To the Editor:
Re “Trump Mocks Leaders Who Seek to Curb His Greenland Ambitions as Weak” (news article, Jan. 21):
As tensions rise between the United States and Europe, President Trump has not done anything to cool things down but instead derided Europe as weak ahead of his meeting with European leaders in Davos, Switzerland. It seems that the president has gone too far.
For years the U.S. has been able to build strength through its alliances, but Mr. Trump has turned this idea on its head. It has come to a point where the president is willing to bully allies and make threats in order to obtain Greenland, an island that few Americans care about and that would not improve the security of the country whatsoever.
Mr. Trump has made a dangerous assumption that the U.S. on its own would be able to stand strong on the global stage, particularly against two superpowers in Russia and China. If the president really wants to pay off the national debt and improve the economy, losing allies is not the way to go about it. Perhaps it is time for Mr. Trump to learn the meaning of the word cooperation.
Maxwell Mercado Collegedale, Tenn.
To the Editor:
This is not a test. President Trump’s increasingly flagrant and bellicose threats to violate Greenland’s sovereignty represent an existential threat. There is no telling what will befall us if the United States shatters the NATO alliance and cements its abrupt shift from leader of the free world to global pariah.
Each of us, on the streets and in the halls of the Capitol, must put aside political calculations and business as usual and confront this as the crisis that it is. Members of Congress and all Americans: If you oppose this perilous path, now is the time to speak.
Emily L. Cooke Cape Elizabeth, Maine
To the Editor:
Re “Canada Looks Past the U.S. for Survival” (news analysis, front page, Jan. 21):
Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada is speaking truth to power. Donald Trump has brought “a rupture” to the world order.
As most of us learned as children and as all democracies must now learn, the only way to stop a bully is to stand up to him.
I pray that the “middle powers,” as Mr. Carney describes them, will have the wisdom and courage to forge an alliance that will not succumb to the absurd and brutal demands of our current U.S. president.
Mr. Carney is absolutely correct when he says: “There is a strong tendency for countries to go along to get along. To accommodate. To avoid trouble. To hope that compliance will buy safety. It won’t.”
Giving into the demands of a bully has never led to anything but demands for more.
Susan Shelton Falmouth, Mass.
To the Editor:
In his speech in Davos, President Trump claimed America’s right to Greenland (which he confuses with Iceland multiple times; give the man a map) and stated that NATO has not done anything for the U.S. He ignores the fact that Denmark sent troops to Afghanistan after 9/11, some of whom died in Helmand Province.
Mr. Trump, who himself never served, dishonors the service of those who did.
Severin Campbell Berkeley, Calif.
To the Editor:
There can no longer be any doubt. After his speech in Davos, President Trump has proved himself the farmer of Aesop’s fable, slaughtering the goose that laid the golden eggs. America is that goose. Whatever the reason — greed, stupidity, arrogance or revenge — the bird is gravely wounded, if not already dead.
Lynda Roy Tampa, Fla.
Activism by the Elderly
To the Editor:
Re “What Does U.S. Look Like Without Its Immigrants?” (front page, Jan. 3):
Your comprehensive account of the harms that President Trump’s immigration policies have already visited on Americans calls for action to restore our social safety net — and we are beginning to see organizing for the 2026 midterm elections as the follow-up to resistance.
For example, seniors who will bear great pain from health care cuts are coming to understand that defunded hospitals will close and that systematic deportation of caregivers will threaten the care they and their families receive.
Those 65 and over make up the largest cohort of reliable voters and can make a difference in swing districts. In the months before primaries, it is essential to confront incumbents and evaluate challengers on their views on such issues.
Older Americans have managed careers, nurtured families and served their nation and communities. They can have a lot to say about the future by making a commitment to civic action today.
Judy Loeb New York The writer is the president of Seniors Taking Action and a co-founder of We the Seniors.
The post Trump’s Threats to the World Order appeared first on New York Times.
