Middle Schooler offers President Trump Advice on Admitting When One is Wrong.

President Trump

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Washington DC

29 May 2017 

Dear President Trump,  

1 Corinthians 1:10 says, “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.”  

Our world, and specifically our country is full of divisions. We are far from “perfectly united.” Our political beliefs, religions, and races are just a few of the things that divide us. We also don’t agree with each other. When we think that our own opinions are “right,” we can be pretty nasty and not open-minded to others’ ideas.    

I was thinking a little bit about what our world would be without divisions and disagreements. To say it would be different would be a vast understatement. Sin divides us.    

So, President Trump, why does this apply to you? Well, you have made some mistakes recently, some more significant than others. In the days you’ve been in office, you have spilled top-secret information, accused former President Obama of tapping your phone wires, and signed an Energy Independence Executive Order that will probably prevent the US from honoring its commitments to reduce carbon emissions.  The verse above tells us to be united with each other.  I don’t think that means that everyone has to be exactly the same, but that we need to listen to each other and be willing to compromise.  I think part of that is admitting that you may not be completely right all the time.

It’s hard to admit your own faults and weaknesses. It’s hard to confess that you are wrong. It’s incredibly hard. But it’s what’s right. I’m writing this letter to you, President Trump, to ask you to admit that you have made some mistakes. I am also writing this letter to ask you to do what you can to work towards eliminating divisions from our country.   

My family has written a letter to you almost every day since you were elected, and we have heard no responses or seen any changes. Please, President Trump, read my letter and think about what I’m trying to tell you. Thank you.

Sincerely, 

 

F.

President Trump, Please Represent Us Well to the Rest of the World

 

President Trump

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington DC 20500

May 21, 2017 

Dear President Trump,  

Right now you are on a trip to the Middle East. I hope it is going well for you, and that as you negotiate you are remembering not only the interests of the American people but also the interests of people who have no democratically elected leaders to speak up for them on their behalf.            

As you move through countries with different prevalent cultures, traditions, and religion than the United States, I encourage you to be sensitive to the customs of your hosts, just as other foreign leaders are when they come to America and visit the White House.            

The world’s eyes are trained upon you on your first foreign journey, Mr. Trump. Please represent us well. 

Sincerely, 

 

K.

Being Criticized, President Trump, is Kind of Part of the Job

President Trump

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, DC 20500

17 May 2017 

Dear President Trump, 

I am writing to encourage you to resign the position of President of the United States. 

Today, while giving a commencement speech to graduates of the US Coast Guard Academy, you said “Look at the way I have been treated lately, especially by the media.  No politician in history, and I say with surety, has been treated worse, more unfairly.”   

This prompts me to point out two things.  First of all, the position you campaigned for and won was the President of the United States.  If you cannot handle criticism, both fair and unfair, perhaps you should not have sought this job.  The office of President carries with it enormous responsibility.  The best of presidents, Washington, Lincoln, Kennedy, all were bombarded with criticism about almost every move they made.  Washington was criticized for his strategy during the revolutionary war.  Lincoln was criticized for his policies throughout the Civil War.  Kennedy came under extremely heavy fire for talking with Dr. Martin Luther King.  You are by no means the first president to be criticized. 

Secondly, while I know it must be frustrating and difficult, to be fair and with all due respect, apart from your polarizing policies, you have made some pretty significant mistakes that are worthy of criticism. including most recently telling Russia classified information provided by one of America’s allies, and admitting that you fired FBI Director Comey because you didn’t like that you were being investigated for possible unethical communication with the Russians.   

You have made it clear that your particular off-the-cuff style of speaking and your improvised style of leading, while well-suited to many things, are not as well-suited for a position that demands deliberation, consultation, and careful wisdom before making decisions.  

If you are tired of the criticism, one solution would be to resign your position.  I encourage you to consider doing so.

Regards,

Bill Boerman-Cornell

Mr. President, Please Resign.

President Trump

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, DC 20500

16 May 2017

Dear President Trump, 

I or my family have been writing you letters every business day since you have been elected.  During that time I have encouraged you to reconsider your positions on the environment, refugees, education, health care, libraries, and many other things.  I have encouraged you to think carefully before speaking, to seek wisdom from others, and to be respectful to others.  I do not know if you have gotten any of those letters.  I do not know if you have read them.  I have tried to communicate in a respectful and civil manner. 

