2026-06-01T04:00:08.002Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/01/politics/trump-weaponization-fund-ufc-fight-iran-america-250-analysis
- 特朗普总统正面临日益增多的多领域挑战，其第二任期显现出停滞迹象。
- 尽管要求结束战争的压力不断增大且多数美国人反对这场战争，但他谋求达成伊朗和平协议的努力仍遥遥无期。
- 一项可能为参与2016年1月6日国会山骚乱定罪的支持者提供赔偿的基金，在中期选举前引发了参议院共和党人的反叛。
AI生成的摘要经CNN编辑审核。
唐纳德·特朗普总统正日益深陷自己制造的困境。
他执意推行不受制约的个人权力——这一手段在他重返白宫的第一年就粉碎了反对声浪——如今正引发强烈反弹，加剧了他的政治脆弱时刻。
这一趋势将在未来一周显现，届时他的第二任期面临多领域停滞的风险。
特朗普最严峻的挑战是找到摆脱伊朗战争的途径，在美以持续猛烈轰炸未能推翻德黑兰政权的情况下，既要巩固美国的地位，又要削弱伊朗。
在国内，特朗普最具争议的举措之一——一项规模达17.76亿美元、可能为参与2021年1月6日国会山骚乱的定罪支持者提供赔偿的基金——正随着参议院共和党人的反叛而走向失败，这场反叛源于总统专横作风引发的愤怒。
与此同时，围绕美国建国250周年的争议愈演愈烈。艺术家们抵制“伟大美国州博览会”系列音乐会，抱怨活动被政治化，特朗普对此怒不可遏。作为回应，他在抨击“乏味”歌手并呼吁举行“让美国再次伟大”集会后，正计划亲自主持这场活动。这一举措似乎可能加剧本应成为全国团结时刻的党派对立。
特朗普的权力扩张计划周五遭遇早间打击：一名法官裁定，将他的名字加入肯尼迪艺术中心的做法非法。总统回应称，他将彻底放弃对这座表演艺术机构的翻新计划。
显然，特朗普寻求伊朗战争脱身之策的努力是关乎国家安全的关键问题。相比之下，其他风波可能显得微不足道。但这些正是他投入权力和政治资本的议题。因此，在他的支持率跌至历史低点之际，这些问题引发人们对其执政优先级的质疑也就不足为奇了。
白宫南草坪（紧邻已拆除的东翼旧址）正在建造一座大型终极格斗冠军赛（UFC）场馆，这场赛事将于6月14日特朗普80岁生日当天举行，这一事件只会加剧这场辩论。
对国会共和党人而言，这一切都不是好消息。他们面临的困境是，在面临挑战的中期选举前夕，总统似乎不愿接受多数选民并不认可他所描绘的经济黄金时代愿景。
内政部长道格·伯古姆周日回击了有关总统将美国独立250周年纪念活动政治化的批评。
他在CNN的《国情咨文》节目中辩称，特朗普作为总统在庆祝活动中扮演关键角色“至关重要”。不过，伯古姆回避了周年纪念争议的一个方面：未呼吁总统的“自由250”组织公开其企业捐赠者名单。外界广泛担忧，本届政府有可能裁决可能为特朗普青睐的活动提供资金的大企业的关键利益诉求，这存在潜在的道德违规风险。
这位部长还辩称，真正的丑闻是历届政府让首都的喷泉和纪念年久失修，而特朗普通过翻新设施正是在提供服务。“他经手的事情都会变得更好，”伯古姆说道，特别是指联合车站外一片曾是无家可归者营地和涂鸦重灾区、现已由政府全面改造的区域。
无可否认，特朗普的美化项目将改善华盛顿部分地区的面貌。
但其中一些项目，比如他在东翼旧址上建造的大型宴会厅，可能存在过度使用总统权力的问题。另一些项目则更像是自我标榜的政绩工程，例如将美国和平研究所更名以纪念特朗普，以及在波托马克河附近建造巨型拱门的计划，还有财政部计划发行印有特朗普肖像的250美元纸币。
一边是总统用 concrete（实体工程）打造个人遗产，另一边是美国民众挣扎在食品和房租支出上，这种反差为民主党提供了攻击机会——尽管反对党正努力摆脱自身严重的不受欢迎局面，且似乎仍在困惑为何2024年大选会失去数百万选民的支持。
新泽西州参议员科里·布克周日表明，民主党将试图把批评人士眼中特朗普的个人腐败、自我标榜以及对美国民众经济困境的漠视，编织成中期选举的叙事主线。
