Media bosses are warning that Donald Trump’s second administration could bring a crackdown on press freedom as they face the return of a US president who has denounced journalists as “the enemy of the people”.

媒体老板们警告说，唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)的第二届政府可能会打击新闻自由。他们正临一名斥记者为“人民公敌”的美国总统的回归。

Since his first successful presidential campaign eight years ago, Trump has routinely castigated the “mainstream media”, which he derides as “fake news”. This time round he ratcheted up his criticisms, repeatedly threatening to revoke broadcast licences for news channels such as CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox, and saying last month it was time to “straighten out” the “corrupt press”. 

自8年前首次成功竞选总统以来，特朗普经常抨击“主流媒体”，将其讥讽为“假新闻”。这一次，他加大了批评力度，多次威胁要吊销哥伦比亚广播公司(CBS)、全国广播公司(NBC)、美国广播公司(ABC)和福克斯(Fox)等新闻频道的广播许可证，并在上个月表示，是时候“整顿腐败的新闻界”了。

As the former reality television star prepares to move back into the White House, US news groups fear he will make good on his threats through regulation, litigation or intimidation. The anxiety comes at a time of heightened vulnerability for the US news media, which is facing declining audiences, plunging trust and waning relevance as large groups of the country’s population find their information elsewhere.

在这名前电视真人秀明星准备重返白宫之际，美国的新闻集团担心他会通过监管、诉讼或恐吓来兑现他的威胁。美国新闻媒体正面临受众减少、信任度下降、影响力减弱等问题，因为大量美国民众已开始在其他地方获取信息。

——本文2024年11月14日发布于FT中文网，英文原题为 Can ‘mainstream media’ survive the second Donald Trump era?

Republicans have won a majority in the House of Representatives, giving Donald Trump’s party full control of both chambers of the US Congress and wide latitude to push a radical agenda through the legislature.

共和党赢得了众议院多数席位，使唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)的政党完全控制了美国国会参众两院，现在该党有广泛的自由通过立法机构推动激进的议程。

Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries congratulated Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson late on Wednesday, after several TV networks projected Trump’s party would retain control of the House.

周三晚些时候，众议院民主党领袖哈基姆•杰弗里斯(Hakeem Jeffries)向共和党籍的众议院议长迈克•约翰逊(Mike Johnson)表示祝贺，此前多家电视网络预测特朗普的政党将继续控制众议院。

“House Democrats gave it our all, running aggressive, forward-looking and people-centred campaigns,” Jeffries said. “While we will not regain control of the Congress in January, falling just a few seats short, House Democrats will hold Republicans to a razor-thin majority.”

杰弗里斯说：“众议院民主党人全力以赴，开展了积极、前瞻性和以人为本的竞选活动。虽然我们不会在1月份重新控制国会，只差几个席位，但众议院民主党人将使共和党人仅仅保持微弱多数。”

——本文2024年11月14日发布于FT中文网，英文原题为 Republicans win majority in US House, giving Trump control of Congress

European leaders treated the first Donald Trump presidency as an aberration: something to ride out while limiting the damage, rather than the spur it should have been to make the continent’s security and economy more resilient. Trump’s re-election proves his first term was no one-off. For four years — and, if Trumpism becomes embedded, perhaps for longer — Europe’s greatest political and economic ally is going to have a president driven by self-interest and little regard for traditional alliances.

欧洲领导人将唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)的第一任总统任期视为一种异常情况：他们认为应该尽量减少损害并平稳度过这段时间，而不是将其视为刺激欧洲加强安全和经济韧性的契机。特朗普的连任证明他的第一任期并非偶然事件。在接下来的四年——如果特朗普主义得以深入，甚至可能更长时间——欧洲最重要的政治和经济盟友将有一个以自身利益为驱动、对传统联盟关系几乎不予理会的总统。

That presents European leaders, in the EU and beyond, with multiple problems. As well as facing US tariffs themselves, they may be caught in a trade war between the US and China, Europe’s biggest export markets. If Trump forces Ukraine into a deal with Moscow, they may face an emboldened Vladimir Putin. They must begin, quickly, to take more responsibility for the continent’s defence. Europe’s economy must be made more dynamic and competitive, and less dependent on ties with Washington and Beijing. The goal has to be to insulate Europe as far as possible from Trump-inflicted damage.

这给欧盟内外的欧洲领导人带来了多重问题。除了面临美国的关税之外，他们可能会陷入美国和中国之间的贸易战，而中国是欧洲最大的出口市场。如果特朗普迫使乌克兰与莫斯科方面达成协议，欧洲可能会面临一个更加大胆的弗拉基米尔•普京(Vladimir Putin)。他们必须迅速开始为欧洲的防务承担更多责任。欧洲经济必须更加具有活力和竞争力，并减少对与美国和中国的联系的依赖。目标必须是尽可能地使欧洲免受特朗普造成的损害。

That task will be complicated by political realities. The EU’s sputtering Franco-German “motor” has stalled altogether after hitting gridlock in Paris and coalition collapse in Berlin. The UK, one of Europe’s biggest militaries and foreign policy voices, is outside the EU. Nationalist populist leaders in several countries see Trump’s return more as opportunity than threat. Others that fear their security is at risk may try to cut deals with the president. The risk is that everyone goes their own way. But for all those committed to preserving a liberal democratic Europe and its institutions, the guiding principle must be that Europe is strongest when it pursues collective action — where necessary through coalitions of the willing. 

这项任务将受到政治现实的复杂性的影响。在法国政治陷入僵局、德国执政联盟瓦解之后，欧盟的法德“引擎”完全停滞不前。欧洲最大的军事力量和外交政策声音之一英国则不在欧盟之内。几个国家的民族主义民粹主义领导人认为，特朗普的回归更多是机遇而非威胁。其他担心自身安全受到威胁的国家可能会试图与特朗普达成协议。风险在于，每个人都按照自己的方式行事。但对于所有致力于维护自由民主的欧洲及其机构的人来说，指导原则必须是欧洲在追求集体行动时最强大——必要时通过愿意合作的联盟。

——本文2024年11月14日发布于FT中文网，英文原题为 The Trump challenge for Europe

As I climbed under the kitchen table with my five-year-old this weekend, she explained that we were in a car, but, “It can drive itself, so we can just relax, OK?” We settled down for a pretend nap on the way to the pretend beach.

这个周末，当我和我五岁的女儿爬到厨房桌子下面时，她解释说，我们在一辆车里，但是，“它可以自己驾驶，所以我们可以放松一下，好吗？”在假装去海滩的路上，我们坐下来假装打了个盹。

I didn’t tell her that grown-ups are really struggling to turn this vision into reality. Even Waymo, the company that is furthest ahead, still only has self-driving taxis in a handful of US cities.

我没有告诉她，大人们把这种愿景变成现实的努力真的很艰难。即使是最领先的Waymo公司，也只在美国少数几个城市推出了自动驾驶出租车。

In the meantime, carmakers are packing many of their new models with so-called “Level 2” partial automation features instead, which can do a certain amount of driving in some circumstances, but require the human driver to pay attention and take over when necessary. Yet this halfway-house, which relies on humans and machines, is proving troublesome. And it is trouble worth noting, even if you have no interest in cars, because other sectors are also beginning to embrace the concept of automated “co-pilots” to help everyone from coders to doctors.

与此同时，汽车制造商正在转而为许多新车型配备所谓的L2部分自动化功能，这种功能在某些情况下可以完成一定程度的驾驶，但需要人类驾驶员保持注意并在必要时接管。然而，事实证明，这种依靠人工和机器的“折中方案”很麻烦。即使你对汽车不感兴趣，这也是一个值得注意的问题，因为其他行业也开始接受自动“副驾驶”(Copilot)的概念，来帮助从程序员到医生的所有人。

——本文2024年11月14日发布于FT中文网，英文原题为 The very human problem with not-quite-self-driving cars