美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump's Role As President May Be Boosting His Brand's Reputation

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

President Trump¹'s approval ratings are the lowest on record for a new chief executive. But there's some evidence that a different number is going up - the dollar value of the president's commercial brand. NPR's Jim Zarroli reports.

JIM ZARROLI, BYLINE²: President Trump watched the Super Bowl on Sunday at his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, where he was met by cheerleaders and a marching band. The night before that, Trump attended a Red Cross ball at his nearby Mar-a-Lago resort. Since his long shot presidential campaign began, he has often held events at his Washington, D.C. hotel, his New Jersey³ golf club and, of course, at Trump Tower in Manhattan. Trump biographer Michael D'Antonio says that's partly because the president likes to be in places he knows.

MICHAEL D'ANTONIO: He's really a creature of habit, and is accustomed to living in this cocoon⁴ he created a long time ago. He doesn't really take the risk of encountering people in situations that are unfamiliar⁵.

ZARROLI: But D'Antonio says Trump also well understands that the incessant⁶ coverage⁷ he receives as president is good publicity⁸ for the businesses he built and continues to own.

D'ANTONIO: He's very much invested in these enterprises. He remains⁹ the beneficiary of them. He's a brand builder by habit. And the brand is his personality.

ZARROLI: And the presidency¹⁰ may be helping¹¹ Trump's brand somewhat. Stephen Hahn-Griffiths is with the Reputation Institute, which measures brand popularity. He says Trump's reputation score has gone from 31.7 last August to 39.1 last month. Trump is seen as aggressive, selfish and ambitious, but also friendly, stylish¹² and elegant. The improvement has been especially pronounced among men, Republicans and those over 70. Hahn-Griffiths says all the coverage of Trump doing presidential things has solidified¹³ his popularity in some places.

STEPHEN HAHN-GRIFFITHS: It engenders¹⁴ a more positive feeling amongst those who already love him. It's a further endorsement¹⁵ that he is very much a status symbol in what he represents today.

ZARROLI: But outside of his base, it's a different story. Hahn-Griffiths says Trump's reputation with the population as a whole is poor.

HAHN-GRIFFITHS: He's on the lowest of low. I mean, he would be in the lowest 2 percent of all the people and companies we measure.

ZARROLI: As a politician, that's not a great place to be. Businesses, however, live and die based on their ability to capture a share of the market and keep it happy. The evidence suggests the publicity Trump is generating as president is boosting the loyalty¹⁶ his supporters feel toward his businesses. Jim Zarroli, NPR News, New York.

(SOUNDBITE OF TAKUYA KURODA SONG, "NO SIGN")

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

4 cocoon   

n.茧

参考例句：

• A cocoon is a kind of silk covering made by an insect.蚕茧是由昆虫制造的一种由丝组成的外包层。
• The beautiful butterfly emerged from the cocoon.美丽的蝴蝶自茧中出现。

5 unfamiliar   

adj.陌生的，不熟悉的

参考例句：

• I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
• The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。

6 incessant   

adj.不停的，连续的

参考例句：

• We have had incessant snowfall since yesterday afternoon.从昨天下午开始就持续不断地下雪。
• She is tired of his incessant demands for affection.她厌倦了他对感情的不断索取。

7 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

8 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

11 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

12 stylish   

adj.流行的，时髦的；漂亮的，气派的

参考例句：

• He's a stylish dresser.他是个穿着很有格调的人。
• What stylish women are wearing in Paris will be worn by women all over the world.巴黎女性时装往往会引导世界时装潮流。

13 solidified   

（使）成为固体，（使）变硬，（使）变得坚固( solidify的过去式和过去分词 )； 使团结一致； 充实，巩固； 具体化

参考例句：

• Her attitudes solidified through privilege and habit. 由于特权和习惯使然，她的看法变得越来越难以改变。
• When threatened, he fires spheres of solidified air from his launcher! 当危险来临，他就会发射它的弹药！

14 engenders   

v.产生（某形势或状况），造成，引起( engender的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Sympathy often engenders love. 同情常常产生爱情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Some people believe poverty engenders crime. 有人认为贫困生罪恶。 来自辞典例句

15 endorsement   

n.背书；赞成，认可，担保；签(注)，批注

参考例句：

• We are happy to give the product our full endorsement.我们很高兴给予该产品完全的认可。
• His presidential campaign won endorsement from several celebrities.他参加总统竞选得到一些社会名流的支持。

16 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。