To the editor:
By now, we have seen what Trump has done in his short second term. Either you are for him or against him based on what you have experienced. Despite any perceived or actual good he has done, a major problem remains with him, and it has been best described by the English moralist and literary critic, Samuel Johnson:
“The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.”
This is precisely who Trump is, his essence, and he admits it and it guides him. It must guide him because he does not have a moral compass. This is not complicated. He is grossly flawed in all attributes common to great men.
Never forget what Trump is for one moment.
1. He is an authoritarian.
2. He is a convicted criminal. The charges stemmed from a scandal involving “hush money” payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. He cheated on his wife with her.
3. He is a person who has been legally determined (by conviction or court ruling) to have committed a sexual assault against E. Jean Carroll.
4. He was the instigator of the precisely documented January 6th Insurrection. House January 6 Committee (2022 final report): The bipartisan committee concluded that Trump was “the central cause of January 6” and that the attack “would not have happened without him.” It detailed how he and his allies pressured state officials, the Department of Justice, and Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the election, and then summoned supporters to Washington and encouraged them to march on the Capitol.
5. He reacted coldly when Mike Pence’s life was threatened. There is strong, multi-source evidence that Pence’s life was in danger on January 6 and that Trump both pressured Pence beforehand and responded inadequately as the attack unfolded.
6. He tried to overturn the 2020 election. He is a sore loser and a cheater.
7. He cheated on his wives.
8. Trump is not formally or self-declared a white Christian nationalist. His messaging, coalition, and political strategy strongly overlap with white Christian nationalist ideology, and scholars widely agree that he has mobilized that movement, even if he doesn’t theologically belong to it.
9. He claims to be a Christian yet does not adhere to the fundamental tenets of Christianity.
10. He does not believe in or abide by the Constitution.
11. He has no coherent economic plan or any semblance of a Universal Health Care plan that he has shared with the voters.
12. He wastes your time wondering if he’s going to a mythical heaven.
13. He whines about his loss of the Nobel Peace Prize. He is a champion whiner.
14. He is increasingly delusional. He quickly forgets how many countries and leaders dislike him.
15. He wastes taxpayer money on tacky White House upgrades.
16. He claims to be a peacemaker while invading Democratic cities to fight the apparitions of his distorted imagination.
17. He cannot be trusted. Trust erodes in him daily.
18. Trump is like a prisoner trying to do good deeds for an early release.
19. He is thoroughly inconsiderate and inconsistent. He’s good at these.
20. Across the ten most frequently cited national polling sources — including Reuters/Ipsos, YouGov/Economist, Gallup, Quinnipiac, Morning Consult, Emerson, Fox News, ABC/Washington Post, Pew, and RealClearPolitics aggregates- Donald Trump’s current average approval rating (as of mid-October 2025) is approximately:
Approval: ≈ 44%
Disapproval: ≈ 52%
Paul Kiefner
St. Augustine,
formerly of Cape Coral