2026-10-12T04:01:44.637Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/12/politics/trump-russia-deal-livestream-execution-backlash
唐纳德·特朗普正试图让美国变得更像他本人。
但选民很快将对这位总统试图重新定义其所领导的政府在国内外行使权力方式的努力作出裁决。
三大热点事件凸显了他的胁迫性与交易型本能如何改变美国的国家特质，以及世界其他国家如何看待我们。
自二战以来，美国一直致力于扶持民主。但特朗普却允许俄罗斯向市场供应柴油，这等于奖赏了冷酷的独裁者弗拉基米尔·普京总统——后者在试图摧毁乌克兰独立的过程中，正杀害数十名乌克兰平民。
与此同时，国防部长皮特·赫格斯计划直播对胡德堡枪击案枪手的枪决处决，此举可能将美国归入伊朗、塔利班和哈马斯之列，沦为公开处决的国家。
上周纽约联邦特工枪击一名多米尼加共和国公民的事件中，车内还有一名5岁儿童，这是政府在日益收紧的驱逐打击行动中，最新一次在公共场合展示暴力武力的行为。
每一起事件都引发了政治反弹，每一起都引发了关于总统权力不受约束地使用的质疑，以及最终侵蚀法律和行为准则会如何影响国家良知的疑问。
但每一起事件也都直接源于这位总统的个性：他在两次民主选举中被选民选中时，就毫不掩饰自己的意图，他代表着数千万公民的观点。
中期选举的核心议题是食品和住房价格高企、对人工智能数据中心的反弹，以及公众对伊朗战争的愤怒。
但此次选举也是特朗普首次掌权十周年，它将间接成为对他试图以其好斗且特立独行的价值观为棱镜，定义21世纪国家伟大程度的一次评估。
人们对俄罗斯柴油协议、可能被直播的处决计划，以及移民海关执法局行动的日益担忧，可能暗示特朗普在第二任期过半之际，其政治影响力正在减弱。
而几周后即将到来的总统选举周期，则将开启一场辩论：特朗普对美国例外论的重新定义是一种反常现象，还是会在他卸任后长期留在人们对他的印象中。
特朗普与普京达成的向国际市场供应柴油的协议，直白地展示了“美国优先”的实际运作，以及这位美国总统利用外交政策实现其政治目标的倾向。
此举打破了俄罗斯入侵乌克兰后打击其经济的国际制裁体系；为普京带来了巨大的宣传胜利；也反映了这位美国总统纵容克里姆林宫强人惯用的模式。
这对乌克兰平民的士气是新的打击，他们正面临越来越多的俄罗斯袭击，包括至少33人在两辆公共汽车遇袭时身亡。
此举在莫斯科被指控在欧洲开展破坏、骚扰和侵犯领空行动之际，与北约盟友拉开了巨大裂痕。荷兰国防部长上周将俄罗斯称为“我们的敌人”。
而特朗普周六要求乌克兰更换总统弗拉基米尔·泽连斯基——这是莫斯科的一项关键条件——将再次引发人们的担忧，即他正站在克里姆林宫的战争目标一边。最近特朗普未批准基辅生产爱国者导弹，也加剧了这些担忧。
但特朗普的决定有一个合乎逻辑的解释。
他陷入了政治和经济困境，因为柴油价格创下历史新高，重创了美国农业并推高了食品价格。这在很大程度上要归咎于他发动的伊朗战争，目前尚不清楚该协议能否迅速降低油价。但他有着迫切的国内政治需求，不惜一切代价也要采取更多行动。
“这是我们总统跳出固有思维的又一个例证，”众议院多数党鞭汤姆·埃默周日在接受美国广播公司新闻《本周》节目采访时表示。埃默补充道：“我们的总统正在尽一切可能寻找办法帮助美国人民。”
但前副总统迈克·彭斯反对放松对俄罗斯的经济制裁。“美国不应该为普京的战争机器提供生命线。现在是时候像在首届特朗普政府期间那样，坚定地反对俄罗斯的侵略行为，”彭斯在X平台的一篇帖子中写道。
特朗普拒绝了彭斯所代表的那种鹰派传统共和党主义。这位总统对国家和个人利益的定义更为狭隘：就在他为被指控犯有战争罪的普京赢得重大胜利的同一天，他还再次警告可能摧毁伊朗，同时抨击自己再次被诺贝尔和平奖冷落是“一件尴尬事”和“可耻的”。
赫格斯认为人们“需要了解”的事
尼达尔·哈桑是美国陆军少校，因针对前往阿富汗的士兵犯下13项预谋谋杀罪而被定罪。问题不在于受害者在司法程序后是否应得到正义，而在于公开处决是否会侵犯宪法保护；是否符合美国的现代价值观；以及是否会让哈桑获得他所追求的烈士身份。
赫格斯上周解释说，处决将公开进行，因为“人们需要了解，这类行为会带来严重后果”。这位国防部长支持用武力来做秀，并蔑视那些担心此举违反美国原则的人。例如，他为美国在加勒比海和太平洋对疑似贩毒船只的打击行动辩护，这些行动造成至少221人死亡，批评者称其为违宪的法外暗杀。
反对声仍有可能破坏直播处决计划。特朗普周末表示，他将决定是否执行该计划。
但反对者担心，继续推进此举会玷污美国的道德声誉，并为极端组织带来宣传上的胜利。
“他在模仿什么， ISIS的处决场面？”康涅狄格州参议员克里斯·墨菲周四在接受美国有线电视新闻网艾琳·伯内特采访时表示。“我知道我国存在死刑，但公开处决是中世纪的做法。”
一些共和党人也感到担忧。“我绝对支持死刑判决，但直播处决是圣战分子的所作所为。美国不该如此，”佐治亚州众议员奥斯汀·斯科特表示。犹他州参议员约翰·柯蒂斯在X平台上警告称：“当一个文明将处决作为一种娱乐形式时，它就开始衰落了。”
执法行动中公开使用军事化武力，以及政府强硬的叙事，也为驱逐打击行动提供了支撑。这带来了严重的后果，包括明尼苏达州的抗议者蕾妮·古德和亚历克斯·普雷蒂死亡。
在最新的争议中，来自多米尼加共和国的28岁奥斯卡·贝尔加尔上周在布朗克斯被移民特工枪击，颈部受轻伤。他的孩子没有受伤。联邦当局表示，官员们认为他们的生命受到了威胁。根据法庭记录，这名受伤男子此前曾承认犯有四级重大盗窃罪，并被判处五年缓刑。
批评者认为，此类对峙是不受约束的联邦政府权力的不可接受的例证。纽约市长佐赫兰·曼达尼表示，涉案特工未穿制服，移民海关执法局的特工“让这座城市陷入恐惧”。
但国土安全部长马克韦恩·穆林周日在接受美国有线电视新闻网杰克·塔珀《国情咨文》节目采访时表示，贝尔加尔才是罪魁祸首。“事实是，这家伙是个恶人。他是个暴徒，是个帮派成员，”穆林说。他将责任归咎于贝尔加尔将自己的孩子置于危险之中：“我绝不会做的一件事就是让我的儿子或我的任何一个孩子陷入危险。”
穆林的言论与许多支持更严格移民执法的美国人的观点一致，这些人响应了特朗普在竞选期间提出的严厉打击法律和秩序的承诺。
然而，尽管多数人在拜登政府忽视边境问题后希望采取更多行动，但有迹象表明，激进策略正成为政治负担。皮尤研究中心5月的一项民调显示，52%的人认为政府在驱逐问题上做得“太多”。不过，只有19%的共和党人持此观点，凸显此类对峙可能会取悦共和党中期选举的基础选民。
