全文翻译自华盛顿邮报9月15日文章
原题：
Taxpayers billed $1,092 for an official’s two-night stay at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club
作者：
Drew Harwell and Amy Brittain
译者：冬天毛
《华盛顿邮报》（
The Washington Post
）是美国古老、具影响力的报纸。它与《纽约时报》同被认为是美国最有声望的报纸。 《华盛顿邮报》总部位于美国首都华盛顿哥伦比亚特区，《华盛顿邮报》尤其擅长报导美国国内政治动态。
（维基百科）
正文：
The bedroom suites at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, available only to members and their guests, feature hand-painted Moorish ceilings, antique Spanish-tiled mosaics and sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean.
特朗普总统的海湖庄园俱乐部的卧室套房只对俱乐部会员及其宾客开放，配有摩尔式手绘天花板和西班牙式马赛克瓷砖，从房间里可将大西洋海景尽收眼底。
On a weekend in early March, during one of seven trips by Trump and his White House entourage to the posh Palm Beach property since the inauguration, the government paid the Trump-owned club to reserve at least one bedroom for two nights.
自就职典礼以来，特朗普一共七次带他的白宫随行人员们来到这处奢华的棕榈滩地产，而在三月上旬周末的一次来访中，政府向特朗普名下的这间会所付款预订了房间，且至少订了一间卧室、两个晚上。
The charge, according to a newly disclosed receipt reviewed by The Washington Post, was $1,092.
根据最新曝光的一张收据，经本报审核，这笔费用为1092美元。
The amount was based on a per-night price of $546, which, according to the bill, was Mar-a-Lago’s “rack rate,” the hotel industry term for a standard, non-discounted price.
这个数字是基于每晚546美元的价格得出的，而账单上写明这是海湖庄园的“门市价”，这在酒店业术语里是指未经折扣的标准价格。
The receipt, which was obtained in recent days by the transparency advocacy group Property of the People and verified by The Post, offers one of the first concrete signs that Trump’s use of Mar-a-Lago as the “Winter White House” has resulted in taxpayer funds flowing directly into the coffers of his private business.
这张收据近日由政府透明度倡导组织“人民财产”截获，并经本报证实。特朗普将海湖庄园用作“冬季白宫”导致纳税人的资金直接流入他个人业务的金库，这张收据是第一份切实的证据。
Given the number of high-profile presidential events at Mar-a-Lago, questions about who pays for meals and rooms have generally gone unanswered. When Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited in February, the White House made a point of saying that Abe would stay at the club free of charge as a personal guest of Trump.
虽然有许多总统活动都是在海湖庄园高调进行，但关于餐费和房费来源的问题却很少得到解答。日本首相安倍晋三在2月访问时，白宫给出的说法是安倍将作为特朗普的私人宾客，免费在该会所住宿。
The March invoice was provided to the advocacy group by the Coast Guard in response to a broader Freedom of Information Act request seeking records on the agency’s expenses related to Trump-affiliated properties. The Coast Guard FOIA office searched the agency’s credit card payment records, which led it to the invoice, according to an explanation provided by the agency.
该倡导组织（“人民财产”）基于《信息自由法》向美国海岸警卫队（
冬天毛注：美国军队分支，专门负责海事相关的执法等，目前也负责海湖庄园的安保
）提交了申请书，要求该机构提供与特朗普旗下地产相关的开支记录，从而获取了三月的这张账单。海岸警卫队解释称，海岸警卫队信息自由办公室搜索了海岸警卫队的信用卡付款记录，并找到了该账单。
The advocacy group has been filing records requests with the Trump administration through a project it calls Operation 45.
该倡导组织（“人民财产”）一直在提交申请，要求获取特朗普政府的各类记录，并将该项工作称为“45号行动”。（
冬天毛注：特朗普是第45任美国总统
）
It is not clear whether the invoice stemmed from a one-time occurrence or represented one of many Mar-a-Lago rooms that have been booked at government expense for presidential aides or other officials since Trump took office and began traveling there on a regular basis. Other agencies that likely have had regular presence at the club, such as the Secret Service, have declined to provide The Post information about potential payments to Mar-a-Lago and have referred requests to the General Services Administration. The GSA told The Post in March that it had no records of such payments.
