星期五，中午之前，在椭圆形办公室里，特朗普总统和泽连斯基总统坐在高背锦缎椅子上，舒适地交换着日常的寒暄。 这位乌克兰领导人看起来很紧张，模仿东道主的姿势，身体微微前倾，双手放在膝盖上，交缠在一起。 但尽管会议开始时气氛友好——特朗普宣布欢迎他的特别嘉宾是一种“荣幸”——但会议结束时，我们会看到大声的侮辱、威胁、诽谤，外交官们几乎要哭了。两人有时手势夸张，手臂交叉，就像闪闪发光的剑。 这一非凡的场面震惊了世界。但对泽连斯基的攻击是经过精心策划的，是一次“有计划的政治抢劫”，正如一位外交观察员所说？ 当然，泽连斯基事先就被警告要提高警惕。 有一些明显的线索表明，事情并非表面看起来的那样。也许最大的线索是特朗普对美国记者布莱恩·格伦狡黠地眨眼，后者问话激怒了身着军装的泽连斯基：“你为什么不穿西装……你有西装吗？” 顺便说一句，格伦恰好是极右翼女议员玛乔丽·泰勒·格林的男朋友，玛乔丽事后在推特上说她为他感到骄傲。 早些时候，一辆越野车把泽连斯基接到白宫外，特朗普讽刺地向他打招呼：“哦，你穿得太正式了。”这可不是什么好兆头。
Friday, just before midday in the Oval Office. President Trump and President Zelensky sit on high-backed damask chairs angled cosily for a routine exchange of pleasantries.
The Ukrainian leader looks nervous and mirrors his host’s pose, leaning slightly forward, hands on lap and interlaced.
But while the proceedings begin cordially – with Trump declaring it an ‘honour’ to welcome his special guest – by their end we will witness shouted insults, threats, aspersions cast and diplomats reduced to near tears. Both men gesticulated so wildly at times that their arms crossed like flashing swords.
The extraordinary spectacle shocked the world. But was the attack on Zelensky orchestrated, a ‘planned political mugging’, as one diplomatic observer put it?
Certainly, Zelensky was warned beforehand to be on his guard.
And there were some tell-tale clues that not all was as it seemed. Perhaps the biggest was Trump’s sly wink to American reporter Brian Glenn who riled Zelensky – wearing military-style clothing – by asking: ‘Why don’t you wear a suit… Do you own a suit?’
Glenn, incidentally, just happens to be the boyfriend of far-Right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who tweeted afterwards about how proud she was of him.
It didn’t augur well when, earlier, an SUV disgorged Zelensky outside the White House and Trump greeted him sarcastically: ‘Oh, you’re all dressed up.’
