トランプ氏、トップ人事に苦戦中②
引き続き、前回の「Trump, an Outsider Demanding Loyalty, Struggles to Fill Top Posts」の続きです。リンクは以下の通り。
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/18/us/politics/trump-candidates-top-posts.html?ref=politics
“Many tough１ things were said about him and by him” before last year’s election, Mr. Abrams, who served as President Ronald Reagan’s assistant secretary of state and President George W. Bush’s deputy national security adviser, said in an interview. “I would have hoped he would have turned toward just hiring the most effective people to help him govern２ rather than looking back to what we said in that race.”
Mr. Trump has fallen behind３ the pace of his last three predecessors４ both in naming５ senior officials who require Senate confirmation and in securing their confirmations, according to data compiled６ by the nonpartisan７ Partnership for Public Service. Whereas Mr. Obama had nominated 40 senior officials by Feb. 11, 2009, Mr. Trump had named 34 of them as of Friday. Mr. Obama had 24 confirmed at that point, while Mr. Trump has 14.
The trouble assembling an administration reflects the deeper rift８ between Mr. Trump and the Washington establishment of both parties. A reality-show businessman with no government experience, Mr. Trump catapulted９ to power on a promise to break up the existing system. Even after he won the Republican nomination last year, he did little to win over10 those who had opposed him, while his “never Trump” critics within the party kept up11 a steady assault12 on his qualifications and temperament.
ここでも、オバマ政権時との比較をしながらトランプ氏の人事が遅れ気味なことを示し、タイトルの主張（struggles to fill top posts）をサポートしています。
Vocabulary
1)tough：日本語の「タフ」ですが、ここでは粘り強いと言った意味ではなく、乱暴な、といったニュアンスになります
2)govern：統治する
3)fall behind：〜より遅れる
4)predecessor：前任者、先輩（ここでは、オバマ、ブッシュらのことを示す）
5)name：指名する、任命する
6)compile：収集する、編集する
7)nonpartisan：無所属の ※partisanは「熱心な支持者」のほか、軍事用語でパルチザン＝ゲリラ、という意味でも使われます
8)rift：亀裂、切れ目
9)catapult：勢い良く飛び出す。ここでは、既存システムを破壊する約束を果たすことに夢中だ、みたいなニュアンスでしょう。
10)win over：説き伏せる、味方に引き入れる
11)keep up：維持する、持続する、〜し続ける
12)assault：攻撃、非難
Mr. Trump faces other hurdles, too. With no cadre13 ready to go from past political service, he has been starting from scratch14. His team has been slow to vet15 candidates, and in some cases his choices have had troubles with their business backgrounds or other matters. And Democrats have mounted16 a wall of resistance to his nominations, slowing the process down.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment, but Mr. Trump has disputed17 reports of troubles. “The White House is running so smoothly, so smoothly,” he told a rally18 of supporters in Melbourne, Fla., on Saturday. “And believe me, we inherited one big mess19, that I can tell you.”
The ill20 will between Mr. Trump and much of the Republican establishment works both ways. Many Republicans who might have agreed to work for the president have been turned off21 by what they consider his sometimes erratic22 behavior and the competing23 power centers inside his White House. After firing his first national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, Mr. Trump found that his initial choice for a replacement, Robert S. Harward, a retired vice admiral24, would not take the job.
準備もなしに物事を進めようとしていること、民主党が「抵抗の壁」を築いていること、などを挙げて、引き続き新政権が苦戦している様子を報じています。最後に登場するMichael T. Flynn＝マイケル・フリン氏が辞任したことは日本でも良く報じられていますね。
Vocabulary
13)cadre：基幹人員
14)from scratch：直訳は「引っ掻くことから」だが、慣用句として「ゼロから、いきなり」の意味
15)vet：調べる、審査する
16)mount：「登る」の意味が基本だが、ここでは「（”抵抗の壁”を）据え付ける」の意味
17)dispute：議論する/異議を唱える
18)rally：集会、大会
19)mess：乱雑、散乱 ※形容詞はmessy
20)ill：悪い、不吉な
21)turn off：興味を失わせる、うんざりさせる
22)erratic：一致しない、気まぐれな
23)competing：競い合う、両立しない
24)admiral：海軍大将 ※陸軍大将はgeneral
最終段落3行目のwhat they consider his sometimes erratic behavior の部分は、considerのSVOC形が基本となっていて、
they consider what (to be) his sometimes erratic behavior
→what they consider his sometimes erratic behavior となっています。
（次の記事に続く）
