What exactly is the role of a first daughter? That question in Berlin this week had Ivanka Trump fumbling for a reply. Without having ever won a vote, Donald Trump’s elder daughter is now among the world’s most influential people. Her husband, Jared Kushner, is the Trump administration’s plenipotentiary by virtue of his marriage. Both appear to be nice people: friends describe them as “normal”. But their ascent to the pinnacle of US power has no parallel in modern western democracy. The Germans are not alone in wondering what to make of it.
第一女兒的角色究竟是什麼？上週在柏林，伊凡卡•川普(Ivanka Trump)對這個問題說不出個所以然。雖然從沒贏得過一張選票，唐納•川普(Donald Trump)的這位長女現在已成爲全世界最有影響力的人之一。她的丈夫傑瑞德•庫許納(Jared Kushner)憑藉自己的婚姻成了川普政府的全權代表。這倆人似乎都是好人，朋友們稱他們是「平常人」。但他們攀上美國權力頂峯，是現代西方民主史上絕無僅有的特例。想搞清楚這是怎麼回事的並非只有德國人。