In light of your recent leaking of sensitive intelligence to Russia, however, I am now writing you for a different reason.  I am writing to ask you to resign.  You have made it clear in the past week that you do not have the control and professionalism to be President.  Your slip of the tongue did not compromise any military operation or, as far as I know, any intelligence operatives – but it could have.  Your poor judgment in this matter could just as easily resulted in compromising unnecessarily the lives of soldiers and intelligence operatives.  Your unwillingness to admit when you do not know something and your willingness to say whatever is on your mind without thinking it through has become dangerous for the people of this country. 

This is not a matter of my disagreeing with your policies.  It is a matter, sir, of not having the knowledge and skill necessary to do the job.  On one of your television shows, and I suppose in real life as well, you have had to fire people who didn’t have the competence to do the job well.  Be honest with yourself, then do what is right and resign.  If you continue on your present course, it is looking more and more likely that if you do not do so voluntarily, you will be impeached and perhaps found guilty of breaking the law as well. 

I urge you to do the right thing, and step down before you hurt someone. 

Regards, 

Bill Boerman-Cornell

Mr. President, History has its Eyes on You.

President Trump

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington DC 20500

15 May 2017 

Dear President Trump,  

There it a line in the hit musical Hamilton! That is repeated seveal time and which goes: “History has its eyes on you.”  Alexander Hamilton and many of the other founding fathers were aware that their actions and the things that they said would become part of the historical record, and so they took great care in making decisions aobut those actions and speeches.

While I mean no disrespect, I could encourage you to consider that line.  Perhaps it is because you so often tweet your justification for decisions you make, but they often seem random or poorly thought out.  When you speak to other people, particularly those who disagree with you, you do so in a way which is dismissive and sometimes insulting.  Consider the way you refer to thousands of hard-working journalists as “fake news,” or the way you have sometimes said things about leaders of other countries that could be interpreted as disrespectful.  Another example might be the way you have referenced African-Americans as living in the ghetto or referred to Mexican immigrants as drug dealers and rapists. 

It may be that such talk builds up your support among your base, but such support is shrinking.  The most recent Gallup poll shows your approval rating dropping to 38%.   Perhaps it is time to change your image.  Stop being the uncaring, one-dimensional fear-monger that FOX News and your base have built you into.  Take some time.  Think about how you want to be considered by history, by children, and by the next generation, Then make a change and think about how you could make the environment, health care, social justice, and the political climate of the nation and the world better.  

Remember, Mr. President, that history has its eyes on you. 

Regards, 

Wm. Boerman-Cornell

Middle Schooler Advocates Energy Research

President Trump

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington DC 20500

11 May 2017 

Dear President Trump,  

I recently read an article about some of the federal programs that you are going to eliminate. One of the programs that caught my eye was the “Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy,” or “ARPA-E.” I researched this further and found out that this program “advances high-potential, high-impact energy technologies that are too early for private-sector investment.” (energy.gov) In other words, the ARPA-E funds researchers who are researching energy (how to use it, store it, and generate it) and have good ideas, but might not be able to afford getting it off the ground.

I would like to ask you why you are cutting this program. Conserving energy and taking care of the world is extremely important to me, especially as a Christian. I believe that we, as humans, have the responsibility of respecting and protecting the world that God has made. This means taking an interest in and supporting programs like this one that research how to use, store, and generate energy. 

Also, I did some calculations, and that program is roughly .01% of the national budget. That’s an incredibly small percent, President Trump. By cutting that program, are you really saving our country a lot of money?  I don’t really understand your logic.  

Please rethink cutting the ARPA-E. 

Sincerely,   

F.

Mr Trump, how about installing a door in your border wall?

President Trump

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington DC 20500

10 May 2017 

Dear President Trump, 

Actually, this wall you want to build on our southern border with Mexico sometimes makes a bit of sense to me.  Right now, there are a lot of people, many of them refugees or just people looking for a chance to make a living wage, who cross the border hoping for a better, safer life.  Unfortunately, though, those trying to make the border crossing are at the mercy of smugglers and end up dying in the desert.  If the idea of the wall is to make that dangerous passage seem less attractive, I can see how it could actually help some people – but only if it was combined with a much more open immigration policy.   

