The column headed “The swagger of the dealmaker” (June 20 issue) has to be the first time for me to be in agreement with anything Susan Estrich has to say. Her attempts at using history and some recent events as markers of Trump ineptness are in line with the mainstream media. The reference that “most people I know” accuse Trump of being snookered in the meeting with Kim Jong Un is typical since there was not a nuclear resolution. Any comparison to the North Korean meeting and the Iranian “deal” is ludicrous. Trump could have gotten Kim to convert to Catholicism and the fake media would still revile him.
He is critiqued for the G-7 meeting for not playing nice and rebuffing our friends (as in Canada, Germany and France, etc.). We need to remind ourselves NAFTA was never a “good deal” for the U.S. and particularly not North Carolina. U.S. Labor statistics show North Carolina manufacturing job loss of 350,000 from 1994 to 2015. While critics can say NAFTA is not totally to blame, it has not lived up to the hype from the 1990s. New and more favorable trade agreements should be welcomed.
As expected from past commentary, Ms. Estrich personal bias and liberal bent prevent her from presenting factual reporting. However, if one can endure her rhetoric to column end, she is spot on with an analysis of Trump’s larger-than-life persona, his willingness to give the finger to convention, and the more he and his family are attacked by mainstream media hacks, the more he is appealing to people. As for “swagger,” keep standing tall Mr. President, you are representing the people who make this country great just fine.
Art Wilson
Fuquay Varina, N.C.
