President Donald Trump¹ appeared unable to remember the words to “God Bless America” at his Celebration of America event, which he had staged after accusing American athletes of being unpatriotic.

唐纳德·特朗普总统在祖国庆祝活动中忘记《God Bless America》歌词。此前他才批评过美国运动员不爱国。

The president sang along to the first several words of the classic American tune on Tuesday, as the US Marine² Band and US Army Chorus performed it behind him on the White House lawn. When the performers reached the words "to the oceans white with foam,” however, Mr Trump stopped singing, simply nodding his head along to the beat.

周二，美国海军乐队和陆军合唱团在白宫的草地上为特朗普伴唱，特朗普刚开始能跟上歌词。当大家唱到：“to the oceans white with foam”，特朗普突然不出声了，只是随着节奏点了点头。

The event was originally scheduled to be a celebration of the Philadelphia Eagles, who won this year's NFL Super Bowl. The White House uninvited the team, however, after several members said they would not be attending.

这个活动原本是用来庆祝费城猎鹰拿下今年国联超级碗的冠军，但是该队成员纷纷拒绝了白宫的邀请。

Mr Trump later claimed the Eagles players had dropped out of the event because of his own opposition³ to “taking a knee” – a popular form of protest in the NFL that involves kneeling during the national anthem⁴.

随后，特朗普说猎鹰的成员不来是因为他反对在国歌前“单膝下跪”，这也是国联中常见表达异议的方式。

“[The Eagles] disagree with their President because he insists that they proudly stand for the National Anthem, hand on heart, in honour of the great men and women of our military and the people of our country,” Mr Trump said in a statement. “The Eagles wanted to send a smaller delegation⁵, but the 1,000 fans planning to attend the event deserve better.”

特朗普在声明中说：“猎鹰不认同他们的总统，因为他们的总统觉得在国歌面前应该自豪的站着，右手覆在胸前，代表我们伟大的军队和人民。猎鹰想派一个小团体代表过来，但是参加此次活动的1000名粉丝值得更优秀的团队。”