他在ABC的《本周》节目中表示，特朗普正试图设立“17.76亿美元的秘密基金”，并希望“把他的名字印在我们的货币、护照和公园通行证上。当法院阻止他时，他表现得像个任性的孩子。”
为凸显这种反差，布克谈到他的选民时说：“有家庭对我说，‘我买不起汽车汽油，也付不起孩子的托儿费。’”
一周前，人们曾预计与伊朗的和平协议即将达成，这在一定程度上得益于特朗普的乐观表态。但目前仍未达成任何协议，这反映出总统面临着令人为难的选择。其中部分问题源于他发动战争时没有明确的脱身战略或现实的胜利构想。
CNN记者凯文·利普塔克周日报道称，特朗普在对一份拟议的协议草案进行修改后将其退回。官员们表示，他坚持要求在美方要求伊朗放弃核武器以及承诺重新开放霍尔木兹海峡的条款上使用更强硬措辞。他还对可能向德黑兰提供的经济援助“胡萝卜”表示担忧。
特朗普面临着结束这场战争的巨大国内和国际压力，而多数美国人反对这场战争。但他发动战争时对自身直觉的信任似乎忽视了许多专家的建议。伊朗封锁霍尔木兹海峡引发了全球能源危机，并为德黑兰带来了冲突前所未有的影响力。
参议员克里斯·库恩斯在《福克斯新闻周日》节目中表示，如果特朗普能够“确保永久禁止伊朗进行任何核浓缩活动，我们能够监督和管控伊朗的核计划，并确保伊朗永远无法控制霍尔木兹海峡……那将是向前迈出的积极一步。”但这位特拉华州的民主党人补充道：“我不认为他能够实现这一目标。”
“坦率地说，伊朗比90天前战争爆发前更加强大，因为它们不仅用廉价且致命的无人机封锁了霍尔木兹海峡，还袭击了我们在该地区的合作伙伴和盟友，破坏石油和天然气基础设施，打击我们的大使馆和军事基地。”
鉴于局势的严重性，特朗普或许应该花更多时间试探伊朗的谈判意愿。但他已陷入进退两难的境地，因为和平谈判之外的选择——升级战争——鉴于伊朗在攻击下的韧性，似乎不太可能取得决定性成果。
不过，伊朗的持续接触表明，它也希望比当前停火协议更永久地结束敌对状态，并希望解除美国海军封锁，这场封锁正进一步削弱本已岌岌可危的伊朗经济。
从政治角度看，共和党需要取得突破。白宫经济委员会主任凯文·哈塞特承认对高油价感到沮丧。但他在ABC节目中表示，“希望”这个问题很快就能解决，“一切将恢复正常”。
这场战争只是笼罩在共和党头上的一个政治因素，今年夏季可能是中期选举前的艰难时期。共和党内部部分成员已出现反叛，而特朗普的分裂作风难辞其咎。
例如，这项11.76亿美元的“反政治迫害基金”就体现了处境脆弱的共和党议员往往难以两全其美的困境：他们必须取悦支持这类举措的选民基础，同时也要吸引普通选举选民——民调显示这些选民对总统持反感态度。参议院共和党人对该基金感到愤怒——该基金源于特朗普与司法部就其泄露的纳税申报表引发的100亿美元诉讼达成的和解——这导致一项关键行政优先事项、移民执法法案在阵亡将士纪念日休会前的立法进程受阻。
特朗普再次为追求个人目标和发泄不满而适得其反。他成功在初选中击败了两位被他视为不够忠诚的参议员——路易斯安那州的比尔·卡西迪和德克萨斯州的约翰·康恩，这可能会削弱共和党在参议院的多数席位优势。另一位共和党参议员、北卡罗来纳州的汤姆·蒂利斯即将退休，也已成为特朗普的阻碍。
日益激化的参议院僵局是特朗普处理伊朗战争和建国250周年纪念活动时更广泛趋势的一部分。
特朗普专注于行使不受制约的权力在短期内奏效，但最终可能产生适得其反的效果：削弱他对共和党、对国家乃至对世界的影响力。
Trump’s second term risks stalling on multiple fronts
2026-06-01T04:00:08.002Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/01/politics/trump-weaponization-fund-ufc-fight-iran-america-250-analysis
- President Trump faces mounting challenges across multiple fronts as his second term shows signs of stalling.
