Dear Mr. Trump,

Or should I call you Hater-in-Chief?

Those horrifying images of two dead would-be immigrants send the exact message you want, despite your protestations. Your message: If you come to this country when I don’t want you here, you will be hated, vilified, abused, and die.

And Customs and Border Patrol agents follow your lead, don’t they? Secretly – but not so secretly anymore – they call these refugees “scum buckets” and “hoes” and joke about their deaths. They call these refugees “wild ass s—bags” and “subhuman.”

How happy they were when they heard you repeatedly call them “rapists” and worse. You made it acceptable government policy to spew hatred and division.

You made it okay to violate court orders concerning their treatment. You made it okay to deprive children of water and toothbrushes and soap – claiming these weren’t necessary for good health and hygiene. You made it okay for CBP agents to tell these human beings that, if they wanted water, they could drink it out of toilets.

How proud we’ll all be of our country on the Fourth of July, remembering all that you’ve done to secure our borders! How happy we all are that you violate the laws and Constitution that you swore to defend! What greater glory could a person bring to the presidency of the United States than to use it as a rallying point for violence against humanity?

The CBP agents chose the right adjectives, but misapplied them badly.

Very truly yours,

Bruce J. Berger

Dear Mr. Trump,

So you feel “it’s none of your business” when asked by a reporter what you would say to Putin, the man whose credibility you value more than that of your intelligence agencies, the CIA, the FBI.

Excuse me?

You’re an employee of the American people. It’s damn well our business what you say to the despotic leader of a country bent on destroying American democracy.

It’s damn well our business whether you warn the Russians not to interfere in our next election or – as most fear and believe – you wink-wink encourage Putin and the Russians to do it again.

It’s damn well our business if you commit treason by giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

It’s damn well our business that you repeatedly violate your oath of office and fail to defend our country.

Do you get it? We want reporters to ask those question and we want you to answer them honestly.

You don’t deserve to spend another day in office, but, unless you’re impeached, we’ll have to wait for the 2020 election.

It will definitely be our business when the next president takes office.

Very truly yours,

Bruce J. Berger

Dear Mr. Trump,

Yesterday you sent out an email called “Resolute Reads” with the subtitle “REAL NEWS PRESIDENT TRUMP DOESN’T WANT YOU TO MISS.”

You then quote an Opp Ed in The Washington Post, written by Avik Roy, a founder of the Foundation for Research on Economic Opportunity (FREOPP). The quote supports a White House rule on health plans, which “allows employers to fund health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) that can be used by workers to buy their own coverage on the individual market.”

If this is “real news,” it belies your continued accusations that The Washington Post is an “enemy of the people.” It publishes opinions on all sides of the political spectrum.

More importantly, however, your email points us to other interesting things that FREOPP has said – things that you apparently don’t want to publicize.

E.g., FREOPP’s sobering observation that “In 2017, Republicans attempted to ‘repeal and replace’ the Affordable Care Act with a system that would have increased [by many millions] the number of Americans without health insurance.” Why don’t you push that as “real news”?

E.g., FREOPP’s strong criticism of your plan to reduce drug prices, because your proposed price index “underemphasizes or excludes countries with market-based health care systems.” Why don’t you push that as “real news”?

If you want to have an intelligent discussion with the American public about health care and you want to cite the opinions of a think-tank, then why don’t you cite all of the relevant opinions instead of just a select few?

It would truly be “real news” if you did that.

Very truly yours,

Bruce J. Berger

Dear Mr. Trump,

To say that your foreign policy is erratic would be a gross understatement. There’s one consistent thread, however. You seem hell-bent on embroiling the United States in a war with Iran.

First, you abrogated the Iran nuclear deal. Although the accord may not have been perfect, our allies agreed with us when we entered into the deal that it was good and would substantially halt Iran’s progress toward achieving nuclear arms. The Democrats warned you that negating the deal “would set Iran back on a path to a nuclear weapon” [Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.)], but you didn’t care.

Second, you hired John Bolton as your National Security Advisor a man who has publicly advocated war with Iran.

