一些投票支持特朗普的马萨诸塞州居民说，“到目前为止，一切都很好。”
【中美创新时报2025 年 2 月 17 日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）许多左翼人士感到震惊，警告称，随着特朗普超越此前公认的行政权力界限，将出现宪法危机。然而，在几位投票给特朗普的马萨诸塞州居民中，早期的收获是阳光明媚和更简单的：到目前为止，一切都很好。《波士顿环球报》记者Brian MacQuarrie 对此作了下述报道。
自特朗普总统上任不到一个月以来，无论是口头上的还是实际的变化都步伐迅猛。政府解雇和裁员、资金冻结、关税之争、“拥有”加沙的言论、对多元化计划的攻击以及埃隆·马斯克指挥的削减预算的闪电战。
许多左翼人士感到震惊，警告称，随着特朗普超越此前公认的行政权力界限，将出现宪法危机。然而，在几位投票给特朗普的马萨诸塞州居民中，早期的收获是阳光明媚和更简单的：到目前为止，一切都很好。
“我喜欢前几周看到的情况吗？ “实际上，我会在接下来的四年里感到高兴，”来自新贝德福德的 50 多岁未登记选民戴维·法里亚斯 (David Farias) 说。“就好像，这一切终于结束了，特朗普当选了，社区的紧张局势已经大大缓解。”
在新贝德福德，社区的政治情绪似乎确实在向右转。尽管民主党候选人卡马拉·哈里斯 (Kamala Harris) 去年 11 月以 53% 对 45.2% 的得票率击败了特朗普，但特朗普在四年前在该市获得的 37.4% 的选民支持率基础上取得了巨大进步，反映出整个通常支持蓝色的马萨诸塞州更广泛的右倾趋势。
对法里亚斯来说，特朗普是一个不怕解决难题的斗士。
“他是一个经历过一些失败的人，知道如何走出困境，”法里亚斯说。“现在，他可以帮助我们走出困境。”
法里亚斯是葡萄牙移民的孙子，他说，他进入投票站时最担心的是非法移民。法里亚斯说，到目前为止，他对特朗普政府的表现感到满意。
“把这些人赶出去，让他们回到他们该去的地方，让他们进入他们该去的候补名单，”法里亚斯说。他补充说，在美国，“我们不喜欢有人插队。”
对于来自布莱顿的 53 岁注册护士杰弗里·洛来说，如果特朗普和马斯克积极削减政府开支甚至取消一些机构的努力能降低美国人的成本，那么这些努力是值得欢迎的。
“我喜欢一个信守诺言的总统。我的意思是，人无完人。他仍然有点粗鲁，但到目前为止，一切都很好，”洛说，他没有登记，投票给了特朗普。“我喜欢他对竞选承诺的承诺，取消了不必要的政府开支。”
洛说，马斯克仍然是一个未知数，并补充说这位亿万富翁未来的行动将影响他对马斯克重塑政府的看法，无论是好是坏。上周，特朗普下令政府机构与马斯克领导的新成立的政府效率部合作，以消除联邦官僚机构中的“浪费、臃肿和孤立”。
“我认为他做得相当不错，但老实说，我了解的并不多，”洛谈到马斯克时说。“我不会说他像左翼媒体和名嘴描述的那样让我担心。”
政府效率部（简称 DOGE）暂时获得了包含数百万美国人个人数据的财政部记录。在另一项有争议的削减成本指令中，政府下令冻结对庞大的美国国际开发署计划的资金，该计划已向全球数百万人提供了人道主义援助。
美国国立卫生研究院还被要求大幅削减研究项目的管理费用，大学和医疗中心表示，此举可能会使至关重要的工作停滞或停止。
身为护士的 Low 表示，这一命令确实引发了担忧。
“这是一个棘手的问题。有些研究是需要的，有些研究是不需要的，”Low 说。“黑熊或棕熊是否会攻击你，答案是肯定的。但癌症的治疗方法是肯定的。”
关于 DOGE 员工访问财政部数据的问题，Low 淡化了造成损害的可能性。他说，“人们已经将他们的社会保障和个人信息公之于众”，供公众审查，其中大部分信息只需在电脑上敲几下键盘即可。
来自波士顿的 66 岁选民 Patrick McCabe 曾投票支持特朗普，他听到了有关总统早期举措的呼声，但表示现在判断这些举措的影响还为时过早。
“我只知道人们在争论这些举措。我不知道他所做的一切到目前为止对我有什么影响，”麦凯布说，他没有报名。
“他正试图在边境问题上采取行动，但这才过去了几周。我更关心经济走向。有时你得等几个月。”
当被问及是否期望特朗普兑现竞选承诺时，麦凯布迅速回答道：“他是一名政客，我对任何政客都不信任。我希望他能做到。”
并非每个支持特朗普的选民都对他的早期行动感到满意。尽管特朗普的任期才刚刚开始，但斯托顿的 60 岁注册共和党人莎朗·克莱已经开始挑毛病了。
“我读得越多，就越沮丧，”投票给特朗普的州雇员克莱说。
克莱说，她最担心的是非法移民给美国纳税人带来的经济负担。这也是她在 11 月支持特朗普的部分原因。现在，她正在严厉批评总统的驱逐计划。
“我不同意这样做的方式。似乎每个人都被驱逐出境，”克莱说。
“暴力罪犯，是的，你应该很容易做到这一点。你知道他们在哪里。 … 但如果有人在麦当劳或超市工作，他们是移民，他们正在努力做出贡献，他们在工作。”
克莱也对马斯克在政府中的角色表示严重担忧。
“我认为他根本不应该参与这届总统的竞选，”克莱说，并提到他与联邦政府签订的重要商业合同。 “如果他有这么大的控制权，谁在控制他？他是一个独裁者，他是一个自恋者，他把人们的很多事情搞砸了。”
克莱说，由于对前总统乔·拜登及其移民政策的担忧，她从民主党转投共和党。现在，距离特朗普第二次担任总统还不到一个月，她再次感到失望。
“不管怎样，”克莱说，“你都赢不了。”
题图：埃隆·马斯克和特朗普总统上周在椭圆形办公室进行了交谈。Jabin Botsford/华盛顿邮报
附原英文报道：
These Mass. residents voted for Trump. Several say, ‘So far, so good.’