- His quest for an Iran peace deal remains elusive despite pressure to end the war, which a majority of Americans oppose.
- A fund that could compensate supporters convicted of taking part in the January 6 Capitol riot has sparked Senate GOP rebellion ahead of the midterm elections.
AI-generated summary was reviewed by a CNN editor.
President Donald Trump is increasingly threatened by a self-made problem.
His determination to impose unrestrained personal power — which crushed resistance in his first year back in the White House — is now stirring backlashes that are deepening a moment of political vulnerability.
This trend will play out in a week in which his second term is in danger of stalling on multiple fronts.
Trump’s most grave challenge is in finding a way out of the Iran war that strengthens the US and weakens Iran after a relentless American and Israel bombardment failed to crush Tehran’s regime.
Back home, one of Trump’s most controversial moves — a $1.776 billion fund that could compensate supporters convicted of taking part in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot — is imploding amid a Senate GOP rebellion fueled by anger over the president’s imperious instincts.
The furor over the nation’s 250th anniversary is meanwhile intensifying. Trump is furious as artists boycott a Great American State Fair concert series, complaining that it’s been politicized. In response, he’s now planning to open it himself after slamming “boring” singers and calling for a MAGA rally. This remedy seems likely to deepen the partisan turmoil over what was meant to be a unifying national moment.
Trump’s drive for dominance took an earlier blow on Friday when a judge ruled that the addition of his name to the Kennedy Center was illegal. The president reacted by saying he’d ditch his planned renovation of the performing arts institution entirely.
Clearly, Trump’s efforts to find an Iran exit ramp represent a critical national security question. Other uproars might seem trivial by comparison. But these are issues on which he’s chosen to invest his power and political capital. So it’s no surprise they are raising questions about his priorities at a time when his approval ratings are matching his historic lows.
This debate will only be fueled by a huge UFC arena being built on the South Lawn of the White House, next to the site of the demolished East Wing, for an event that falls on the president’s 80th birthday on June 14.
None of this is welcome news for congressional Republicans who are hampered by a president who seems unwilling to accept — ahead of challenging midterm elections — that most voters are not buying his vision of an economic golden age.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum hit back Sunday at criticism that the president was politicizing the 250th anniversary of independence commemorations.
He argued on CNN’s “State of the Union” that it was “important” that Trump, as president, be a key figure during the celebrations. Burgum sidestepped, however, on one aspect of the anniversary controversy, failing to call for the president’s Freedom 250 organization to declare its corporate donors. There are widespread concerns over potential ethics violations involving an administration that is in a position to adjudicate key concerns of big businesses that may be funding Trump’s favorite events.
The secretary also argued the real scandal was that previous administrations had let fountains and memorials in the capital fall into disrepair and that Trump was performing a service by renovating them. “The things that he touches, he makes better,” Burgum said, referring especially to an area outside Union Station that was known for homeless encampments and graffiti but that has been overhauled by the administration.
It’s inarguable that Trump’s beautification projects will be an improvement in parts of Washington.
But some, like the vast ballroom he’s building in place of the East Wing, may involve an overreach of presidential power. Others, like the eponymous renaming of the US Institute for Peace and a plan for a vast arch near the Potomac River, look more like vanity plays — as does a Treasury plan to print a $250 bill bearing Trump’s likeness.