Third, you begged Iran to “call you” and “work things out” on a new deal, but that was obviously ridiculous. Why should any foreign government trust you, a person who does not respect America’s prior commitments? When you prove yourself an unreliable negotiating partner, you leave yourself no other option than war.

And now that Iran says it may exceed limits of what nuclear materials it can produce, limits set by the deal that you rejected, you complain that they aren’t adhering to the deal.

Yes, Iran may have been responsible for attacks on two oil tankers. But why should Iran respect international law when you don’t?

If you didn’t want war, you should have kept to the promises that the United States made and not re-imposed sanctions despite Iran’s compliance with the nuclear accord.

So there’s only one conclusion I can draw. You want a war with Iran.

I hope I’m wrong, but I fear not. I ask you to adhere to the nuclear accord that you walked away from.

Very truly yours,

Bruce J. Berger

Dear Mr. Trump,

Neither you, nor your supporters, have actually read the Mueller Report. But it behooves all Americans who care about justice and the rule of law to read what Mueller proved beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Here are excerpts that deal with your obstruction of justice in trying to get White House Counsel Don McGhan to lie, denying that you had ordered him to fire the Special Counsel.

“McGahn refused [to fire the Special Counsel], saying he would quit instead. After the story broke [in the New York Times], the President, through his personal counsel and two aides, sought to have McGhan deny that he had been ordered to remove the Special Counsel. Each time he was approached, McGhan said that he would not refute the press accounts, because they were accurate. … The President later personally met with McGhan in the Oval Office with only the Chief of Staff present and tried to get McGhan to say that he never ordered him to fire the Special Counsel. McGhan refused ….”

“Substantial evidence supports McGhan’s account … “ Report, Volume II, 114-20.

The Report also notes that you also referred to McGhan as a “lying bastard” and that you threatened to fire McGhan if he didn’t go along with your demand that he lie. Id.

No surprises here, for the conduct of the Liar-in-Chief is well known. As always, you call people the names that are most appropriately used to describe yourself.

America deserves much better than a president who tries to subvert justice.

America deserves much better than a president who orders his subordinates to lie.

America deserves much better than a president who impedes a critically important investigation about Russian interference in our election and obstruction of justice.

Very truly yours,

Bruce J. Berger

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

Dear Mr. Trump,

There you go again, lying to and hurting the very people who helped you get elected. No, I don’t mean the Russians. You’re too scared of them to lie to them. They have the goods on you.

I mean that you’re lying to and hurting primarily the voters of Midwestern manufacturing states, states such as Michigan, where you promised to help autoworkers.

How? By your imposition of tariffs on Mexico, which even Republicans in the Senate recognize is irrational and illegal. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley lambasted you as follows: “This is a misuse of presidential tariff authority and counter to congressional intent.”

Or, as the president of consulting firm Desrosiers Automotive Consultants remarked in utter frustration, “It’s a nightmare scenario … the biggest hit will be on the U.S. …There would be a serious shortage of supply into the United States … so the prices of all vehicles would go up quite radically…. It’s so outrageous and so negative to the U.S….”

But not only will the price of everyone’s cars skyrocket; American autoworkers will be laid off. You’re hurting all those blue collar workers who you promised to help.

Your foolish actions will also hurt the economy in general. That’s undeniable, because the stock market took a dive immediately after you announced these tariffs.

So let’s review basic economics. A tariff is a tax on the consumer, short and simple. It’s paid initially by the importer, then passed along to the consumer, to me and to the voters in every state. The net effect of your tariff? Big jump in taxes, big jump in the cost of goods, big jump in unemployment.

That’s what believing a liar does, unfortunately. When you trust someone who doesn’t truly care about whether you have enough food to put on the table, you get burned.

Very truly yours,

Bruce J. Berger

Dear Mr. Trump,

According to AP’s Jill Colvin and Darlene Superville you’ve stated that you’re not “personally bothered” by North Korea’s recent short-range missile tests. It raises the question about what, if anything, would “personally bother” you.

You’re not personally bothered by your reputation – self-proclaimed – for “grabbing women by their p***ies.”

