Opinion: Trump has influence abroad — just not the kind many foreign leaders and media figures like

To the editor: Your Dec. 26 article, “Trump claims he’s boosting U.S. influence, but many foreign leaders see America in retreat,” might more accurately report that the United States is gaining a stature among foreign leaders they like less than what they had the previous eight years.

Two important news items from the past week were not mentioned. One, the U.S. decided to supply anti-tank missiles to the Ukrainian government to defend against Russian invaders. Second, the Trump administration helped to negotiate a $285-million cut to the United Nations budget and threatened further reductions in foreign aid to countries that supported a U.N. General Assembly resolution condemning the United States’ recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

These are important aspects of the current state of U.S. foreign relations. Your article overlooked them, but I think one can rest assured that these developments were very much noticed in foreign capitals, perhaps creating as much unease there as most journalists experience contemplating the Trump administration here.

I think the story is much more nuanced and complex.

Grant Mulford, Granada Hills

..

To the editor: Of course we are losing stature in the world. The decline began with the election of George W. Bush as president in 2000, after which we had a return to normalcy and even a bit of greatness with eight years of President Obama.

And now the unimaginable has happened: A dangerously amoral man sits in the White House. This is not the country any of us had ever known or even imagined in our worst nightmares.

Tama Winograd, Valley Village

..

To the editor: To say the U.S. has lost stature internationally echoes leftist talking points.

Recall Obama’s statement about “leading from behind” in Libya. In Syria, our policy was to get rid of dictator Bashar Assad, a goal that was doomed from the start. In contrast, the Russians picked the winner and stuck with him.

Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital merely fulfills the wishes that Congress expressed in 1995 and reaffirmed earlier this year in a resolution that passed the Senate unanimously and was sponsored by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who said, “I am proud to sponsor this resolution, which reaffirms the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 that states Jerusalem should remain an undivided city and Israel’s capital — in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are celebrated, valued and protected.”

Every president since has punted this football, but Trump didn’t. There is no resolution to the Palestinian problem in Israel, and peace negotiations have been failing for the last 50 years. They will continue to fail regardless of Jerusalem’s status.

Trump delivered. This is leadership.

Mark Collins, Altadena

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook