Americans unwise to ignore Trump’s autocratic methods

Still waiting for the rest of the nation to realize exactly where we are. President Donald Trump just enacted 200 laws without Congress. The most important of these is implementing Schedule F which will allow him to replace thousands of federal employees at the top of all the departments with people loyal to him (“Trump’s moves to slash federal workers are raising alarms in Maryland,” