Serious consequences
I am responding to a recent letter in which the writer stated that President Donald Trump “inherited a mess,” and then went on to cite all the wonderful things Trump did to save our country. Are you kidding me? From what I can recall, President Barack Obama handed Trump a robust economy, a low unemployment rate, affordable health care for all, and so much more. Obviously, the writer believes all the lies Trump spread throughout the four years of his presidency and beyond. One of Trump’s most egregious lies was about the pandemic, which had deadly consequences — more than 400,000, to be exact. Trump was told how deadly this virus could be, yet he deliberately misled the public. How many people died because their only preexisting condition was that they trusted in the lies Trump spread? Remember the picture of the hundreds of coffins, row after row, in makeshift morgues because the hospital morgues could not contain all the dead? Those people will not be voting on Nov. 5, but you will. Make your vote count. The choice should not be a difficult one.
Annemarie Garvey, East Norriton
Suburban no
I missed the Editorial Board’s call for opinions on Donald Trump from suburban women. I hope you have room for one more. Trump is a grifter, a con man, a liar, an adjudicated rapist, a wannabe dictator, a cheater, a lecher, and is unfit for any position of trust. He is an awful husband, a narcissist, an egotistic, selfish, and vain man. And his TV show was terrible. Any financial gain from his tenure was not meant for the good of the American people but for him and his cronies. His relationships are transactional. Keep him far away from the Oval Office.
Vicki Giunta-Abbott, Media
Here’s the deal
Donald Trump has relentlessly marketed himself as the ultimate dealmaker, a persona meticulously crafted through reality television, self-promotion, and bombastic rhetoric. He boasts about his supposed prowess in negotiation, claiming unparalleled success in business and politics. However, a closer examination reveals a different story: one of inflated accomplishments, deceit, and a consistent failure to deliver on his promises. Trump’s negotiation record, particularly concerning the release of American prisoners, exposes the charlatan behind the brand.
Trump’s false narrative reached new heights on his Truth Social platform, where he claimed, “I got back many hostages and gave the opposing country NOTHING.” This is not only misleading but emblematic of Trump’s approach — prioritizing self-aggrandizement over the truth. During his presidency, Trump did oversee the release of several American prisoners, but the details of these negotiations tell a story far removed from the “art of the deal” he purports to have mastered.
One notable instance involves the release of Xiyue Wang, a Princeton graduate student detained in Iran in 2016. Wang’s release in December 2019 was not a result of Trump’s unparalleled negotiating skills, but part of a prisoner exchange. The U.S. agreed to release Masoud Soleimani, an Iranian scientist arrested for violating sanctions, in return for Wang. This was a standard diplomatic exchange, yet Trump spun it as a win where he gave “nothing” in return.
Trump’s tendency to claim victories where none exist reflects a broader pattern of deceit that has characterized his public life. His falsehoods, whether about the outcomes of his negotiations or the state of the nation, are part of a strategy to rewrite reality in his favor. This pattern of self-serving deception is not just a quirk of his personality, it is a fundamental threat to the integrity of the office he once held, and the nation he led.
Edward G. Burley, retired, brigadier general, U.S. Army, Arlington, Va.
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