Dear Mr. Trump,

Whoever aids or abets a crime is as guilty as the one who directly commits the crime. 18 United States Code Sec. 2. Aiding and abetting simply means encouraging.

So when you’ve called reporters “unpatriotic,” when you labeled the media “enemy of the American people,” when you label the Washington Post a “propaganda machine,” it’s not only American citizens who hear, but foreign dictators and tyrants. No surprise, then, that the Saudi government decided to disappear journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post. Your attacks on the free press clearly encourage many, including foreign governments, to take deadly aim at the reporters and columnists they don’t like.

Under 18 U.S.C. 2, that’s aiding and abetting. That makes you as guilty as the ones who actually perpetrated the crime.

Sure, you’re now pretending to sound tough against the Saudi government, because you’re being forced to, but you’re not going to do anything meaningful. You’ll keep giving them weapons. You’ll keep praising them because they flattered you and pretended to like you. It’s pathetic how susceptible you are to flattery.

How about you start praising the free press for its courage and honesty? How about recognizing the critical role that a free press plays in democracy?

How about … oh, I forgot for a second. You’re Trump.

Very truly yours,

Bruce J. Berger