At a late-night inaugural ball on Monday, President Trump, flush with his restoration to power, began waving a ceremonial sword he had been given almost as if it were a scepter and he were a king.

在周一深夜举行的就职典礼舞会上，重新掌权的特朗普总统兴高采烈，开始挥舞拿到的一把仪仗剑，就像它是一根权杖，而他自己是一位国王。

Perhaps it is a fitting metaphor as Mr. Trump takes control in Washington again this week with royal flourishes and monarchical claims to religious legitimacy. His return to the White House has been as much a coronation as an inauguration, a reflection of his own view of power and the fear it has instilled in his adversaries.

也许这是一个恰当的比喻，因为本周，特朗普以皇家般的华丽气息以及对宗教合法性的君主式主张，再次掌控了华盛顿。他重返白宫的过程，既像是就职典礼，又像是加冕仪式，反映了他对权力的看法以及这种权力给对手带来的恐惧。

His inaugural events have been suffused with regal themes. In his Inaugural Address, he claimed that when a gunman opened fire on him last summer, he “was saved by God to make America great again,” an echo of the divine right of kings. He invoked the imperialist phrase “manifest destiny,” declared that he would unilaterally rename mountains and seas as he sees fit and even claimed the right to take over territory belonging to other nations.

他的就职活动充满了王室主题。在就职演讲中，他声称去年夏天当一名枪手向他开火时，他“被上帝拯救了，为了让美国恢复伟大荣光”，这样的话语隐含对君权神授的呼应。他引用了帝国主义用语“昭昭天命”，宣称将根据自己的意愿单方面重新命名山脉和海洋，甚至声称有权夺取其他国家的领土。

At an event with supporters at Capital One Arena, he introduced his relatives one at a time as if presenting the royal family, and he stood elevated on a platform looking down on supporters who were brought onto stage. By evening, reinstalled in the Oval Office, he relished signing one executive order after another, single-handedly reversing longstanding policies and instituting his own with the stroke of a black Sharpie pen.

在资本一号体育馆与支持者举行的活动上，他像介绍皇室成员一样逐一介绍自己的亲属，他站在高台上俯视着被带到舞台的支持者。傍晚时分，他重新回到椭圆形办公室，乐此不疲地签署一项又一项行政命令，用黑色的Sharpie牌钢笔将自己的政策取代长期以来的政策。

周一，特朗普在第一资本体育场举行的一次活动中，站在高台上向支持者介绍他的家庭成员。

Mr. Trump particularly delights in his pardon power, the most kingly element of a president’s authority, one that cannot be challenged or overturned. He used it to wipe away the charges and convictions of about 1,600 supporters who rampaged through the Capitol four years ago on his behalf, including violent seditionists. At the same time, he signed an order attempting to rewrite the 14th Amendment to ban birthright citizenship for the children of many immigrants.

特朗普尤其喜欢使用他的赦免权，这是总统权力中最具君主性质的部分，无法被挑战或推翻。他利用这一权力撤销了对四年前以他之名闯入国会大厦的约1600名支持者的指控和定罪，其中包括暴力叛乱分子。与此同时，他还签署了一项命令，试图改写第14修正案，禁止许多移民的子女享有出生公民权。

And in the weeks since his comeback election in November, Mr. Trump has asserted his dominance in the political space, making little effort to recognize anyone else’s authority in a three-branch government, but instead making it clear that he expects other actors in the system to bend to his will.

自11月重新当选以来的几周里，特朗普一直在政治舞台上彰显自己的主导地位，几乎不承认三权分立政府中其他人的权威，而是明确表示，他希望政府系统中的其他角色屈从于他的意志。

Of course, plenty of presidents look powerful, even kingly, in their opening days, when they are often at the peak of their popularity and enjoying the rituals of inauguration, only to later fall to earth as opposition builds and their approval ratings erode. In Mr. Trump’s case, for all his swagger, he faces a Congress with narrow majorities and courts that may eventually derail some of his more expansive assertions of power.

当然，很多总统在就职之初看起来都很强大，甚至很有王者风范，因为那时他们往往处于声望的顶峰，享受着就职典礼的荣耀，但后来随着反对声浪的高涨和支持率的下降，他们往往会逐渐失去这种光环。就特朗普而言，尽管他信心十足，但他面对的仅拥有微弱多数的国会和法院可能会阻碍他的一些更广泛权力主张。

In fact, within hours of his initial burst of executive action, Mr. Trump’s opponents quickly filed the first legal challenges, likening him to a budding autocrat. “Presidents are powerful, but he is not a king,” Matthew J. Platkin, New Jersey’s attorney general, declared on Tuesday as he and some of his peers went to court to try to block Mr. Trump from enforcing his birthright citizenship ban.