If we were to build a wall and at the same time keep our current level of immigration, I doubt it would change the numbers of people trying to get over our border.  If a refugee has the choice of certain death in a war-torn or dangerous country behind them or an outside chance of success and safety by tunneling under a wall; or riding in a hidden compartment of a truck or a shipping container; or paddling a raft in dangerous seas, logic dictates that they will try the dangerous path that at least gives them a chance. 

But if the choice is between a relatively quick and easy vetting process followed by legal immigration, obviously that approach would be preferable than taking a chance with the wall, even if it means waiting a couple of weeks.  And the advantage to such an approach is it would lead to us being able to do a thorough check on those coming in.  Of course, we  would need to hire more people to process immigration requests and do background checks.  

But if you build a wall and maintain a highly restrictive immigration policy, you will only be accomplishing these three things:  1. You will drive the price the smugglers can ask even higher – probably resulting to an increased flow of money to criminal gangs.  2. You will encourage as many or more people to enter the country through other means – giving terrorists and those who wish to do ill to the country an even better chance to sneak in with the masses. 3.  You will be wasting my tax dollars building an ineffective wall. 

And at bottom, underneath all this, is a simple idea.  America should be a place that welcomes refugees and helps our neighbors.  Are we now going to turn our backs on desperate families and children and those who need our help?  Is that the kind of country we are?  Do we hide behind walls for fear of a handful of terrorist slugs?  To do so is not befitting the home of the free and the land of the brave.  To do so is to aid and abet the terrorists by swelling their ranks with those who have been turned away by the America they have dreamed of.  

So before you build the wall, Mr. President, open up our immigration policies and let them walk in through the door. 

Regards, 

Bill Boerman-Cornell

One of those letters about French Politics

President Trump

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Washington DC 20500

May 6, 2017 

Dear President Trump, 

I have been closely following the French presidential election recently. After their first election, which has similarities to our primary election here in the United States, the French emerged with two candidates: Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen. From these two candidates, one will be elected president in Sunday’s runoff election.            

However, something has just happened that I think you, as the leader of the United States, should comment on. Emmanuel Macron, the frontrunner, has just become victim to a huge email hack—and some of what has been released are actual emails, and some are complete fabrications. The French media is unable to inform the people about anything related to these attacks, because in France the media is prohibited from reporting on the vote for a period of time before it happens. Because of this, rumors will be flying rampant all over the internet.            

As the President of the United States, I think you should comment on this, and reiterate that it is unacceptable. Your endorsement of fair play and tactics would make a statement not just to France, but to the American people as well.  

Sincerely,

 

K.

Mr. Trump, you are not a very good pen pal.

President Trump

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington DC 20500

4 May 2017 

Dear President Trump, 

Honestly, I am tired of writing letters to you.  My family (me my wife, and our two daughters) has been writing you roughly a letter every business day since you took office.  We have asked you not to cut funding for libraries, have encouraged you to view third-world countries with compassion, encouraged you not to defund the EPA and the Parks Departments, have suggested that the you should not vote for a health care bill that will literally result in the deaths of US citizens, and have suggested you reconsider your plan to build a wall.   

All in all, we have sent you seventy-five letters so far.  In that time we not only haven’t gotten a letter back from you, not even a form letter to acknowledge that you have gotten any of our letters.  I don’t expect you to read all of your letters, but honestly, I have written letters to almost every president since Gerald Ford and have gotten replies from every one of them.  Nothing from you, sir. 

Part of what makes it so hard to write to you is that in spite of all our imploring, you continue to do things that we perceive as lacking compassion, and often downright mean.   You really want to leave people with a pre-existing medical condition without insurance?  You really want to cut programs that encourage energy efficiency and cost the government nothing (like the Energy Star Program)?   You really want to deport children who have been granted US citizenship under the Dreamer Act, and who have never lived in the nations you are deporting them to?  Is it intentional when you insult our allies and seem to get along better with our enemies?  Do you really want to ignore threats like global climate change by pretending they do not exist?  If you ever did read our letters, is there any chance they would make you pause and consider? 

