳池承包商，来清理他给林肯纪念堂倒影池造成的 mess；宣布启动特朗普250英尺高的“凯旋拱门”建设；并推出了一系列街机风格的电子游戏，其中一款允许玩家逮捕非法移民。
据报道，白宫还将为创业者推出一档类似真人秀的竞赛节目。而就在几周前，特朗普的“爱国者游戏”刚遭遇滑铁卢，此前美国交通部还推出了一档真正的真人秀节目（据悉该节目由一家非营利组织出资，未动用纳税人资金）。
到周五上午，《纽约客》和《纽约杂志》的两篇重磅报道详细披露了特朗普对其华盛顿特区舞厅及其他建筑和美化项目的痴迷程度。
特朗普甚至为《纽约杂志》的报道接受了采访，当然还带领记者参观了建筑工地。
记者本·特里斯报道称，总统的官方日程“充斥着关于华盛顿其他项目的会议，每次会议往往持续一小时或更久”。
而最令人瞠目结舌的一幕或许是，特朗普竟然认同佐治亚州民主党参议员乔恩·奥索夫的说法，即他正在为自己建造纪念碑，因为他认为其他人不会愿意承担这项工作。
“说得没错，”特朗普说，“等我离任后，没人会做这些事。当我离开这里，没人会。”
特朗普亲口说出这番话，着实令人震惊。奥索夫原本是想用这句话嘲讽特朗普。
但这也暗示，特朗普可能正感受到加快推进这些项目的压力。他能在自己的作品上留下名字、并被后人铭记的时间已经不多了。到明年1月，民主党可能会控制国会参众两院中的一院或两院，情况可能会变得更加棘手。
特朗普甚至谈到，如果民主党人想拆毁他的舞厅，据称是不可能的。“它用的是核混凝土，”他告诉《纽约杂志》，“我认为拆除会非常困难。当初建造时就是为了抵御核袭击。”
特里斯还在报道中提到，特朗普在公开场合出席更为严肃的事务时，常常会因自己的建筑项目而分心。
而这正是所有问题的关键所在——至少对于那些面临中期选举严峻形势的国会共和党人来说是如此。
问题不仅在于特朗普分心，还在于他将精力放在了民调显示美国人认为 frivolous、并不想要的事情上，而牺牲了他们真正希望他去做的事（即降低物价、结束与伊朗的战争）。
特朗普的舞厅项目支持率仅为33%，反对率高达67%。
今年4月的一项民调显示，52%的美国人反对他的250英尺“凯旋拱门”计划，仅21%的人支持。
7月的一项民调显示，65%的美国人对舞厅、拱门和倒影池项目感到不满或失望。
尽管特朗普试图将自己的名字印在肯尼迪艺术中心等建筑上，但仅有9%的美国人认为现任总统这样做是恰当的。
近期特朗普的另一项分心事务——与加拿大的新贸易战，甚至导致他提出将安大略湖更名为“美国湖”——支持率同样惨淡。路透社-益普索本周的民调显示，57%的美国人反对对加拿大加征关税，63%的人反对“美国湖”的更名提议，支持率分别仅为20%和14%。
特朗普上周在白宫为更名提议举办了活动，但结果显示，就连他的共和党同僚都以两位数的差距反对该提议。
所有这些都为共和党描绘了一幅艰难的图景。数月来的民调均显示，美国人认为特朗普忽视了更重要的事务。
哥伦比亚广播公司新闻的最新民调显示，78%的美国人认为特朗普没有足够关注降低物价；7月美国有线电视新闻网的民调也显示，约73%的美国人认为他没有充分关注国家最重要的问题。
说特朗普完全忽视生活成本问题并不公平。
他最近宣布暂停对进口牛肉征收关税，以试图降低消费者的物价；周五他还威胁称，如果美联储不降息，美国将停止与其他国家的贸易。
这两项举措理论上都能为民众省钱。
但两者都暴露了特朗普偏爱存疑的权宜之计。例如，据美国有线电视新闻网报道，暂停牛肉关税的举措预计影响微乎其微，还会激怒国内养牛场主甚至部分共和党人。而对美联储的威胁式言论似乎不太可能产生效果（事实上，降息实际上可能推高通胀）。
7月美国有线电视新闻网的民调还有另一个能说明问题的结果。高达66%的美国人表示，特朗普并未将国家利益置于个人私利之上。其中包括76%的无党派人士和30%的共和党人。
一个多月后，2026年大选正式拉开帷幕，特朗普似乎一心要证明这些人的看法是正确的。
As the 2026 general election kicks off, Trump is clearly preoccupied
2026-09-04T18:06:39.169Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/04/politics/trump-ballroom-fixation-midterms
It can be difficult to decide which Roman metaphor more aptly captures President Donald Trump’s posture these days.
