Trump's Middle East tour: Letters to the Editor — May 15, 2025
President Trump's meetings in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are being closely watched by allies and adversaries.
('Trump's Mideast Vision,' Editorial, May 14).
Advertisement
After working on foreign policy for decades, President Joe Biden was a total failure in the Middle East.
Those failures make Trump's diplomatic work to restore stable relations tricky, but not impossible.
Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio can initiate a desperately needed reset of US-Middle East relationships to deter aggression, safeguard American interests in the region and counter further threats from Iran.
James Patterson
Advertisement
Washington, DC
Reading about Trump's visit to the Middle East, I think he is doing what former President George W. Bush started but never completed — creating a Middle East Free Trade Area.
Now I understand the meaning of the quote: 'George Washington created the presidency and John Adams defined it.'
Advertisement
Trump is defining his style, knowing the complex dynamics of the global community, and in the process, he is defining his presidency. Just like the song: 'My Way' by Frank Sinatra.
Anant Nagpur
Ottawa, Canada
As an American, I'm so proud of Trump's visit to the Middle East.
Advertisement
I was proud to see him carry himself so professionally and presidentially in Saudi Arabia, representing America while showing respect toward Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his country.
Mo Colarusso
Manhattan
Sen. Chris Murphy is calling the Trump trip to the Middle East a 'public corruption tour.'
These do-nothing Democrats find absolutely nothing this president does well, in any sense of the word.
Where were these morons during the last four years, when we had open borders, high inflation, crime on the rise and no trade deals at all?
I truly believe if Trump cured cancer, they would say 'cancer is a good thing.'
President John Kennedy must be rolling over in his grave looking at the Democratic Party of today.
Advertisement
He'd now be a Republican.
Philip Vallone
Ossining
Advertisement
The Issue: Not enough air-traffic controllers at Newark Airport amid 45-day 'trauma leaves.'
I hesitantly write this letter condemning the air-traffic controllers who opted for 45-day extended leaves from their critically important duties guiding commercial airliners at Newark Liberty International Airport due to stress ('Newark fly by fright,' May 13).
I'm not sure how much they regard the safety of innocent passengers, who rely on them being in their positions in the tower.
This is especially hurtful when we all remember the recent preventable catastrophe in Washington, DC, where a commercial jetliner crashed with a US Army helicopter.
Advertisement
Joe Torrillo
Manalapan, NJ
The air-traffic-control-system debacle is another mess left behind by former President Joe Biden and his fumbling, stumbling crew.
Be it air, rail or sea, whenever there was a crisis, it seems Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was away on paternity leave or globe-trotting with his husband.
Advertisement
Nicholas Maffei
Yonkers
This airport is an accident waiting in the wings.
At one point, there was only one air-traffic controller in charge.
Sean Duffy did indeed blame the Biden administration for the existing chaos, but it's time to put that aside and get a safe airport in order.
Ron Zajicek
Cortlandt
Want to weigh in on today's stories? Send your thoughts (along with your full name and city of residence) to letters@nypost.com. Letters are subject to editing for clarity, length, accuracy, and style.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Proposed congressional maps in California could help Democrats flip 5 seats
Proposed new congressional maps in California that are expected to be put to voters in a special election this fall indicate the redrawn district lines could help Democrats flip five Republican seats and bolster around five Democratic incumbents in toss-up districts. The new maps, posted on the California State Assembly website on Friday evening, are draft proposals and are subject to be changed or reworked by the state legislature, which is set to start working next week. The legislative action follows California Gov. Gavin Newsom's call on Thursday for a special election on new maps, in an attempt to counter mid-decade redistricting being pushed by Republicans in Texas. MORE: California will move forward with redistricting vote to counter Texas, Newsom says The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the campaign arm of House Democrats, took credit Friday for submitting the maps to the California legislature, saying in a statement they believe they will have widespread support among California legislators and voters. "We anticipate this proposal will have widespread support both among California office holders and various stakeholders across the state," DCCC Executive Director Julie Merz said in a statement. "We will not stand by as Republicans attempt to rig the election in their favor and choose their voters. It's increasingly clear that Republicans will do anything to protect their narrow majority because they know they can't win on their disastrous legislative record which has raised costs and rips away health care for millions, all to give the ultra-wealthy a tax break." Paul Mitchell, a redistricting and data expert who drew the maps, told ABC News San Francisco station