事实上，就在特朗普首次采取行政行动的几个小时内，他的反对者就迅速提出了第一批法律挑战，将他比作一个崭露头角的专制者。新泽西州总检察长马修·普拉特金周二宣称：“总统很强大，但他不是国王。”他和一些同侪在法庭上试图阻止特朗普执行其出生公民权的禁令。

Mr. Trump’s allies do not shrink from the comparison. They embrace it. “The Return of the King,” Elon Musk, his billionaire benefactor, wrote triumphantly on social media shortly after Mr. Trump took the oath on Monday. Kash Patel, his designated F.B.I. director, published the final volume in a children’s book trilogy last fall about investigations into Mr. Trump called “The Plot Against the King.” Various T-shirts marketed to Trump fans show the president in a crown with or labeled “King Trump.”

特朗普的盟友并没有因为这种比较而退缩。他们欣然接受。周一特朗普宣誓就职后不久，他的亿万富翁捐款人埃隆·马斯克在社交媒体上得意洋洋地写道：“王者归来”。特朗普提名的联邦调查局局长卡什·帕特尔去年秋天出版了儿童读物三部曲的最后一卷，内容是关于对特朗普的调查，书的标题是《对国王的阴谋》（The Plot Against the King）。许多面向特朗普粉丝销售的各种T恤衫上都印有这位总统头戴王冠的图案或标有“特朗普国王”字样。

“The return of the king? It certainly looked that way at the swearing-in,” said Gwenda Blair, who wrote the definitive biography of Mr. Trump’s dynastic family. “Not only because of Trump’s claim to God’s intervention, but also all the favor-seeking courtiers, Melania’s crown-like hat and the dynastic implications of showcasing his progeny.”

“王者归来？在宣誓就职仪式上看起来确实如此，”撰写了特朗普家族权威传记的格温达·布莱尔说。“不仅因为特朗普声称得到了上帝的干预，还因为那些寻求宠爱的朝臣、梅拉尼娅戴着像王冠一样的帽子，以及展示他子嗣所暗示的王朝延续之意。”

Ms. Blair said that since his defeat in the 2020 election, Mr. Trump has felt a deep-seated need to restore his brand as a winner. “And what better way than to claim his right — his divine right — to that status?” she asked. “To be, as it were, a king.”

布莱尔说，自从在2020年大选中落败以来，特朗普从内心深处感到有必要恢复他作为赢家的品牌形象。“还有什么比宣称他有权——他的神圣权利——来获得总统之位更好的方式呢？”她问道。“可以说，做一个国王。”

自去年11月当选以来的几周里，特朗普一直在政治舞台彰显自己的主导地位，几乎不承认其他任何人在政府中的权威。

The prospect of a king in America has always been a sensitive issue. After breaking off from Britain, the framers were determined to avoid even what one delegate to the Constitutional Convention called the “fetus of monarchy.” George Washington cemented that view by making sure he was called “Mr. President,” not some version of “your majesty,” and stepping aside after eight years.

在美国，出现“国王”的前景一直是一个敏感问题。在脱离英国后，宪法起草者决心避免任何类似于被制宪会议的一位代表称为“君主制雏形”的东西。乔治·华盛顿确保自己被称为“总统先生”，而不是任何类似“陛下”的称呼，并且在八年后主动辞去总统职务，从而巩固了这种观点。

Many of his successors, by contrast, were accused of wanting to be monarchs. Opponents called Andrew Jackson “King Andrew I” and referred to Abraham Lincoln as “King Abraham.” Franklin D. Roosevelt, who broke Washington’s two-term tradition, was said to harbor royal aspirations, and Richard M. Nixon was accused of fostering the “imperial presidency.”

相比之下，他的许多继任者都被指责想成为君主。反对者称安德鲁·杰克逊为“安德鲁一世国王”，称亚伯拉罕·林肯为“亚伯拉罕国王”。富兰克林·罗斯福打破了华盛顿最多连任两届的传统，被指怀有王室野心，理查德·尼克松则被指责助长了“帝国总统”的风气。

“But in the annals of presidential history, one struggles to find a leader who wouldn’t have found the term ‘king’ at least somewhat insulting,” said Jeffrey A. Engel, the director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University. Not Mr. Trump, it seems. “In highlighting his family to such a degree during his swearing-in, President Trump furthers the notion that he and they are special, removed from regular society.”

“但在总统历史的记载中，很难找到一位领导人不觉得‘国王’这个称呼至少有些冒犯，”南卫理公会大学总统历史研究中心主任杰弗里·恩格尔称。看来特朗普不是其中之一。“特朗普总统在宣誓就职时如此强调他的家族，进一步加深了他和他们是特殊的、脱离了普通社会的观念。”

Gene Healy, the senior vice president for policy at the Cato Institute, said Mr. Trump’s version was a little distant from the monarchy the framers feared. “If this is the full-grown thing, it has to be a lot less high-toned and regal than they feared,” he said. “Boogieing with the Village People? Signing stacks of executive orders and pardons in a hockey stadium? There’s a heavily camp aspect to Trump’s performance of the presidency that monarchical metaphors miss.”

