President Trump denounced calls for the release of the Epstein files as a Democratic hoax. He dispatched aides to warn Republicans that backing it would be seen as a “hostile act.” He placed personal calls to those who dared to do so, and even dispatched his attorney general and F.B.I. director to meet with one in the White House Situation Room in efforts to get her to flip.

特朗普总统曾将公布爱泼斯坦档案的呼声斥为民主党的骗局。他派助手警告共和党人，支持公开档案将被视为“敌对行为”。他亲自致电那些胆敢这样做的人，甚至派司法部长和联邦调查局局长在白宫战情室会见其中一位议员，试图让她改变态度。

In the end, none of it worked. And on Sunday night, Mr. Trump did something he has rarely been forced to do: He caved in the face of pressure from his party and called on House Republicans to go ahead and back a bill that would order his Justice Department to release all of its investigative files on the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

最终，这些做法都没有奏效。上周日晚间，特朗普做了一个他很少被迫做的事：在党内压力面前让步，呼吁众议院共和党人继续推进支持一项法案，该法案将命令司法部公布所有关于性犯罪罪犯杰弗里·爱泼斯坦的调查档案。

By Monday, he was saying, “Sure,” he would sign the legislation he has spent months trying to kill.

到了周一，他表示：“当然，”他会签署这项他在过去几个月里一直试图扼杀的法案。

It’s not clear that doing so would have any concrete impact; Mr. Trump could have ordered the release of the files without an act of Congress, and has not. And it remains to be seen whether his Justice Department will ultimately release the files.

目前尚不清楚这样做是否会带来任何实际影响；特朗普本可以在无需国会通过立法的情况下下令公布这些档案，但他没有这样做。司法部最终是否会公布这些档案也仍有待观察。

But his reversal has opened the floodgates of Republican backing for the bill, which is expected to come to a vote in the House as early as Tuesday and appears likely to pass unanimously. It has also raised questions about Mr. Trump’s ability to impose his will on Republicans and the nation, suggesting a slip in his iron grip on his party amid his falling polling numbers, rising prices and rifts within his political coalition.

但他立场的转变为共和党人支持这项法案敞开了大门。该法案最快将于周二在众议院进行表决，并很可能获得一致通过。特朗普的转变也引发了关于他能否继续对共和党和整个国家施加强大控制力的疑问，显示出他在民调下滑、物价上涨及政治联盟内部出现裂痕之际对党内的牢固掌控力有所松动。

For the first 10 months of his presidency, Mr. Trump has steered the narrative and bullied Congress into doing whatever he wanted with almost no pushback. But as Republicans gear up for midterm elections and some begin to plot a future after Mr. Trump, the Epstein episode is a rare instance in which he has lost control.

在任期的前10个月，特朗普几乎毫无阻力地主导议程，并胁迫国会按他的意愿行事。但随着共和党人为中期选举摩拳擦掌，一些人开始筹划后特朗普时代的未来，爱泼斯坦事件成为他罕见的失控之处。

For months, House Republicans had dreaded the prospect of a vote on releasing the Epstein files. Such a moment would leave them torn between pressure from a fervent base demanding that they support the release of the files and a vengeful president who was demanding the opposite.

几个月来，众议院共和党人一直惧怕就公布爱泼斯坦档案进行表决。一旦投票表决，他们将陷入两难境地：一方面，狂热的支持者要求他们支持公开档案；另一方面，报复心强烈的总统则要求他们反对。

Mr. Trump’s about-face was a bow to the inevitable that came after it had become clear that many, if not most, Republicans were planning to support the measure, wary of appearing to aid in a coverup for a sex offender.

特朗普的突然转向是在一个越来越明显的事实面前的必然让步：许多甚至是大多数共和党人都准备支持这一举措，因为他们担心被视为在协助掩盖一名性犯罪者的罪行。

Mr. Trump’s turnabout came after private conversations with Republicans, who warned him that they would have to vote to release the files because of pressure from their constituents. In those conversations, according to a person briefed on them who insisted on anonymity to discuss them, Mr. Trump acknowledged that the vote was now an inevitability, and that if they needed to support it they should do so. And he listened to Republicans who told him that his opposition was making it seem like he had something to hide.

特朗普的转变源于与共和党人的私下交谈，这些议员警告他，由于选民施压，他们必须投票支持解密文件。据一位要求匿名讨论此事的消息人士透露，在这些交谈中，特朗普承认投票已不可避免，并表示若共和党人需要支持该决议就应当这样做。同时，他也听取了共和党人的意见——他们指出，特朗普的反对立场会让人觉得他有所隐瞒。

In the end, Mr. Trump did not want to lose.