Is it “bread and circuses,” feeding the American people a series of distractions — amusing or otherwise — from their worries about the economy? Or is it Nero, fiddling with his ballroom plans while the Republican Party’s midterm hopes burn?
What’s clear is that Trump and his administration aren’t going to course correct any time soon.
The last 24 hours have been a case in point. And the last couple weeks have been inauspicious for anyone who hoped Trump might suddenly focus on the political task at hand.
Thursday marked exactly two months until Election Day 2026. And the first votes are about to be cast, with North Carolina sending out mail ballots on Friday.
But despite a bevy of polling showing Americans want Trump to focus on affordability and the economy, he appears preoccupied with anything but.
On Thursday alone, we learned the Trump administration has hired a new pool contractor to clean up the mess he made of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, announced the start of construction on Trump’s 250-foot “triumphal arch” and launched a series of arcade-style video games, including one that allows users to arrest undocumented immigrants.
The White House is also reportedly launching a reality show-like competition for entrepreneurs, just weeks after Trump’s “Patriot Games” flopped and after an actual reality show from the Department of Transportation was released. (It says a nonprofit paid for it; not taxpayers.)
By Friday morning, two big stories — from the New Yorker and New York Magazine — detailed what can only be called Trump’s obsession with his ballroom and other construction and beautification projects in Washington, DC.
Trump even sat for an interview — and gave a construction tour, of course — for the New York Magazine piece.
Reporter Ben Terris reported that the president’s official calendar is “peppered with meetings about other projects around Washington that can often last an hour or longer.”
And in perhaps the most eyebrow-raising scene, Trump actually agrees with Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff’s contention that he’s building monuments to himself because he doesn’t think others can be counted on to do it.
“That’s true,” Trump said. “Nobody will do it once I’m gone. When I leave here, nobody.”
The fact that Trump would say this out loud is stunning. Ossoff meant this as a dig.
But it also suggests Trump might be feeling the pressure to get these projects done fast. He has a finite amount of time to plaster his name on things and build things that he’ll be remembered by. It could get more difficult by January, when Democrats could control one or both chambers of Congress.
Trump even talks about how it will supposedly be impossible for Democrats to demolish his ballroom, if they wanted to. (“It’s nuclear concrete,” he told New York Magazine. “I think it would be very hard. It’s meant for if there’s a nuclear attack.”)
Terris also runs through how Trump in his public appearances often seems distracted by his construction projects as he’s attending to much more serious business.
And that’s really the problem with all of this, at least if you’re a congressional Republican staring at a concerning midterm election.
It’s not just that Trump is distracted; it’s that he’s focused on things that polls show Americans view as frivolous and don’t want — at the expense of things they really want him to do (i.e. lowering prices and ending the war with Iran).
Trump’s ballroom is 2-to-1 unpopular.
Americans opposed his 250-foot “triumphal arch” 52%-21% in an April poll.
A July poll showed 65% of Americans described themselves as upset or dissatisfied with the ballroom, arch and Reflecting Pool projects.
While Trump tries to put his name on things like the Kennedy Center, just 9% of Americans think that’s appropriate for him to do as an incumbent president.
And Trump’s other preoccupation in recent days and weeks — his new trade war with Canada, which led him move to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America” — fares little better. Reuters-Ipsos polling this week showed Americans opposed the Canada tariffs 57%-20% and the “Lake America” renaming 63%-14%.
Trump last week held a White House event for the latter move, which it turns out even his fellow Republicans oppose by double digits.
All of this cements a tough picture for the GOP. Polling has for months shown that Americans view Trump as neglecting more important fare.
CBS News polling has recently shown 78% of Americans said he’s not focused enough on lowering prices, and July CNN polling shows around the same percentage (73%) said he hasn’t paid enough attention to the country’s most important problems.
It’s not fair to say Trump has completely neglected the cost of living.
He recently announced he would pause tariffs on imported beef to try to lower prices for consumers, and on Friday he threatened to stop trading with other countries if the Federal Reserve doesn’t lower interest rates.
Both moves could theoretically save people money.
But both moves also betray Trump’s preference for questionable quick fixes. The beef tariffs move, for example, is expected to have a negligible impact, CNN reported, while irritating domestic cattle ranchers and even some Republicans. And the extortionate threat to the Fed seems unlikely to bear fruit. (Indeed, lowering interest rates could actually send inflation higher.)
The CNN poll in July contained another telling finding. Fully 66% of Americans said Trump did not put the good of the country above his own personal gain. That included 76% of independents and 30% of Republicans.
And more than a month later, with the 2026 general election truly kicking off, it’s as if he’s bent on proving those people right.
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