美国国家公共电台 NPR How Artful Is Trump's Dealmaking?

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

In five days, President Trump¹ is expected to meet face-to-face with the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un. There are a lot of countries in the region with a lot of things at stake, including Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is going to meet with President Trump at the White House today. He's expected to urge Trump not to concede too much in his negotiations² with the North. Trump, meanwhile, is feeling pretty confident.

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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I've made a lot of deals. I know deals, I think, better than anybody knows deals.

MARTIN: Several experts in negotiation³, however, question whether Trump has what it takes to pull off a historic nuclear deal. NPR's Scott Horsley reports.

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE⁴: For decades, Donald Trump has presented himself as a master dealmaker. That was part of his shtick on the long-running "Apprentice⁵" TV show and is the subject of Trump's best-selling book, "The Art Of The Deal."

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TRUMP: Deals are my art form. Other people paint beautifully on canvas or write wonderful poetry. I like making deals - preferably, big deals. That's how I get my kicks.

HORSLEY: Trump describes his deal-making style as simple and straightforward⁶. I aim very high, and then I just keep pushing and pushing to get what I'm after. Robert Mnookin, who directs the Harvard Negotiation Research Project, isn't sold.

ROBERT MNOOKIN: Although his "Art Of The Deal" sold a lot of copies, I don't think he's a very impressive negotiator.

HORSLEY: Mnookin, who wrote his own book on negotiation called "Bargaining With The Devil," says Trump often goes from tough an adversarial one minute to ingratiating the next. He used to call Kim Jong Un Little Rocket Man. Now he praises the dictator as very honorable. The president calls that flexibility⁷. Mnookin says it makes Trump hard to trust.

University of Florida law professor Joan Stearns Johnsen says there are different ways to approach negotiation for different people or situations. Trump, she says, is a purely⁸ competitive negotiator.

JOAN STEARNS JOHNSEN: They like to win. Competitive negotiators are very much focused on winning. They're the sort of negotiator who might start with a rather extreme position in one way or another, like to engage in that tug⁹ of war. They really enjoy negotiation.

HORSLEY: In his book, Trump recommends using leverage¹⁰ to extract a bargain. In business, for example, he might press a contractor¹¹ who couldn't afford to challenge him to accept less than the agreed-upon price. Over time, Johnsen says, that tactic¹² can backfire.

JOHNSEN: You may get a really wonderful deal the first time, but there will be a reputation that's formed. And people will be on their guard. There are no one-off negotiations 'cause it's such a small world.

HORSLEY: That's proving true in the diplomatic world as well. Trump has notched¹³ a few successes, like the new South Korean trade deal. But for the most part, other countries have not bent¹⁴ to his will. Mexico hasn't paid for the border wall. Europeans haven't cut their steel exports. And China shows no signs of abandoning its high-tech¹⁵ development strategy.

Leslie Mulligan, who trains negotiators for the consulting firm Watershed¹⁶ Associates, says hardball tactics may work OK in one-off real estate deals, but they don't foster long-term relationships. Case in point - how can Trump get Europe's help in revising the Iran nuclear deal after pulling out of the Paris climate accord and slapping the EU with big tariffs¹⁷?

LESLIE MULLIGAN: Those European allies are not sure anymore. That trust has been eroded¹⁸ a little bit in terms of those relationships that we have.

HORSLEY: Mulligan says there's nothing wrong with setting ambitious goals for a negotiation, or what Trump calls thinking big. But the person sitting across the table also has a say. Successful negotiators craft agreements in which everyone walks away a winner. They don't just assume they can dictate¹⁹ terms of the deal.

MULLIGAN: I think instinctively²⁰, he still thinks we're the biggest. We're the best. And we should be able to get what we want.

HORSLEY: Despite his apparent confidence, Trump says it's important not to get too attached to any particular deal.

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TRUMP: You go into deals that are 100 percent certain, it doesn't happen. You go into deals that have no chance, and it happens, and sometimes happens easily.

HORSLEY: Even as experts like Mnookin discount the president's negotiating skills, they welcome his talks with North Korea, saying at this point, talks are preferable to the alternative. Mnookin even gives Trump a grudging²¹ nod for his fire and fury rhetoric²², saying that threat may be what spooked China into greater cooperation. In a deal-maker's game of chicken, Mnookin says, acting²³ irrational²⁴ can sometimes be an advantage.

MNOOKIN: On the other hand, that is an extremely dangerous game because two people can play that game. And what can often happen is things can explode.

HORSLEY: That's risky²⁵ in any negotiation, especially one with nuclear stakes. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.

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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 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

3 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

4 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。

5 apprentice   

n.学徒，徒弟

参考例句：

• My son is an apprentice in a furniture maker's workshop.我的儿子在一家家具厂做学徒。
• The apprentice is not yet out of his time.这徒工还没有出徒。

6 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

7 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

8 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

9 tug   

v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船

参考例句：

• We need to tug the car round to the front.我们需要把那辆车拉到前面。
• The tug is towing three barges.那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。

10 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

11 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

12 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

13 notched   

a.有凹口的，有缺口的

参考例句：

• Torino notched up a 2-1 win at Lazio. 都灵队以2 比1 赢了拉齐奧队。
• He notched up ten points in the first five minutes of the game. 他在比赛开始后的五分钟里得了十分。

14 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

15 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

16 watershed   

n.转折点，分水岭，分界线

参考例句：

• Our marriage was at a watershed.我们的婚姻到了一个转折关头。
• It forms the watershed between the two rivers.它成了两条河流的分水岭。

17 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

18 eroded   

adj. 被侵蚀的，有蚀痕的 动词erode的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The cliff face has been steadily eroded by the sea. 峭壁表面逐渐被海水侵蚀。
• The stream eroded a channel in the solid rock. 小溪在硬石中侵蚀成一条水道。

19 dictate   

v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令

参考例句：

• It took him a long time to dictate this letter.口述这封信花了他很长时间。
• What right have you to dictate to others?你有什么资格向别人发号施令？

20 instinctively   

adv.本能地

参考例句：

• As he leaned towards her she instinctively recoiled. 他向她靠近，她本能地往后缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He knew instinctively where he would find her. 他本能地知道在哪儿能找到她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 grudging   

adj.勉强的，吝啬的

参考例句：

• He felt a grudging respect for her talents as an organizer.他勉强地对她的组织才能表示尊重。
• After a pause he added"sir."in a dilatory,grudging way.停了一会他才慢吞吞地、勉勉强强地加了一声“先生”。

22 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

23 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

24 irrational   

adj.无理性的，失去理性的

参考例句：

• After taking the drug she became completely irrational.她在吸毒后变得完全失去了理性。
• There are also signs of irrational exuberance among some investors.在某些投资者中是存在非理性繁荣的征象的。

25 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。