Helsinki summit
GOP creation
Regarding “Trump sides with Putin, casts doubt on U.S. intel” (Page A1, Tuesday), it is now abundantly clear to everyone, no matter their party affiliation or political leanings, that our leader, the president of the United States, has abandoned the principles of American democracy on which our Constitution and country are based. President Trump has instead clearly and unmistakably affiliated himself with Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation. This is what Texas Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn and our House legislators sold their political party and personal souls for. He has no principles, no morals and no ethics of any kind.
There is no plan and no strategy. Trump operates solely on the basis of personal gain and power and has shown nothing but contempt for any process that involves collaboration and any domestic or world leader who demonstrates a willingness to thoughtfully address complex issues. He admires Putin because, in his mind, he should be able to run his country the way Putin runs his — through brute force, suppression of freedoms and the backing of the oligarchs who, like him, care only about the bottom line. I hope our Republican leaders are proud of their creation.
Lisa Estill, Houston
Perfect patsy
I cannot believe I’ve lived to see the president of the United States publicly bend the knee to the murderous dictator of Russia. Trump has openly acknowledged that he values Putin’s mouthings more than he does the verified reports of the U.S. intelligence community and the actions of this country’s law enforcement. He also believes this country’s policies are solely to blame for tension between the U.S. and Russia. We used to consider that treason.
He trusts a former KGB agent over the European allies who have historically shared our interests and fought with us against Soviet aggression through decades of the Cold War. Those same allies Trump labels “foe” continue to assist our military efforts, while pal Putin helps fellow dictator Assad gas babies in Syria.
A nuclear disarmament agreement will be a piece of cake: Trump will ask Putin if he has reduced his nuclear stockpiles, Putin will say “da,” and Trump will strut around gloating that he’s saved the world, regardless of U.S. intelligence to the contrary.
Trump has gone from being Putin’s useful fool to being Putin’s perfect patsy. He is the single biggest security threat our nation presently faces, and there is nothing and no one to stop him.
Shawna L. Reagin, Houston
Wait and see
The anti-Trump people and some in the media have already decided that, based on President Trump’s words and comments, the summit must have been a failure. How about we wait and see what actions President Trump takes in the future and the results from those actions before one decides failure or success. After all, one summit isn’t going to solve all the problems between Russia and United States, but it does open up a channel of communication.
People also have to remember that both Presidents Bush and Obama made demands that a majority of NATO nations need to contribute their fair share of the defense costs. It took Trump to demand payments and follow it up with the members at the NATO meetings. It is unfair to the U.S. taxpayers to pay for somebody else’s share of NATO costs.
And finally, when the Russians hacked the DNC and Clinton campaign chair John Podesta’s computers, was the information that they leaked out true or false? Since nobody denied the validity of that leaked information, one must assume that the information was true, so the 2016 election was influenced with the truth.
Robert M. Louie, Houston