To the editor:

It appears, sadly, that President Donald J. Trump’s second term in the White House is primarily motivated by the grossly excessive ego gratification on his part, focusing, unquestionably, primarily on retribution against those whom he perceives as his political adversaries, while showing his disregard of the U.S. Constitution, rule of law and freedom of speech, the likes of which have never been seen in the history of our great country.

In addition, Trump continues to use his office in order to shamelessly further enhance his great wealth, reportedly receiving in excess of $1.4 billion during his first year of his second term in office in support of his business interests, as well as himself, personally, which previously had always been forbidden, and honored by all previous presidents, who had always divested themselves of their business interests in order to avoid any potential conflicts of interest. That is, with the exception of the Trump presidency.

Also, Trump is the only president in our nation’s storied history to have never previously served in the government or military prior to assuming the role of president, starting at the very top rather than working and learning along the way to the top position in our land.

In addition, Trump is the only president in our nation’s history who continues to serve in spite of the fact he is a convicted felon.

It appears that Trump’s efforts to remove illegal immigrants from our nation, as he has oftentimes stated that most immigrants were sent to the U.S. from their respective countries having classified them as “drug smugglers, convicts and degenerates,” who had been sent to the U.S. from their counties of origin in order to help eliminate massive crimes being committed in their countries, which is nonsense, as the vast majority of immigrants to our country are simply seeking better lives for themselves and their families, which has been the case throughout our history, as has been long known, and respected for being a nation of immigrants.

Although I certainly agree that immigrant criminals must be dealt with appropriately, it appears that the Trump administration has essentially declared war on all immigrants, in particular, those of color, making such efforts appear somewhat reminiscent of Nazi Germany’s attempt under Adolph Hitler, to eliminate the Jewish population during World War II, which was tremendously horrific.

It is also quite obvious that Trump, who continues to deny that he legitimately lost the 2020 presidential election, with absolutely no evidence to support his outrageous claim, and stated that he plans to nationalize all further elections, which would eliminate our current voting system, which is the envy of the free world, and in the process eliminate our democratic system of government. Hopefully, in spite of all these unprecedented challenges, we will, somehow, recover and emerge even stronger as a nation in the long run.

Richard Hord

Martins Ferry