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Readers React: If Trump fails on North Korea, will there be anything positive to come from his presidency?

A news broadcast in Tokyo reports President Trump's decision to cancel an upcoming meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong Un on May 25.
A news broadcast in Tokyo reports President Trump’s decision to cancel an upcoming meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un on May 25.
(Behrouz Mehri / AFP/Getty Images)
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To the editor: President Trump’s cancellation of a planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has capped my struggle to find anything in his substance or style regarding politics, religion or principles that causes me think twice about my own.

Looking for something positive from his presidency, I argue that we should take this opportunity to study and saturate ourselves with the experience of autocracy and convey to our children the examples of its insidious effect on people’s hearts and minds. Nothing to be read in books or viewed on the screen can compare with the searing effect it has when experienced live.

Let’s burn this into our psyches, lest we ignore it at our peril.

Roger Schwarz, Los Angeles

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To the editor: It’s easy to criticize when you offer no solutions, but it gets old. The media criticize Trump for his bluster, then criticize him when he writes a letter obviously carefully crafted to send a firm scolding to Kim while leaving the door open to future negotiations.

Trump was not going to be played by Kim, and he followed his instincts to cancel the June 12 summit in Singapore before it could become a circus.

Your editorial makes no mention of the three Americans — four if you include the late Otto Warmbier — that our president brought home from North Korea. Does The Times Editorial Board not find that noteworthy?

You would be more credible if you picked your battles and gave Trump some credit where due. Adding to the national divisiveness is not helpful.

Rick Kern, Incline Village, Nev.

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To the editor: I’m sorry Trump called off his meeting with Kim. Nonetheless, I think he should still simply claim that he has earned the Nobel Peace Prize.

What is one more lie to someone like Trump? His base will love it, and he can prove his case to his followers’ satisfaction by convening a Cabinet meeting wherein everyone around the table individually congratulates him for receiving such a distinguished award.

Should the Norwegian Nobel Committee contradict Trump, well, that’s the essence of fake news, right?

Bruce Strathdee, Palm Desert

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