The dichotomy between a president constructing a legacy in concrete and Americans struggling to pay for food and rent offers an opening to Democrats — even as the opposition party seeks to shake off its own deep unpopularity and still seems to be struggling to understand why it alienated millions of voters in 2024.
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker demonstrated on Sunday that the party will try to knit what critics see as the president’s personal corruption, self-aggrandizement and obliviousness to Americans’ economic pain into a midterm narrative.
He told ABC’s “This Week” that Trump was trying to set up a “$1.776 billion slush fund” and that the president wanted to “put his name on our money, on our passports, on our park passes. And when the courts stop him, he acts like a petulant child.”
Driving home the contrast, Booker said of his constituents: “I have families who say, ‘I can’t afford gas for my car and childcare for my children.’”
A week ago, there were expectations of an imminent peace deal with Iran, partly fueled by Trump’s optimistic commentary. But no deal is yet agreed, which speaks to the unappetizing choices facing the president. Some of those were caused by his launching of a war with no clear exit strategy or realistic concept of victory.
CNN’s Kevin Liptak reported Sunday that Trump had sent back a proposed draft of a deal after making changes. Officials said he insisted on tougher language surrounding the US desire to see Iran renounce nuclear weapons and its pledge to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He’s also concerned about financial relief that might be provided to Tehran as a carrot.
Trump is under extreme domestic and international pressure to end the war, which a majority of Americans oppose. But his trust in his own instincts in starting the war seemed to ignore the counsel of many experts. Iran’s closure of the strait created a global energy crisis and created leverage for Tehran that it didn’t have before the conflict.
Sen. Chris Coons said on “Fox News Sunday” that if Trump is able to “secure a permanent bar on any nuclear enrichment by Iran, and we get visibility and control into their nuclear program and reopen the Strait of Hormuz with no control by Iran ever … that’s a positive step forward.” But the Delaware Democrat added: “I don’t expect him to be able to achieve that.”
“Frankly, Iran is stronger than they were 90 days ago, before this war, because they’ve used their cheap and lethal drones not just to close the Strait of Hormuz, but to attack our partners and allies in the region, harming oil and gas infrastructure, hitting our embassies and bases.”
Given the stakes, Trump may be wise in taking more time to test Iran’s willingness to negotiate. He’s boxed in, however, because the alternative to peace talks — an escalation of the war — seems unlikely to be decisive given Iran’s resilience under attack.
Still, Iran’s continued engagement suggests that it too wants a more permanent end to hostilities than the current ceasefire, and to see the lifting of the US naval blockade that is further debilitating its hollowed-out economy.
Politically, the GOP needs a breakthrough. Kevin Hassett, director of the White House Economic Council, admitted frustration over high gas prices. But he said on ABC that “hopefully” the problem will be over soon and “things will go back to normal.”
The war is only one political factor hanging over Republicans in what may be a grim pre-midterms summer. Parts of the party are in revolt — and Trump’s divisive style is to blame.
The $1.176 billion “anti-weaponization fund,” for example, exemplifies the often-impossible straddle required of vulnerable GOP lawmakers. They must appease a base that delights in such schemes but also appeal to general election voters who polls show disdain the president. Republican anger in the Senate over the fund — which arose out of a Trump settlement with his own Justice Department over a $10 billion lawsuit stemming from his leaked tax returns — derailed a bid to pass an immigration enforcement bill, a key administration priority, before the Memorial Day recess.
Once again, Trump’s pursuit of his personal goals and grievances seems counterproductive. His successful efforts to defeat in primary races two senators he deemed insufficiently loyal — Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and John Cornyn of Texas — threaten to weaken the GOP majority. Another GOP senator, retiring Thom Tillis of North Carolina, has also become an impediment to Trump.
The growing Senate imbroglio is part of the broader trend emerging in Trump’s handling of the Iran war and the 250th anniversary celebrations.
Trump’s intense focus on wielding unfettered power worked in the short term, but ultimately may have the unwanted effect of loosening his sway over his party, his country and the world.