美国历史上充斥着暴力和被压制的正义：私刑、镇压民权抗议、战时拘留、以及导致数千无辜平民死亡的对外战争。因此，特朗普的强硬姿态绝非首次有政府权力挑战对美国价值观的传统认知。
然而，几乎没有哪位现代总统愿意如此大胆地测试美国关于有限政府权力、克制使用武力、国际联盟和美国全球领导力的理念。
最终，公民必须在投票箱前决定，这是否是他们想要的未来。
Russia deal, execution plans and deportations tell a defining tale about Trump and power
2026-10-12T04:01:44.637Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/12/politics/trump-russia-deal-livestream-execution-backlash
Donald Trump is trying to make America more like him.
But voters will soon get to deliver a verdict on the president’s efforts to redefine how the government he leads wields power at home and abroad.
Three flashpoints illustrate how his coercive and transactional instincts are changing the character of the country and how the rest of the world sees us.
Ever since World War II, America has nurtured democracy. But by allowing Russia to supply markets with diesel, Trump will reward a ruthless authoritarian, President Vladimir Putin, who is killing scores of Ukrainian civilians as he aims to crush their independence.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s plan to livestream the death by firing squad of the Fort Hood mass shooter meanwhile risks putting the United States in the category of Iran, the Taliban and Hamas in carrying out public executions.
And the shooting by federal agents in New York last week of a citizen of the Dominican Republic while a 5-year-old was in the car was the government’s latest flex of violent force in public in an intensifying deportation crackdown.
Each event sparked a political backlash, and each raises questions about the unconstrained use of presidential authority and how eroded legal and behavioral standards will ultimately sit with the national conscience.
But each also directly flows from the personality of a president who made no secret of his intentions when he was twice chosen by voters in democratic elections and who represents the views of tens of millions of citizens.
The midterm elections are being dominated by high prices for food and housing, a backlash against AI data centers, and public fury over the Iran war.
But the election also marks 10 years since Trump first won power, and it will serve indirectly as an accounting of his attempts to define 21st century national greatness through a prism of his truculent and idiosyncratic values.
Growing concerns about the Russia diesel deal, a potentially livestreamed execution and Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity may hint at Trump’s eroded political clout nearly halfway through his second term.
And the shift of the electoral calendar to a presidential cycle in a few weeks will begin a debate on whether Trump’s redefinition of American exceptionalism is an aberration or whether it will linger in his image when he’s left office.
