解散的特朗普顾问团：在对华政策上起过作用
美国一些商界大佬因参加了总统唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)两个如今已经解散的顾问团而遭受抨击，但其中部分人仍然认为他们的努力是值得的。
They knew when the administration convened the two groups, the strategy and policy forum and the manufacturing and jobs initiative, that joining would expose them to reputational risk, but they believed that working with Mr Trump would also give them an opportunity to shape the administration’s position.
当时特朗普政府组建了两个顾问团——策略和政策论坛以及制造业委员会，他们知道加入其中会让他们面临声誉风险，但他们认为与特朗普一起工作可以让他们有机会改变特朗普政府的立场。
The president’s remarks on Tuesday, including the comments that there were “very fine people” alongside the neo-Nazi protesters in Charlottesville at the weekend, convinced almost all the business leaders that they had to end the association with him.
这位美国总统周二的言论——包括声称上周末在夏洛茨维尔(Charlottesville)与新纳粹主义抗议者一道的也有“非常好的人”——让几乎所有商界领袖意识到他们不得不与特朗普结束这种关系。
But several argue that their engagement brought significant benefits, in particular over the issue of labelling China a currency manipulator.
但是一些人认为，他们的参与带来了显著效果，特别是在是否把中国列为汇率操纵国的问题上。
In an interview with the Financial Times on April 2, Mr Trump was still sticking to his argument from the campaign trail that “they [China] are world champions” at currency manipulation.
在4月2日接受英国《金融时报》(Financial Times)采访时，特朗普仍然坚持他在竞选时的观点，声称中国在汇率操纵方面是“世界冠军”。
But at the meeting of the strategy forum on April 11, a succession of executives argued that the accusation was misguided and counter-productive.
但在4月11日策略论坛召开的一次会议上，企业高管们相继发表意见，都认为该指控是错误的，并且会适得其反。
“As it went round the table, just about everyone there said it would be a really bad idea,” remembers one former member.
“随着在座的人轮流发言，差不多每个人都表示这将是非常糟糕的想法，”一名前成员回忆道。
When he spoke to the Wall Street Journal the following day, Mr Trump had shifted his line completely: he said he would not label China a currency manipulator, and since then the issue has been allowed to fade.
第二天特朗普接受《华尔街日报》(Wall Street Journal)采访时，他已经完全改变了说法，声称不会给中国贴上汇率操纵国的标签。从那以后，该问题得以逐渐淡化。
Mark Weinberger, chief executive of EY who was a member of the strategy forum, wrote in a note to staff yesterday that it had “had a positive impact on issues such as trade, economic growth and paid leave for families”.
安永(EY)首席执行官马克•温伯格(Mark Weinberger)曾经是策略论坛的成员，他在昨天给员工的信中写道，该论坛“在贸易、经济增长和家庭带薪假期等问题上产生了积极影响”。
The business leaders were not always successful in their attempts to persuade Mr Trump. Many of them urged him to keep the US in the Paris climate agreement, but he rejected their advice.
商界领袖们并非总能成功说服特朗普。很多人敦促他让美国留在巴黎气候协定内，但他拒绝了。
Elon Musk of Tesla quit both advisory groups over that decision in June, and many other members were unhappy about it. But Stephen Schwarzman, the Blackstone chief executive who chaired the strategy forum, argued that the group should stay together to continue make the case for business.
6月，由于特朗普的这一决定，特斯拉(Tesla)的埃隆•马斯克(Elon Musk)退出了两个顾问团，其他很多成员也对特朗普该决定不满。但策略论坛的主席、黑石(Blackstone)首席执行官苏世民(Stephen Schwarzman)认为，该小组应该团结起来继续为商业付出努力。
When they heard Mr Trump’s remarks in the marble-clad lobby of Trump Tower on Tuesday afternoon, however, many of the business leaders decided it was time to draw a line.
然而，当他们听到周二下午总统在特朗普大厦(Trump Tower)铺着大理石的大厅中的发言后，很多商业领袖决定是时候与特朗普划清界限了。
They had been reassured by Mr Trump’s prepared statement in the White House on Monday, when he had unequivocally condemned “the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans”.
周一特朗普在白宫发表的事先准备好的声明原本让他们放下了心，当时他明确谴责了“3K党、新纳粹分子、白人至上主义者和其他反感我们美国人所珍视的一切事物的仇恨团体”。
But on Tuesday, Mr Trump observed that “you also had people that were very fine people on both sides” of the protests, including those “innocently” demonstrating against the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee.