 

 We wrote one letter to our state Senator about a month ago.  Though it took a while, we got a thoughtful, personal reply.   

See, I started this project with my  family in hopes that we could engage in civil discourse and I could teach my children that writing letters to the president can help them make an impact.  I do not think they are actually learning that. 

So you haven’t been a very good correspondent.  But I don’t think we are going to quit yet.  We think we will send you an even 100 letters, then perhaps we will try writing to someone who cares about American citizens enough to read what we have to say.  I am sorry to be harsh, but you have been something of a disappointment in this regard. 

 Regards,

Bill Boerman-Cornell

Mr. Trump, don't eliminate protection for those with pre-existing medical conditions.

President Trump

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington DC 20500

3 May 2017 

Dear President Trump, 

The amended Health Care Bill, up for a vote today, eliminates protections for people with pre-existing conditions.  I am writing you to urge you to vote against this bill in the event that it makes it past the Senate. 

I have a pre-existing condition, melanoma.  I am a seven year survivor thanks to recently developed innovations in immunotherapy.  During my years of receiving treatments, I was able to continue to teach full time.  I work hard, pay taxes, and pay into my insurance plan.  Recently, after several clear scans, I have been allowed to stop getting infusions every three weeks.  Under the Affordable Care Act, my plan covered me enough for me to get well. 

According to a New York Times story that ran yesterday, under the proposed legislation, many Americans with pre-existing conditions would be pushed off their insurance and segregated into high-risk pools where they will have to face soaring costs worse coverage, and restricted care.  The bill will also sharply cut Medicaid funds for special education students, a population that desperately needs such funds. 

Under the Affordable Care Act, insurers are required to charge the same price for coverage, regardless of pre-existing conditions.  The amended House bill, according to Paul Ryan, allows states to waive this rule for people who have lapses in coverage – if for example they change jobs.  According to a Kaiser Analysis, this could affect upwards of 4.7 million people. 

People with cancer are already in a desperate situation, as are people with other chronic health situations.  Medicine can often help them live a relatively normal life.  This bill will take that away and will cause unbelievable hardship for such people and their families.  Help make the world a better place, Mr. Trump, not a worse one.  Vote that bill down.

 Regards,

 

Bill Boerman-Cornell

President Trump, History Matters

1110 E. 168^th Place

South Holland, IL 60473 

President Trump

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington DC 20500

2 May 2017 

Dear President Trump, 

I suspect you have noticed it has been several days since our last letter.  I cannot be certain because even after 75 letter, you have not replied, but I am going to assume you have noticed. 

 

We haven’t been able to write you because it is nearing the end to the school year and that means more grading.  And last minute revised lesson plans and field trips and so on.  My wife and I are teachers and our children are students.  School is the center of our lives right now.  Our apologies for not writing for a couple of days.   

Today I would like to talk about history and the importance of setting a good example.  Recently, according to the New York Times, you said that Andrew Jackson was really angry about the Civil War in spite of the fact that he died 16 years before that war began.  During Black History Month, you seemed to imply that Frederick Douglass was still alive.  And the New York Times also reported that you recently put up a plaque at a golf course marking a Civil War battle that did not, in fact, happen.

History tells us the story of our nation and other nations too.  It marks the achievements and sometimes mistakes and disappointments of our republic.  History is something that every school child in this country learns about to some extent.  I know that history can be confusing and dates and historical figures can be hard to keep track of.  I do not blame you for your mistake about Andrew Jackson (though the mistakes about Frederick Douglass and the gold course are even more perplexing).  However I do encourage you to ask one of your advisors to fact check the things that you are going to say before you put them out there. 

Because when you make such a mistake, you look foolish, but perhaps of more concern to me is that you send a message to everyone in this country that history doesn’t matter, that getting it right doesn’t matter, and that the facts are something easily manipulated if one has reason to do so – even as trivial a reason as trying to make a golf course more interesting.  

But sir, getting it right does matter.  Facts matter.  History matters.  Historians and history teachers matter.  And school kids especially matter. Please start setting a better example for the people of this country.

 Regards,

 Bill Boerman-Cornell