Dear Mr. Trump,

Today, on this 75th anniversary of the D-Day landing, let’s imagine what would have happened had you been president in the lead-up to our involvement in World War II.

First, before Pearl Harbor, Great Britain would have fallen, because you would have failed to make sure it got the arms and other supplies Roosevelt sent to that beleaguered country. That’s what the “America First” movement wanted in the 1930s, to disengage entirely from Europe. Just like when you now proclaim that the US is getting “ripped off” by its allies. You would have been happy to see Great Britain fall, just like you’re happy now to see Great Britain pull out of the European Union, just like when you praise Putin and believe him over your own intelligence agencies.

Second, after Pearl Harbor, you wouldn’t have asked for a declaration of war against Japan and Germany. You would have bragged that you had “fallen in love” with the Emperor of Japan and with Hitler. You would have denounced the value of a territory such as Hawaii, with so many people of color.

So, under a President Trump, no defense of liberty and democracy. We’d all be speaking German or Japanese now. We’d all be slaves to the dictators you so admire. In the world in which you, not Roosevelt, had been president, the United States would have allowed fascists to take over the world.

And if your imaginary term as president hadn’t begun until June 1944, when we were at war, as President Bone Spurs you would have waved the white flag of surrender, you would have denounced your political opponents in the United States as “idiots” and “snowflakes.”

My father served in the United States Army Air Corp during the war. Three uncles served as well. We owe it to them and to hundreds of thousands more, many of whom died in fighting for freedom, to resist tyranny everywhere, but particularly when it sits in the Oval Office.

Very truly yours,

Bruce J. Berger