The term “lame duck” is too passive to capture what is about to happen to Donald Trump. At home, Democrats are hoping to make a duck confit of his presidency. That is ominous news for America’s allies. Hobbled presidents tend to embrace the allure of the global stage. Richard Nixon pulled off some of his biggest foreign policy moves during the Watergate crisis. But Mr Trump is no Nixon. Nor is he served by a Henry Kissinger. There is not so much a Trump doctrine as a stock of Trumpian instincts. These were best captured by the phrase: “We’re America, bitch” from a senior White House official this year.
「跛腳鴨」這個詞太溫和了，無法充分反映唐納•川普(Donald Trump)將會面臨的狀況。在美國國內，民主黨人希望把他剩餘的總統任期做成一隻「油封鴨」。對於美國的盟國來說，這可不是好兆頭。被綁住腿腳的總統往往轉而尋求在全球舞臺上表現。理查•尼克森(Richard Nixon)在水門(Watergate)危機期間做出了一些最重大的外交政策舉措。但川普不是尼克松，他身邊也沒有亨利•季辛吉(Henry Kissinger)爲他出謀劃策。沒有什麼「川普主義」，有的只是一些川普式本能。對他的政策最經典的概括，是一位白宮高級官員今年那句「我們是美國，婊子」。