You’re not personally bothered by the hate-mongering of the American Nazis and Ku Klux Klan, whom you’ve described as “some very fine people.”

You’re not personally bothered by your own conduct in mocking a disabled reporter. Here’s a clip: https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-adk-adk_sbnt&hsimp=yhs-adk_sbnt&hspart=adk&p=video+of+trump+mocking+disabled+reporter#id=1&vid=78f64cc00bf636941e575a867ce80ed9&action=click

You’re not personally bothered your more than 10,000 documented lies, e.g., about Barack Obama’s birthplace and about thousands of American Muslims celebrating on 911. The list goes on ad infinitum.

You’re not personally bothered that your foolish trade war and imposition of tariffs, a tax on the American consumer that’s also destroying the farm industry in states that supported you.

You’re not personally bothered by your calling Africa a “bunch of s—hole countries.”

You’re not personally bothered about demeaning the world standing of the United States, destroying any trust that foreign countries might’ve had about our commitments, reneging on agreements such as the climate accord, the trans-Pacific partnership, and the nuclear accord with Iran.

You’re not personally bothered by the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi Arabia, and, in fact, have rewarded that dictatorship with more weapons.

When is something going to personally bother you? When are you going to care about anything other than saving your own neck by your continued cover-up?

Very truly yours,

Bruce J. Berger

Dear Mr. Trump,

Cover-up!

Speaker Pelosi accurately described what you’re doing by not responding to subpoenas and by preventing people who worked for the taxpayers and voters from appearing before Congress. If you want to keep America from learning more about the kind of person you are, then accept as true the accusation that you’re engaged in a cover-up.

Infrastructure!

The plan that Democrats want – that you supposedly agreed to three weeks ago – would bring jobs and help the economy. It would bring necessary repairs to dangerous bridges, tunnels, and roads. It would bring broad-band internet to those parts of the country that need it most desperately.

And yet, you’re not going to talk about that as long as there’s an investigation on-going? In order to prevent anyone from looking further into your dealings – alleged tax fraud, alleged money laundering, e.g., — you’re going to stop governing? No laws can be passed now, no matter how important to our country? That’s what you think it means to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America?

Remember that oath you swore? Of course not. For the Liar-in-Chief, violating your oath of office is business as usual.

Impeachment!

Finally, the “I word.” A president who refuses to do his duty as the head of the Executive Branch of government is, by definition, committing “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

A president who refuses to govern because needs to protect himself from appropriate investigations, who refuses to fulfill his duties because he considers himself above the law, must be removed from office.

Very truly yours.

Bruce J. Berger

Dear Mr. Trump,

Now it appears that the first Republican Congressman – Justin Amash (MI) – has actually read the Mueller Report and, based on its plain language, has determined that you committed impeachable offenses. If one Republican has the guts to stand up to you and say that, then others may follow. Congressman Amash also recognizes publicly now that Attorney General Barr misled the American public in describing the Report.

Some “exoneration”!

Those who haven’t actually read the Report may want to know more about what’s in it before mouthing off. How about your attempts to obstruct justice by firing the Special Counsel himself?

As the Report describes “In the days following the Special Counsel’s appointment, [you] repeatedly told advisors, including Priebus, Bannon, and McGahn, that Special Counsel Mueller had conflicts of interest,” but all these advisors told you that these alleged conflicts were nonsense. McGahn “and other advisors believed the asserted conflicts were “silly” and “not real,” and had previously communicated that view to the [you].” Report at n. 577. “Bannon recalled telling the [you] that the purported conflicts were “ridiculous” and that none of them was real or could come close to justifying precluding Mueller from serving as Special Counsel.

That didn’t stop you, did it? You persisted, calling White House counsel McGahn at home “twice and on both occasions direct[ing] him to call [Deputy Attorney General] Rosenstein and say that Mueller had conflicts that precluded him from serving as Special Counsel.” Report at n. 573.

That’s obstruction of justice, an attempt to protect yourself for illicit reasons from an investigation of your campaign’s multitudinous contacts with Russia.

Read the Report, Mr. Trump. Read the Report.

Very truly yours,

Bruce J. Berger