卡托研究所政策高级副总裁吉恩·希利表示，特朗普的版本与制宪者所担心的君主制有些距离。“如果这是完全成熟的君主制，它肯定比他们担心的要低调和不那么王室化，”他说。“与乡巴佬合唱团热舞？在冰球场签署一堆行政命令和赦免？特朗普对总统职务的表演有很强的夸张色彩，而君主制的比喻忽视了这一点。”

Still, Mr. Healy, the author of “The Cult of the Presidency,” said that power had been accruing to the Oval Office since long before Mr. Trump’s return. He cited President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s willingness to assert executive authority to eliminate student loan debt and to try to compel Americans to buy certain kinds of cars.

尽管如此，《总统崇拜》(The Cult of the Presidency)一书的作者希利还是说，早在特朗普回归之前，权力就已经开始向椭圆形办公室聚拢。他举例说，拜登总统愿意行使行政权力来取消学生贷款债务，并试图强迫美国人购买某些类型的汽车。

“Fundamental questions of governance that used to be left to Congress, the states or the people are now increasingly settled, winner-take-all, by whichever party manages to seize the presidency,” he said. “Trump didn’t create this suite of powers, but he’s quite comfortable using them.”

“过去留给国会、各州或人民解决的基本治理问题，现在越来越多地由赢得总统职位的党派以‘赢家通吃’的方式来处理，赢家通吃，”他说。“这套权力方式不是特朗普创造的，但他用起来得心应手。”

特朗普周一检阅军队成员。长期以来，他对总统权力的看法一直是扩张性的。

Indeed, Mr. Trump’s view of these powers has long been expansive. During his first term, he said the Constitution gave him “the right to do whatever I want as president” and after leaving office suggested “termination” of the Constitution so as to immediately remove Mr. Biden and return himself to office without an election. His new vice president, JD Vance, once said that if Mr. Trump won again, he should simply defy courts that rule against his policies.

事实上，特朗普对这些权力的看法长期以来一直是扩张性的。在他的第一个任期内，他说宪法赋予他“作为总统为所欲为的权利”，并在卸任后建议“终止”宪法，以便立即罢免拜登，让自己不经选举重新上任。他的新任副总统JD·万斯曾经说过，如果特朗普再次获胜，他就应该直接蔑视那些对他的政策做出不利裁决的法院。

Mr. Trump favors the glittery and hereditary aspects of monarchy. He styles his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida as a winter palace of sorts and has positioned his children as heirs in lordly fashion. While campaigning for president in 2016, he reportedly suggested making his daughter Ivanka Trump his running mate, a notion that his stunned staff even poll-tested before she finally persuaded him to drop what even she considered an absurd idea.

特朗普喜欢君主制的华丽和世袭特质。他将自己在佛罗里达州的马阿拉歌庄园塑造成某种形式的冬宫，并以贵族的方式将自己的子女定位为继承人。据报道，在2016年竞选总统时，他曾建议让女儿伊万卡·特朗普成为他的竞选伙伴，他的工作人员甚至对这个让他们目瞪口呆的想法进行了民意测验，最终伊万卡说服他放弃了这个连她都认为荒谬的想法。

Ms. Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, later served on the White House staff and in ceremonial events were often treated as if a prince and princess. But the president never fully gave up the idea of promoting Ms. Trump to U.N. ambassador or president of the World Bank.

伊万卡和丈夫贾里德·库什纳后来在白宫担任幕僚，在礼仪活动中经常受到王子和公主般的礼遇。但总统从未完全放弃提拔伊万卡担任联合国大使或世界银行行长的想法。

In picking Mr. Vance as his vice president this time, Mr. Trump was following the advice of his son Donald Trump Jr. Mr. Vance is half the elder Mr. Trump’s age, young enough to be his son, and now may be his successor in four years.

特朗普选择万斯担任副总统，是听从了他的儿子小唐纳德·特朗普的建议。万斯的年龄只有特朗普的一半，年轻得可以当他的儿子，现在可能是他四年后的继任者。

Or will he? Mr. Trump has more than once broached the idea that maybe he would try to stay in power longer than four more years despite the 22nd Amendment’s two-term limit passed after Roosevelt ran four times. He has said it in a joking manner, and the amendment is clear that he cannot run again, but some opponents worry he may try to find a way around it anyway just as he is now with the 14th Amendment.

或者，届时他会下台吗？特朗普曾不止一次地提出，尽管第22条修正案在罗斯福四次竞选后通过了两届任期限制，但他可能会试图继续执政四年以上。他是以开玩笑的方式说的，修正案也明确规定他不能再次参选，但一些反对者担心，他无论如何都会想办法绕过这一限制，就像他现在绕过第14修正案一样。