特朗普自从就职以来便开始定期前往海湖庄园，而目前仍不清楚该账单究竟是源自一次性的消费，还是政府掏钱为总统助理及其他官员在海湖庄园订下的诸多房间之一。其他很有可能定期在该会所出没的机构，例如美国特勤局
（
冬天毛注：联邦政府执法机构，任务之一是总统和白宫的安保工作
），拒绝向本报提供任何对海湖庄园的付款信息，并把皮球踢给了总务署（
冬天毛注：联邦政府独立机构，负责政府后勤工作等
），但总务署在三月就告知本报其并无这类付款记录。
The document from March does not reveal anything about the occupant beyond a note atop the page that reads: “National Security Council.”
三月的这份文件并没有暴露入住人的任何信息，只是在页首标有“国家安全委员会”字样。
White House officials and a Coast Guard spokeswoman, as well as representatives of the Trump Organization and Mar-a-Lago, did not respond to questions, including whether Trump’s company regularly charges the government for members of his traveling party to stay at the club.
面对特朗普旗下公司是否定期向政府收取随行成员住宿费用等问题，白宫官员、海岸警卫队女发言人和特朗普集团及海湖庄园的代表均未做出回应。
Now, some ethics experts say the government payment to Mar-a-Lago raises concerns about the domestic emoluments clause, which was intended to prevent the president from receiving payments beyond his salary from state or federal governments.
一些伦理问题专家表示，政府向海湖庄园付款一事可能触及了国内薪酬条款，该条款旨在防止总统从州政府或联邦政府收取超出薪水的款项。
In addition, some questioned why the federal government should pay top dollar for luxury Palm Beach lodging when less expensive options are available nearby.
还有人质疑，在附近有更廉价的选择时，联邦政府为什么要花大价钱在棕榈滩订奢侈房间？
“The choice to stay there and have the government pay the $546-a-night rate seems imprudent,” said Kathleen Clark, a Washington University law professor who specializes in ethics issues. “If it were not owned by the president, it would still seem problematic. The fact that it’s owned by the president makes it doubly problematic.”
华盛顿大学法学教授、伦理问题专家凯瑟琳·克拉克表示：“公费在那边住每晚546美元的房间，这种选择很轻率。即便那不是总统名下的会所，这也是有问题的；而总统拥有该处会所的事实使问题严重性倍增。”
Mar-a-Lago has long been one of the signature pieces of Trump’s corporate empire.
海湖庄园长期以来一直是特朗普企业帝国的标志之一。
The estate, which he bought in 1985 and later converted to a private club, includes two swimming pools, five red-clay tennis courts, the Trump Salon and the Trump Spa, as well as banquet facilities that host elaborate charity balls and weddings.
该处地产是他在1985年买下的，随后被改造成了私人会所，其中有两个游泳池、五块红土网球场、特朗普沙龙和特朗普Spa，以及用于举办精美的慈善舞会和婚礼的宴会设施。
The business has experienced changes since Trump won the presidency. Soon after the election, the club doubled its initiation fee to $200,000, returning the amount to its pre-recession level. After Trump’s sharp rhetoric on immigration and race in recent months, a number of regular charity customers have opted to move their banquets elsewhere.
自从特朗普赢得大选以来，这里的业务经历了各种变化。在大选后不久，会所就将入会费翻倍到了20万美元，恢复了经济大衰退前的数额。最近几个月，特朗普在移民和种族问题上做出尖锐发言后，大量老主顾选择将他们的慈善宴会搬到了别处举行。
Trump’s frequent trips there have come at an expense to taxpayers. The Coast Guard’s increased costs to protect the waterfront property with round-the-clock patrols and gun-mounted boats have been widely publicized.
