川普声称与朝鲜领导人金正恩关系良好
川普总统星期四表示，他与朝鲜领导人金正恩关系良好，尽管两人最近为谁的办公桌上有更大的发射核武器按钮大打口水仗。
川普总统星期四对华尔街日报说：“我大概与金正恩有很好的关系。我和很多人都保持关系。我想你们大概感到意外吧。”
在回答他是否与金正恩讲过话的问题时，川普说：“我不想评论。我不说我有过还是没有过，就是不想发表评论。”
川普曾经称金正恩为“矮胖子”和“坏家伙”，还喜欢以朝鲜经常试射火箭为题嘲笑金正恩是个“小火箭人”。
金正恩说川普是“神经错乱的疯老头”，并威胁以火力来惩治他。
川普看来是想告诉华尔街日报，他在推特上对金正恩的嘲弄之词以及有关两人关系良好等含义模糊的言论都是他战略的一部分。
川普总统谈到他的推文时说：“你会看到我经常这样，有人突然就成了我最好的朋友。我可以给你20个例子。我是灵活性很大的人。”
川普总统看来在两点之间徘徊，有时表示愿意与金正恩对话，有时又称这样的对话，包括蒂勒森国务卿对朝鲜伸出的橄榄枝，纯属浪费时间。
川普总统星期三和韩国总统文在寅通电话时说，他现在愿意在适当的时间和条件下与朝鲜会谈。
川普总统还说，他希望这个星期韩国和朝鲜的高层会谈有利于为世界带来成功。这是两年来韩国与朝鲜第一次举行高层会谈。
Trump Suggests He Has 'Very Good Relationship' with North Korea's Kim
President Donald Trump suggested Tuesday he is on very good terms with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un despite their recent debate over whose desk has a bigger nuclear button.
"I probably have a very good relationship with Kim Jong Un," Trump told The Wall Street Journal Thursday, adding, "I have relationships with people. I think you people are surprised."
When asked if he has talked to Kim, Trump replied, "I don't want to comment on it. I'm not saying I have or haven't. I just don't want to comment."
Trump has in the past called Kim "short and fat" and "a bad dude." He has been fond of mocking Kim as "little rocket man" because of North Korean missile tests.
Kim has called Trump a "mentally deranged dotard" and has threatened to tame him with fire.
Trump appeared to tell the Journal that his tweeted insults and the cryptic comment about good relations with Kim is part of his strategy.
"You'll see that a lot with me," he said about his tweets. "And then all of the sudden somebody's my best friend. I could give you 20 examples. ... I'm a very flexible person."
The president has gone back and forth between an apparent willingness to meet with Kim and calling such talks, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's overtures to the North, a waste of time.
Just this past Wednesday, Trump told South Korean President Moon Jae-in by telephone he is now open to talking to North Korea "at the appropriate time under the right circumstances."
Trump also said he hopes this week's talks between North and South Korea -- the first in two years -- will "lead to success for the world."
川普希望借税改胜利扩大战果
2018年对川普总统来说将是在国内外既有挑战也有机会的一年。川普希望在去年年底取得的税改胜利基础上更进一步。但是川普总统和他在国会的共和党盟友在2018年11月国会中期选举前肯定会面临更大的政治阻力。
川普总统在展望他的第二年执政时，喜欢提醒所有人上个月税改法案的胜利。他最近对记者说：“将会很难比过去的一年做得更好，因为去年是十分特殊的一年，特别是年底庞大的减税和税收改革。”
川普总统的白宫新年伊始就受到沃尔夫撰写出版的《火与怒：川普白宫内幕》的冲击。这本书对川普总统提出尖锐的批评，引起一场政治风暴，并引起一些人、特别是民主党人质疑川普是否合适做总统。
川普和他的助手抨击这本书基本是杜撰。白宫新闻秘书桑德斯在白宫对记者说：“有若干错误，但是我不会浪费我自己以及国家的时间逐页讨论一本完全是臆想的书。“
包括众议院议长瑞安在内的国会共和党领导人更愿意谈论政策，而不是个人性格，尤其是在取得了减税的胜利之后。他说：”很多人找到我们，跟我们说：‘这个管用，我得到更多工资，还拿了奖金。’还有人说：‘我要扩大我的小公司，招募更多的员工。’这非常令人振奋。”
分析人士说，这本书引起的激烈争议再一次突出了围绕川普总统的政治对立。布鲁金斯学会的学者胡达克说：“我认为，这本书迎合了一些人原有的想法，认为总统的头脑不稳定，或者缺乏化解事端的能力。但是对总统的支持者来说，这本书将被视为杜撰，完全不值一提。”
最新的一个民调显示，川普总统的支持率为36%，59%的受访者认为他不称职。调查还显示，认为民主党明年控制国会的人为52%，认为这不会发生的人占35%。
纽约时报这个星期说，当一位总统的支持率低于50%时，在国会中期选举中平均丢失40个众议院席位。民主党需要多赢24个众议院席位和两个参议院席位就可以在两院占多数。
Trump Looks to Build on Tax Victory
2018 promises to be a year of challenge and opportunity for President Donald Trump, both domestically and overseas. Trump hopes to build on his victory on tax cuts late last year. But the president and his Republican allies in Congress will likely face strong political headwinds this year leading up to the November midterm congressional elections.
Even as he looks ahead to his second year in office, Trump likes to remind everyone about victory last month on a tax bill. “It is going to be tough to beat the year we just left because what we had last year was something very special, especially to cap it off with the tremendous tax cuts and tax reform,” Trump recently told reporters.
Trump's White House got off to a rocky start this year with publication of the controversial book, “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” by Michael Wolff. The book's highly critical assessment of the president set off a political firestorm and raised questions about his fitness for office, especially among Democrats.
Trump and his aides slammed the book as mostly fiction. “There are numerous mistakes, but I am not going to waste my time or the country’s time going page by page talking about a book that is complete fantasy,” said press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders during one exchange with reporters at the White House.
Republican congressional leaders including House Speaker Paul Ryan would prefer to talk policy, not personality, especially in the wake of the tax cut win. "There are people who are just coming up to us and saying, ‘this is working, I’m getting bigger paychecks, I got a bonus,’ or ‘I’m expanding my small business and I’m going to hire more people.’ So that is exciting.”
Analysts say the furor over the book has once again sharpened the political divide over the president. “What I think the book will do is fit into pre-existing notions for some people that the president is mentally unstable or is having challenges with decline,” said Brookings Institution scholar John Hudak. “But for the president’s supporters this book is going to be seen as a fabrication and as something not to be taken seriously.”
A poll this week found President Trump’s approval rating at 36 percent while 59 percent disapprove of his presidency. The survey also found voters prefer Democrats to take over control of the Congress next year by a margin of 52 to 35 percent.
The New York Times noted this week that when a president’s approval is under 50 percent, the president’s party has an average loss of 40 House seats in the midterm. Democrats need a net gain of 24 House seats to retake control of that chamber, and two seats to take the majority in the Senate.