By Brian MacQuarrie Globe Staff,Updated February 17, 2025
Elon Musk and President Trump spoke in the Oval Office last week.Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post
The pounding pace of change, both rhetorical and real, has been relentless since President Trump assumed office less than a month ago. There have been government firings and layoffs, funding freezes, tariff battles, talk of “owning” Gaza, attacks on diversity programs, and the budget-razing blitz directed by Elon Musk.
Many on the left are aghast, warning of a constitutional crisis as Trump barrels past previously accepted boundaries of executive authority. Among several Massachusetts residents who voted for Trump, however, the early takeaway is sunny and simpler: So far, so good.
“Do I like what I’ve seen in the first few weeks? Actually, I’m going to be happy for the next four years,” said David Farias, an unenrolled voter in his 50s from New Bedford. “It’s like, it’s finally over with, Trump’s in, and the tension in the community has gone down significantly.”
In New Bedford, the community‘s political mood does appear to be shifting rightward. Although Democratic nominee Kamala Harris beat Trump there in November, 53 percent to 45.2 percent, Trump made big strides from the 37.4 percent of voter support he received in the city four years earlier, reflecting a broader rightward lurch across typically blue Massachusetts.
To Farias, Trump is a battler who isn’t afraid to tackle difficult problems.
“He’s a man that has had a few failures and knows how to get out of the hole,” Farias said. “Now, he can help us get out of the hole.”
Farias, the grandson of Portuguese immigrants, said his top concern entering the voting booth was illegal immigration. So far, Farias said, he is pleased with what he has seen from the Trump administration.
“Get those people out and back where they belong, and get them on the waiting list where they belong,” Farias said. In the United States, he added, “we don’t like anybody cutting us in line.”
For Jeffrey Low, a 53-year-old registered nurse from Brighton, Trump and Musk’s aggressive efforts to cut government spending and even eliminate some agencies are welcome if they bring down costs for Americans.
“I like a president who keeps their word. I mean, no one’s perfect. He’s still on the crass side, but so far, so good,” said Low, who is unenrolled and voted for Trump. “I like his commitment to his campaign promises, getting rid of government spending that does not need to be there.”
Musk remains an unknown quantity, Low said, adding that the billionaire’s actions going forward will shape his opinion of whether Musk is remaking government for better or worse. Last week, Trump ordered government agencies to work with the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, which Musk leads, to eliminate “waste, bloat, and insularity” in the federal bureacracy.
“I think he’s done a pretty good job, but I honestly don’t know too much,” Low said of Musk. “I wouldn’t say he concerns me as much as the way the left-wing media and talking heads portray it.”
The Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, gained access temporarily to Treasury Department records containing the personal data of millions of Americans. And in another controversial, cost-cutting directive, the administration ordered a freeze on funding for the massive USAID program, which has delivered humanitarian aid to millions of people worldwide.
The National Institutes of Health also has been ordered to dramatically cut overhead for research projects, a move that universities and medical centers have said could stall or shutter critically important work.
Low, who is a nurse, said that order does raise concerns.
“That’s a tough one. There are research studies out there that are needed, and there are research studies that are not needed,” Low said. “Whether black or brown bears can attack you, no. But a cure for cancer, yes.”
Regarding access by DOGE associates to Treasury data, Low downplayed the potential for damage. Already, he said, “people have their Social Security and personal information out there” for general scrutiny, much of it as close as a few keystrokes on a computer.
Patrick McCabe, a 66-year-old from Boston who voted for Trump, has heard the noise about the president’s early moves, but said it’s too early to judge their impact.
“All I know is people are arguing about them. I don’t know how anything he’s done has affected me so far,” said McCabe, who is unenrolled.
“He’s trying to do stuff on the border, but it’s only been [a few] weeks. I’m more concerned about where the economy goes. Sometimes you have to wait a couple of months.”
Asked whether he expected Trump to keep his campaign promises, McCabe offered a quick reply: “He’s a politician, and I’m not confident in any politician. I hope he does.”
Not every voter who supported Trump is happy with his early actions. Although Trump’s term has barely begun, Sharon Clay of Stoughton, a 60-year-old registered Republican, is already finding fault.
“The more I read, the more depressed I get,” said Clay, a state employee who voted for Trump.
Her uppermost concern, Clay said, has been the financial burden of illegal immigration on American taxpayers. That’s part of the reason she backed Trump in November. Now, she is castigating the president over his deportation program.
“I don’t agree with the way it’s being done. It seems that anybody and everybody is being deported,” Clay said.
“Violent criminals, yes, you should be easily able to do that. You know where they are. … But if someone is working at a McDonald’s or a supermarket, and they’re migrants, they’re trying to contribute, and they’re working.”
Clay also has serious concerns about Musk’s role in the administration.
“I don’t think he should be anywhere involved with this presidency at all,” Clay said, citing his significant business contracts with the federal government. “If he has that much control, who’s controlling him? He’s a dictator, he’s a narcissist, and he’s messing up a lot of things for people.”
Clay said she switched parties, from Democrat to Republican, because of her concerns with former president Joe Biden and his immigration policy. Now, less than a month into the second Trump presidency, she feels let down again.
“Either way,” Clay said, “you can’t win.”