特朗普频繁前往海湖庄园，给纳税人造成了额外的负担。为了保护这处滨水地产，海岸警卫队日夜在此巡逻，并出动武装船只，导致成本增加，这些都受到了广泛的报道。
Financial disclosures filings show that Mar-a-Lago is 99 percent owned by Trump’s revocable trust, from which the president can withdraw money at any time. The club made $37 million in resort-related revenue from January 2016 to this April.
财务申报档案显示，海湖庄园的所有权有99%归属于特朗普的可撤销信托，总统本人可以随时从中取钱。从2016年1月到今年4月，该会所一共产生了3700万美元的度假相关收入。
On the weekend that the government paid for the room, March 3 and 4, Trump was joined by a large retinue of administration officials, including Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, then-chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon and then-Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, who has since become Trump’s chief of staff.
在政府付款订房的那个周末，即3月3日和4日，特朗普身边跟了一大群政府官员，其中包括商务部长威布尔·罗斯、司法部长杰夫·塞申斯、时任首席参谋史蒂芬·K·班农和时任国土安全部长，后担任特朗普白宫幕僚长的约翰·凯利。
On that Saturday, Trump presided over a security briefing, dined with top officials from his administration and mingled with guests in the hallway outside a charity fundraiser for the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute.
那个周六，特朗普主持了安全信息说明会，和他的高级政府官员们吃了饭，并在迈阿密大学巴斯科姆·帕尔默眼科研究所的慈善筹款会外的门厅里和来客们进行了闲谈。
The question of whether the president’s company can profit directly from the government is raised in an emoluments lawsuit that was filed by an ethics watchdog group in January.
一家伦理监督组织在1月发起了薪酬诉讼，引起了关于总统所有公司能否直接从政府获利的问题。
Much of the attention to the case has focused on the Constitution’s ban on foreign “emoluments” and the business practices of Trump’s Washington hotel. The Constitution also states that the U.S. president “shall not receive . . . any other emolument” from the United States other than his fixed salary.
关于该案件的大部分注意力都集中在了美国宪法对外国薪酬的禁止以及特朗普的华盛顿酒店的业务行为。宪法还申明，美国总统“不能”从美国获取固定工资以外的“其他任何薪酬”。
Trump has said the suit is without merit, and his company has pledged to donate profits from foreign countries to the U.S. Treasury. His attorney, Sheri Dillon, has said that transactions such as hotel room payments are “arm’s-length” transactions that would not amount to an “emolument.”
特朗普表示，该项诉讼无可取之处（
冬天毛注：美法律名词，指诉讼无合理根据，注定败诉
），而且他的公司已经承诺将从外国获取的利润捐入美国国库。他的律师谢丽·狄龙表示，像酒店房费这类交易都是“公平”交易，不构成“薪酬”一说。
Oral arguments are scheduled for the suit next month in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
本案的口头辩论预定于下月在纽约南区联邦地区法院开庭。
“The fact that government officials would spend tax dollars at the president’s property raises serious constitutional questions under the domestic emoluments clause,” said Brianne Gorod, chief counsel with the Constitutional Accountability Center, a nonprofit Washington think tank.
华盛顿一家非营利性智囊机构“宪法问责中心”的首席法律顾问布蕾妮·哥罗德表示：“政府官员花纳税人的钱住总统的地产，基于国内薪酬条款，这一事实关系到严肃的宪法问题。”
Jed Shugerman, a Fordham University law professor, said that the founding founders clearly viewed attempts to curry favor from the president as a serious issue. But Shugerman said a reasonable argument could be made that emoluments would need a minimum value to qualify as a clear benefit.
福坦莫大学法学教授杰德·舒格曼表示，美国国父们显然认为企图向总统献媚是一个严重的问题。但舒格曼也提出，从合理的角度来说，薪酬也需要高于某个下限才能算是明显的获利行为。
“You have to make a leap from what was on the page in the 18th century to what is meant in the 21st century,” he said. “History answers some of these questions more clearly than others. History does not clearly answer this question.”
他说：“你得从18世纪的国情跳到21世纪的定义来。历史并非对所有问题都能给出同样清晰的答案，它对现在这个问题就没有给出明确的回答。”
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