Donald Trump, the mob boss with a messiah complex | Letters

Jonathan Freedland is clearly correct when he says that Donald Trump is turning the US into a mafia state (Journal, 7 March), but perhaps we should consider that the potential to do so was always present.

The concept of “America First” indicated that the US intended the world to understand not just that it would put its interests ahead of others, but that there was, and should be, a global acceptance that it was the only real superpower – and that it held a moral right to that position. Trump’s ravings can be seen as a response to discovering that this was never true. The truth is that other western countries have foolishly, and needlessly, supported the US in this delusion. Now we all have to pay the price.

It should be possible to clear up at least some of the mess, but Europeans (and I include the British in that description) should be very wary of just picking up where the US is likely to leave off. Russia is an obstacle. Ukraine is an obstacle. Several EU member states could turn out to be obstacles. But we should be conscious that Britain and other Nato members have been instrumental, since the fall of the Soviet Union, in creating this situation.

Thirty-five years ago, Russia was willing to be a collaborative partner with the west, but Europe, guided by the US, sought to characterise it not as an emerging sophisticated state, but as the hungry wolf on Europe’s borders. We will have to pay the price for this as well, but this should not involve abandoning, in the interests of militarisation, domestic expenditure that could dramatically improve ordinary lives. A second wrong will not make the first one right.
Michael Bowers
Talgarth, Powys

Jonathan Freedland’s depiction of a president of the United States as a mafia boss should either shock or amuse us. Sadly, it is all too accurate. There is a risk that we attribute the chaos and havoc wreaked by Donald Trump to the vagaries of his personality. It is much more sinister than that.

Trump’s guiding principle is to deny the basic human rights of all those who are not a reflection of his own self-image. Only those he sees as strong, assertive, affluent and winners are of value to him. Those who do not fit this image are deemed unworthy of his attention. This creed is applied to many of his fellow Americans, from whom he has stripped access to healthcare, employment and welfare support; to victims of war and famine, from whom he has withdrawn financial aid and support; and even from the US’s longstanding allies, on whom he has imposed tariffs or sanctions. This is the raw politics of dictators and plunderers, of the conquerors and the vanquished.

The world has suddenly become a much more dangerous place for us all. Freedland is right that Britain must now sever our umbilical reliance on the US and align with our European neighbours to help establish a powerful counter-force to the anarchic Trump regime.
Peter Riddle
Wirksworth, Derbyshire

Jonathan Freedland’s mafia analogy for Donald Trump is helpful but since he dodged the assassin’s bullet, another dimension of Trump’s personality has appeared: a messiah complex. The bullying narcissist now believes that he is the saviour of the world. His rage against anyone who dares question his pronouncements and his ranting against the source of all evil, Joe Biden, suggests he thinks himself divinely inspired.

Previously decent Republicans, believers in free trade and standing up to Putin, now behave like members of a Trumpian cult, happy to accept that the leader is right to overturn all they previously thought right. Ukraine is abandoned and Russia is praised, and Trump tells us that he alone knows a secret which proves that Putin really wants peace. The White House is occupied by a dangerous Gnostic.
Francis Bown
London