但周二，特朗普称“你也能看到(抗议)双方都有非常好的人，包括那些‘没有恶意地’参加示威以反对拆除南方联盟将领罗伯特•E•李(Robert E Lee)雕像的人。”
“He was like an actor stepping on his own lines,” says one former member of the strategy forum, of Mr Trump’s Tuesday press conference. “It’s meant to be about infrastructure, and then all that goes out the window.”
“他就像是践踏自己台词的演员一样，”一名策略论坛的前成员谈到特朗普周二的新闻发布会时表示，“本意是打造基础，之后一切都化为乌有了。”
Members of the forum talked about what they should do throughout the afternoon, and on a call at about 9pm that evening, some chief executives, including Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo, Ginni Rometty of IBM, and Rich Lesser of the Boston Consulting Group, concluded that the full membership should make a decision the following day.
当天整个下午，策略论坛的成员都在讨论应该怎么做。在当晚大约9时的一个电话会议上，几位CEO——包括百事可乐(PepsiCo)的卢英德(Indra Nooyi)、IBM的罗睿兰(Ginni Rometty)和波士顿咨询集团(BCG)的里奇•莱塞(Rich Lesser)——认为，全体成员应在第二天做出决定。
Mr Schwarzman had been reticent about his own position, but overnight he convened a call for the entire forum at 11.30 on Wednesday morning. He also wrote a statement explaining that the group had decided to disband, which he read out on the call for the other members to approve.
苏世民一直对自己的立场讳莫如深，但隔日，他在周三上午11点半召开了全体成员出席的电话会议。他还写了一份声明，解释论坛已决定解散。他在电话会议上宣读了该声明，供大家表决。
When it came to a vote, all but two of the members agreed with the plan to dissolve the forum, according to people who were on the call. Some members had said they would quit if the others tried to continue.
与会人士表示，在投票时，除两人之外，其他所有成员都赞同解散论坛的计划。有些成员还表示，如果其他人想继续干下去的话，他们将会退出。
Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, later sent a note to employees explaining why he supported the decision.
摩根大通(JPMorgan Chase)CEO杰米•戴蒙(Jamie Dimon)之后给员工发了一份通知，解释了他支持该决定的原因。
“I strongly disagree with President Trump’s reaction to the events that took place in Charlottesville,” he wrote. “There is no room for equivocation here.”
“我强烈反对特朗普总统对夏洛茨威尔所发生事件的反应，”他写道，“这里完全没有含糊其辞的余地。”
Mr Schwarzman rang the White House to tell the president the group was disbanding, and shortly afterwards Mr Trump tweeted: “Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both.”
苏世民致电白宫，告诉总统该论坛要解散，不久特朗普发出推文：“我没有对制造业委员会以及策略和政策论坛的商界人士们施压，而是终止这两个团体。”
The strategy forum issued a statement saying, as a courtesy to Mr Trump, that “the president and we are disbanding the forum”. In reality, the decision was taken by its members alone.
策略论坛发表了一份声明，出于对特朗普的客气，表示“总统和我们将解散该论坛”。实情是，解散的决定是由论坛成员单方面做出的。
The manufacturing council, meanwhile, had already been falling apart, with eight members announcing they were stepping down by the time Mr Trump tweeted. Jeff Immelt, chairman of General Electric, had not yet said he was quitting, but had already decided to go, the company said.
另一方面，制造业委员会本已是分崩离析的状态，到特朗普发表推文的时候，已有8名成员宣布辞职。通用电气(GE)表示，董事长杰夫•伊梅尔特(Jeff Immelt)尚未表示他将退出，但已经决定要离开。
John Flannery, GE’s new chief executive who took over from Mr Immelt at the beginning of August, explained in a note to staff: “Following the President’s deeply troubling statements yesterday [Tuesday], we decided that GE needed to leave the committee on American manufacturing.
“ 8月初接替伊梅尔特的GE新CEO约翰•弗兰纳里(John Flannery)在一份通知中向员工解释称：“在总统昨日(周二)发出极度令人不安的声明后，我们决定，GE必须退出这个与美国制造业有关的委员会。”
With the advisory groups gone, US businesses will need to find other ways to make their points to Mr Trump. With the tax reform debate in Congress looming, the lack of a clear channel of communication is worrying for some.
由于这两个顾问团的解散，美国企业界将需要找到其他途径来向特朗普表明自己的观点。在税制改革辩论即将在国会启动之际，缺少一条畅通的沟通渠道令有些人很担忧。
The position staked out by the president, however, made it impossible for the framework of advisory groups to survive.
然而，特朗普摆明的立场，使顾问团这种组织的运行也变得不可能。
Additional reporting by Stephen Foley, Anna Nicolaou and Richard Waters
史蒂芬•福利(Stephen Foley)、安娜•尼科拉乌(Anna Nicolaou)和理查德•沃特斯(Richard Waters)补充报道
