Opinion: Taiwanese, other world leaders have figured out Trump: Flatter him and get what you want

To the editor: It is disturbing that President-elect Donald Trump has alienated China by taking a phone call from the president of Taiwan. (“Did Trump just cause a diplomatic crisis over Taiwan?” Opinion, Dec. 2)

Trump is driven by the need to be praised and adored. He lashes out at the smallest perceived slight with ferocity while praise of any kind is so intoxicating to him that he is blind to where the praise come from.

Whether it is Russian President Vladimir Putin or soon-to-be White House strategist Stephen Bannon of the “alt-right,” a new label for an old kind of white supremacy, the way to get to Trump is to flatter him and massage his fragile ego.

Phyllis Landis, Oceanside

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To the editor: Let’s be totally honest: Trump’s phone calls with foreign leaders demonstrate he is spectacularly over his head and operating from the position of an ignorant novice. He does not even know he is changing foreign policy as he speaks.

I am utterly ashamed that this nation is about to bestow the presidency upon a clueless leader.

Trump’s occupation of the White House on Jan. 20 will truly test the resiliency of our country’s ability to function with an unfit president.

William Goldman, Palos Verdes Estates

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To the editor: The usual suspects in the mainstream media and progressive political precincts who have excoriated Trump for accepting a call from the head of government in Taiwan would have praised the same from Barack Obama when he was president-elect as a bold and brilliant shattering of a musty foreign policy shibboleth, a forceful challenge long overdue to an outmoded one-China policy, especially as China is now converting the East and South China Seas into wholly owned water resorts.

Paul Bloustein, Cincinnati

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To the editor: I’m not sure which is more disturbing: the thought that Trump is so ignorant that he is unaware of the One China policy or, because of his extensive business interests in China and Taiwan, he knows about it and acted anyway.

Charles Goldwasser, West Hollywood

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