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Much of the slippage came on the domestic front,
大部分的“滑点”都发生在国内方面，
with Trump lashing out more frequently and harshly at special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into his campaign’s contacts with Russian officials,
特朗普对特别检察官罗伯特·穆勒针对其竞选团队与俄罗斯官员往来的调查展开了更为频繁和严厉的抨击，
demanding the deployment of National Guard troops to the border and announcing pardons with little input from the Justice Department or his staff.
他要求在边境部署国民警卫队，还在几乎没有司法部或其工作人员参与的情况下宣布赦免（已故前世界拳王杰克·约翰逊）。
But arguably the biggest breaks have come on foreign policy.
但可以说，最重大的破格行为还是特朗普在外交政策方面采取的举措。
When Trump took office, the State Department sent a document to the White House
特朗普上任之际，国务院曾向白宫递交一份文件，
predicting that dozens of U.S. embassies would be overrun with protesters if Trump decided to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
该文件预测，如果特朗普决定承认耶路撒冷为以色列首都，数十个美国大使馆将被抗议者淹没。
Tillerson stuck to that line so hard that around the West Wing he become known as the Doomsayer, according to a White House official.
据某白宫官员透露，蒂勒森无比坚持这一看法，以至于他在白宫西翼多了个“末世论者”的名号。
The issue came to a head near the end of the year, when Trump pushed the case and Tillerson demurred.
年底将近之际，特朗普试图推动承认耶路撒冷的地位的有关事宜，引发了蒂勒森的强烈反对，此事由此发酵到了最为紧要的关头。
Diplomats from Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia warned the White House
来自埃及、约旦和沙特的外交官纷纷警告白宫，
that their leaders would issue forceful objections if Trump went forward,
如果特朗普继续执迷不悟，他们的领导人会发出强有力的反对意见，
citing fears that formally acknowledging Jerusalem would spark violent clashes over the ownership of a city
为此，他们提到，外界担心，正式承认耶路撒冷的首都地位将会引发围绕该城市所有权的暴力冲突，
that has long been a lightning rod for religious and nationalist passions.
因为该城一直以来都充当着两国宗教和民族主义激情的避雷针。
But on Dec.6, Trump announced that the embassy would move,
然而，12月6日，特朗普宣布，搬迁大使馆之事已定，
and now many White House officials feel that the dire warnings were overblown.
现在，许多白宫官员都感觉，那些可怕的警告言过其实了。
The jockeying wasn’t done.
搬迁之事尚未落实。
Officials tried to stall the move.
官员们试图阻止这一行动。
At a rally on May 10 in Elkhart, Ind., Trump himself described one such attempt,
5月10日，在印第安纳州埃尔克哈特的一次集会上，特朗普自己就描述了这样的一次尝试，
saying advisers told him it would cost $1 billion and take years to complete.
他说，顾问们告诉他，搬迁大使馆需要耗资10亿美元，还要耗时数年才能完成。
He said he called the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman,
他则表示，他已经给美国驻以色列大使大卫·弗里德曼打过电话，
who told Trump he could move the embassy into an existing building in Jerusalem for $150,000.
弗里德曼告诉他，他可以将大使馆迁入耶路撒冷的一栋现有建筑里，只需耗资15万美元。
“David, you can do that from $1 billion to $150,000. You know what? Spend $200,000 or $300,000—that’s O.K. too,” Trump said.
“大卫，15万美元到10亿美元之间都可以。花个20万，30万的都没关系，”特朗普说。
Friedman’s move was largely symbolic:
很大程度上讲，弗里德曼的举动都有着浓浓的象征意味：
he had a large stone plaque installed on an existing consular office and transferred some staff from the existing embassy in Tel Aviv to populate it.
他在现在的一间领事办公室里放了一块巨大的石匾，还从特拉维夫大使馆调派了一些工作人员到那里工作。
By the time Trump walked away from the Iran deal,
特朗普退出伊朗核协议之际，
it was clear that the dam had broken during the previous five months and that a two-week period in early March had been particularly telling.
很明显，过去5个月时间里，白宫官员们筑起的“大坝”已经决堤，而3月初的两周时间尤能说明这一问题。
On March 1, Trump announced new aluminum and steel tariffs on Europe and China.
3月1日，特朗普宣布对从欧洲和中国进口的铝和钢铁征收关税。
On March 13, he replaced Tillerson with his hawkish CIA director, Mike Pompeo.
3月13日，他又任命鹰派的中央情报局局长迈克·蓬佩奥接替蒂勒森执掌国务院。
It was right in the middle of this period that a special envoy from South Korea arrived in Washington on March 8,
在这期间，韩国特使于3月8日抵达华盛顿，
with a message so urgent and sensitive, it needed to be delivered in person.
而他带来的消息紧迫且敏感到必须亲自传达给特朗普。
