Readers React: The problem with Trump is his style — but he’s got a point when it comes to trade

To the editor: It’s easy to throw stones at President Trump around the 500-day mark of his time in office. I changed parties to vote for him in the California primary, and recently I re-registered as a Democrat.

Critics and allies both say that Trump’s “America first” policy really creates an isolated America, but we shouldn’t see foreign leaders’ wistful displays of fondness for the United States as anything other than trying to gain an advantage in trade deals with our country. Friendship isn’t really that if it’s merely a smiling face on your competitor who’s holding a gun to your head.

America has bought allies by giving them favored country status, which has harmed U.S. industries. In addition, we have protected foreign countries with our military at great cost to taxpayers.

The recent United Nations report on poverty in the United States shows how we treat our own fellow citizens in un-American ways. So, as far as Trump is concerned, let’s have less tweet and more meat for our country.

Philip Palermo, Corona

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To the editor: Trump said this: “We are respected again. I can tell you that. We are respected again. A lot of things have happened. We’re respected again.”

Just there, he said “respected” three times. In “Mein Kampf,” Adolf Hitler wrote that propaganda “must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over.”

In January, Gallup reported that the median approval rating of U.S. leadership across 134 countries was at a record low of 30%, down from 48% during President Obama’s final year in office — the exact opposite of what Trump says.

Trump excels at propaganda and at keeping adversaries so off-balance they cannot turn his lies against him.

Chuck Almdale, North Hills

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