“法律完全站在我这边……总统不能有利益冲突。”唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)上周接受采访时发表的言论，无法打消美国人对于选出一位拥有大型跨国企业的总统的担忧。这让人不由得回想起理查德•尼克松(Richard Nixon)关于总统特权的论断：“总统做一件事，就意味着这件事不是非法的。”
The parallel is imperfect. Nixon was looking back at his presidency, and referring to national security issues specifically. And Mr Trump’s comment is, unlike Nixon’s, true — in one important sense. The rules forbidding officials’ involvement in matters where they have a financial interest do not apply to the president. The law reflects the great reach of the office under the constitution. Avoiding all conflicts would make the job impossible.
这种类比并不十分准确。尼克松说这话时是在回顾他的总统任期，并且特指国家安全问题。还有，不同于尼克松，特朗普这句话是正确的——从一个重要的层面来说。有关官员不得参与本人在其中拥有经济利益的事务的规则并不适用于总统。这条法律反映总统在宪法下拥有的巨大职权。如果要避免一切冲突，这总统就没法当了。
That does not mean that Mr Trump can mix the nation’s business and his own without restraint. There is, to start, a distinction between what the law requires and what a leader should do. Flouting ethical standards corrodes the ability to govern, as President Bill Clinton, for example, discovered.
这并不意味着特朗普可以毫无限制地把国家事务与个人事务混为一谈。首先，法律规定的责任和领导人应该做的事之间是有区别的。藐视道德标准会损害执政能力，正如前总统比尔•克林顿(Bill Clinton)所发现的那样。
Mr Trump has already pushed limits. Breaking with the decades-old and honourable practice of releasing tax returns was the first step. The idea that giving his children control of his business does anything to reduce potential conflicts is risible. This was underlined when his daughter Ivanka attended Mr Trump’s meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan. Minimally, the president would put his businesses in the hands of an independent board; ideally, he would instruct that board to liquidate. Mr Trump will do neither.
特朗普已经挑战了界限。第一步是打破了一项延续几十年、值得尊重的惯例——公开纳税申报单。认为把企业管理权交给子女就能减少潜在利益冲突的观点十分可笑。特朗普的女儿伊万卡(Ivanka)陪同他会晤日本首相安倍晋三(Shinzo Abe)，更是突显了这一点。最起码，总统会把自己的企业交给独立董事会;在理想情况下，他会指示董事会将企业清盘。特朗普两种方式都不会选。
Since the election, Americans have been given a taste of the sticky situations the Trump administration will force them to contemplate. The president-elect has met with his Indian business partners. He has encouraged the interim leader of the UK Independence party, Nigel Farage, to campaign against wind farms, which he thinks blight his Scottish golf courses. Days after Mr Trump spoke to Argentina’s president, it was announced that a Trump tower project in Buenos Aires would proceed.
自从选举以来，美国人就体会到了情况的不妙，这是特朗普政府将迫使他们慢慢品尝的滋味。这位当选总统会见了他的印度商业伙伴。他鼓励英国独立党(UKIP)过渡期领袖奈杰尔•法拉奇(Nigel Farage)发起抵制风力发电厂的活动——特朗普认为风力发电厂妨碍了他在苏格兰的高尔夫球场。在特朗普与阿根廷总统通话几天后，布宜诺斯艾利斯就宣布推进特朗普大厦项目。
While the law protects the president on conflicts of interest narrowly understood, the constitution emphatically forbids the use of the presidency for profit. The emolument clause forbids the president from taking anything of value from foreign powers, and the impeachment clause singles out bribery as a high crime meriting removal from office.
尽管法律在狭义层面的利益冲突上保护总统，但是宪法明确禁止利用总统职权谋利。报酬条款禁止总统从外国势力获取任何有价值的东西，弹劾条款把贿赂列为可以罢黜总统的重罪。
But Mr Trump’s supporters need not worry, and his opponents should not hope, that he will cross a bright line, promptly triggering an impeachment vote in the House of Representatives and a trial in the Senate. Mr Trump is no fool and there is room for years of legal wrangling over the constitution’s broad language about executive power.
但是特朗普的支持者不必担心他会跨越明显的界限、立即触发众议院的弹劾投票和参议院的审判，他的反对者也不应该抱着这种指望。特朗普不是傻子，而且围绕宪法对行政权力的宽泛解释还可以展开历时多年的法律争执。
What will restrain Mr Trump is Congress. When he crosses boundaries, it can replace co-operation with investigation, especially in the finely balanced Senate. Both parties will have to be at their best. Democrats must not turn the fact that Mr Trump’s businesses will profit from his office into an excuse for obstructing the basic business of government. And Republicans must follow conscience, not party allegiance.
能够约束住特朗普的是国会。一旦他跨过界限，国会可以不再采取合作态度，而是展开调查，特别是在两党势力接近的参议院。两党都不得不拿出最佳状态。民主党人不能以特朗普的企业受益于总统权力为借口，阻碍政府行使基本职能。而共和党人必须凭良知行事，不能死忠于本党。
Executive power and privilege have caused controversy since the constitution was drafted. Franklin Roosevelt tried to pack the Supreme Court; George W Bush asserted broad executive security powers after 9/11. In those cases and more, the other branches of government refused to be pushed aside. May that tradition continue.
自美国宪法起草以来，有关行政权力和特权的话题一直存在争议。富兰克林•罗斯福(Franklin Roosevelt)试图在最高法院安插亲信;小布什(George W Bush)在9•11事件后主张在安全事务上总统有广泛行政权力。在上述情况(以及更多情况)下，政府的其他分支部门拒绝被排挤在外。希望这种传统可以延续下去。