Trump’s deal with Putin to send diesel onto international markets is a blunt demonstration of “America First” in action and the US president’s tendency to use foreign policy to promote his political goals.
The move shatters the international sanctions regime that battered Russia’s economy after the invasion of Ukraine; delivers a huge propaganda victory to Putin; and reflects the US president’s pattern of accommodating the Kremlin strongman.
It deals a new blow to the morale of Ukrainian civilians, who are under escalating Russian attacks, including at least 33 who died when two public buses were targeted.
It opens a huge rift with NATO allies at a moment when Moscow is accused of a campaign of sabotage, harassment and airspace violations in Europe. The Dutch defense minister last week branded Russia “our enemy.”
And Trump’s demand Saturday for Ukraine to replace President Volodymyr Zelensky — a key Moscow condition — will renew fears that he’s siding with Kremlin war aims. Those fears were also recently exacerbated by Trump’s failure to license Kyiv to produce Patriot missiles.
But there is a logical explanation for Trump’s decision.
He’s in a political and economic bind because the cost of diesel has hit record levels, hammering US agriculture and raising food prices. Most of this is because of his war in Iran, and it is unclear whether the deal will lower prices quickly. But he had a burning domestic political imperative to do more, whatever the expense.
“It’s another example of our president thinking out of the box,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer told ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday. Emmer added: “Our president is trying to find every answer possible to help the American people.”
But former Vice President Mike Pence balked at easing the economic vise on Russia. “America should not be throwing a lifeline to Putin’s war machine. Now is the time to stand strong against Russian aggression as we did during the first Trump administration,” Pence wrote in a post on X.
Trump rejects the kind of hawkish, traditional Republicanism that Pence represents. The president has a narrower definition of national and personal interest: On the same day he delivered a huge win for Putin, an accused war criminal, and again warned he may destroy Iran, Trump slammed his latest Nobel Peace Prize snub as “an embarrassment” and “disgraceful.”
What Hegseth thinks people ‘need to understand’
Nidal Hasan is a US Army major convicted of 13 counts of premeditated murder for targeting soldiers headed to Afghanistan. The question is not whether his victims deserve justice following a judicial process. It’s whether staging a public execution would infringe constitutional protections; whether it is consistent with America’s modern values; and if it would hand Hasan the martyrdom he sought.
Hegseth explained last week that the execution would be public because “people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things.” The defense secretary favors the performative use of force and is contemptuous toward those who fear it violates American principles. He has, for example, defended US strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific that have killed at least 221 people and that critics call unconstitutional extrajudicial assassinations.
A backlash could still scupper the livestream execution plan. Trump said over the weekend that he will decide whether it will happen.
But opponents worry that going ahead will stain America’s moral reputation and reward extremist groups with a propaganda triumph.
“What is he mimicking, ISIS executions?” Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Thursday. “I understand that in this country we have the death penalty, but public executions is medieval.”
Some Republicans are also concerned. “I absolutely support the sentence of death, but livestreaming executions is what jihadists do. America is better than that,” said Georgia Rep. Austin Scott. And Utah Sen. John Curtis warned on X, “A civilization erodes when it cultivates an appetite for executions as a form of entertainment.”
The public use of military-style force in law enforcement and a narrative of governmental toughness also underpins the deportation crackdown. It has come with grave consequences, including the deaths of protesters Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota.
In the latest controversy, Oscar Belgal, 28, from the Dominican Republic, suffered a superficial wound to the neck when he was shot by immigration agents in the Bronx last week. His child was not physically injured. Federal authorities said officers believed that their lives were in danger. The injured man had previously pleaded guilty to fourth-degree grand larceny and received five years of probation, according to court records.
Critics see such confrontations as unacceptable examples of untamed federal government power. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the officers involved were not wearing uniforms and that ICE agents are “making the city terrified.”
But Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” on Sunday that Belgal was to blame. “The truth is this guy was an awful human being. He was a thug. He was a gangbanger,” Mullin said. He placed the blame on Belgal for putting his child at risk: “The last thing I would have done is put my son or one of my kids in danger.”
Mullin’s comments are consistent with the views of many Americans who favor stronger immigration enforcement and who responded to Trump’s searing promises to launch law and order crackdowns in his campaigns.
Yet while a majority wanted more action on the border after the Biden administration’s neglect, there are signs the aggressive tactics are a political liability. In a Pew Research poll in May, 52% said the administration was doing “too much” on deportations. Still, only 19% of Republicans thought so, underscoring that confrontations might please GOP midterm base voters.
American history is scarred by violence and stifled justice: lynchings; the crushing of civil rights protests; internments in wartime; and foreign wars that killed thousands of innocent civilians. So Trump’s muscularity is far from the first time that government power has challenged traditional perceptions of US values.
Yet few modern presidents have been as willing to test American ideas about limited government power, the restrained use of force, international alliances and American global leadership.
Ultimately, citizens must decide at the ballot box if this is what they want.