KGO-TV in an interview on Friday afternoon before the draft maps were posted online that eight of the proposed redrawn districts are unchanged; another 20 are changed very little, and that overall the goal was "pushing back on Texas without doing something that would radically disrupt the congressional district lines." MORE: Texas Democrats to return after governor ends special session that included redistricting, sources say Mitchell added that beyond making five Republican-held seats favor Democrats -- as a counter to the proposed congressional maps in Texas that could flip five seats to favor Republicans -- the proposal also strengthens the districts of around five Democratic "frontline candidates" who face more difficult challenges from Republicans. "[The legislature has] got some time next week to put it together, along with all the other language for a statewide ballot measure. And I think the point for voters is, this is a way to push back on what Texas Republicans are doing, on what Trump is doing," Mitchell told KGO-TV. Republicans continue to cry foul, saying that Newsom's gambit for new maps is politically motivated. NRCC chair Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) wrote in a statement before the proposed maps were posted: "Gavin Newsom failed to solve the homelessness, crime, drug, and cost epidemics plaguing the Golden State. Now he is shredding California's Constitution and disenfranchising voters to prop up his Presidential ambitions. "Californians oppose Newsom's stunt because they won't let a self-serving politician rig the system to further his career. The NRCC is prepared to fight this illegal power grab in the courts and at the ballot box to stop Newsom in his tracks."
Los Angeles Times
17 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Trump tax law could cause Medicare cuts if Congress doesn't act, CBO says
WASHINGTON — The federal budget deficits caused by President Trump's tax and spending law could trigger automatic cuts to Medicare if Congress does not act, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported Friday. The CBO estimates that Medicare, the federal health insurance program for Americans over age 65, could potentially see as much as $491 billion in cuts from 2027 to 2034 if Congress does not act to mitigate a 2010 law that forces across-the-board cuts to many federal programs once legislation increases the federal deficit. The latest report from CBO showed how Trump's signature tax and spending law could put new pressure on federal programs that are bedrocks of the American social safety net. Trump and Republicans pledged not to cut Medicare as part of the legislation, but the estimated $3.4 trillion that the law adds to the federal deficit over the next decade means that many Medicare programs could see cuts. In the past, Congress has always acted to mitigate cuts to Medicare and other programs, but it would take some bipartisan cooperation to do so. Democrats, who requested the analysis from CBO, jumped on the potential cuts. 'Republicans knew their tax breaks for billionaires would force over half a trillion dollars in Medicare cuts — and they did it anyway,' Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said in a statement. 'American families simply cannot afford Donald Trump's attacks on Medicare, Medicaid and Obamacare.' Hospitals in rural parts of the country are already grappling with cuts to Medicaid, which is available to people with low incomes, and cuts to Medicare could exacerbate their shortfalls. As Republicans muscled the bill through Congress and are now selling it to voters back home, they have been critical of how the CBO has analyzed the bill. They have also argued that the tax cuts will spur economic growth and pointed to $50 billion in funding for rural hospitals that was included in the package. Groves writes for the Associated Press.
The Hill
17 minutes ago
- The Hill
CEO of paid protest company says it works with both sides of the aisle
(NewsNation) — President Trump alleged Friday that Democrats are paying protesters to fight his Washington, D.C., crime policies. But how do paid protests actually work? NewsNation spoke with Adam Swart, the CEO of Crowds on Demand, about his company that provides services 'for impactful advocacy campaigns, demonstrations, PR stunts, crowds for hire and corporate events,' according to its website. 'All of our protesters are sincere advocates for the cause at hand. We've been in business 13 years, so we have a large roster of people we know and have networks of others we can call upon to be compensated for expressing their sincere points of view,' Swart said. Swart said compensation for protests is typically in the low hundreds of dollars, depending on the assignment. He said organizing a protest 'is like buying an ad.' He said his company receives requests for both conservative and liberal causes. 'We have been clear that we work with both liberals and conservatives on causes that align with common-sense values. Democrats are hiring our company, and so are Republicans,' he said. He did not disclose what protests his company has been asked to be a part of. Swart previously told NewsNation that he turned down $20 million to provide protesters for ' Good Trouble Lives On ' protests in July. 'I'm rejecting it not because I don't want to take the business, but because frankly, this is going to be ineffective; it's going to make us all look bad,' Swart said of the anti-Trump protests at the time.