到头来，特朗普不想输。

So on Sunday night, the president drafted a post for Truth Social while flying aboard Air Force One from Florida to Washington, reversing course.

因此，上周日晚间，总统乘坐“空军一号”从佛罗里达州飞往华盛顿途中，在Truth Social平台起草了一条帖子，宣布立场反转。

“House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files,” he wrote, “because we have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax.”

“众议院共和党人应投票支持公开爱泼斯坦文件，”他写道，“因为我们没什么可隐瞒的，是时候摆脱这个民主党的骗局了。”

Mr. Trump was forced to make the pivot because he failed to sway three Republican women who had signed onto a petition that would force a vote on the bill, which would compel the Justice Department to release all of its files on Mr. Epstein within 30 days. After the petition received 218 signatures, a House majority, the rules required an eventual vote, and Speaker Mike Johnson said he would call one this week.

特朗普被迫转变立场，是因为他未能说服三位签署请愿书要求就该法案进行投票的共和党女性议员。该法案将迫使司法部在30天内公开所有与爱泼斯坦相关的文件。请愿书获得218个签名（占众议院多数席位）之后，根据规则，必须进行最终投票，众议院议长迈克·约翰逊表示将于本周召集投票。

Representative Ro Khanna, the California Democrat who is a co-sponsor of the measure, said that the vote would be an extraordinary example of a unique coalition standing up to Mr. Trump, with the backing of his MAGA base.

该法案的共同发起人、加利福尼亚州民主党众议员罗·康纳表示，这次投票是一个独特联盟挺身而出对抗总统的特殊案例，该联盟获得了特朗普MAGA票仓的支持。

“In 48 hours, we went from the president threatening to un-endorse Republicans and hauling them into the Situation Room to his surrendering to math,” said Mr. Khanna, who also predicted a unanimous vote.

“48小时内，我们见证了总统从威胁不再支持共和党人，将他们传召到战情室施压，到最终向现实低头的全过程，”康纳说，他还预测，法案将获得全票通过。

That is in part because the measure has the backing of Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, who is often the lone dissident who breaks with his party to oppose legislation that Mr. Trump urges the conference to support. In this case, Mr. Massie is running the show: He and Mr. Khanna are co-sponsors of the Epstein transparency bill.

部分原因在于该法案得到了肯塔基州共和党众议员托马斯·梅西的支持。梅西经常违背党派立场，成为党内唯一的异议者，反对特朗普敦促党团支持的法案。但此次，梅西是主导者：他与康纳共同发起了这项“爱泼斯坦透明化法案”。

On Monday, Mr. Trump sounded eager to move past the episode and worried about the impact it could have on him and his party.

周一，特朗普似乎急于翻过这一页，同时担忧此事可能对他本人及政党造成影响。

“Let anybody look at it, but don’t talk about it too much, because honestly I don’t want to take it away from us,” Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, calling the Epstein files “a Democrat problem.” “The whole thing is a hoax, and I don’t want to take it away from really the greatness of what the Republican Party has accomplished over the last period of time.”

“任何人都可以去看这些文件，但别整天说这个，说实话，我不想让这件事盖过我们的风头，”特朗普在椭圆形办公室告诉记者，称爱泼斯坦文件是“民主党的问题”。“整件事都是骗局，我不想让它掩盖共和党过去一段时间取得的辉煌成就。”

Asked whether he would sign the measure, he told reporters, “Sure I would.”

当被问及是否会签署该法案时，他对记者说：“我当然会。”

That raised renewed questions about whether Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and majority leader, would bring the bill to a vote in that chamber. Mr. Thune had previously hinted that moving ahead with a vote was not a priority.

这再次引发疑问：南达科他州共和党参议员、参议院多数党领袖约翰·图恩是否会将该法案提交参议院投票。图恩此前曾暗示，推进这项投票并非优先事项。

But a unanimous House vote — or even a lopsided one — in favor of releasing the files would place enormous pressure on him to allow the bill to be considered in the Senate.

但如果众议院全票通过（即便只是压倒性多数通过）支持公开文件，将给图恩带来巨大压力，迫使他允许参议院审议该法案。

Senator Jacky Rosen, Democrat of Nevada, wrote to Mr. Thune last week urging him to quickly schedule a vote.

内华达州民主党参议员杰基·罗森上周致信图恩，敦促他尽快安排投票。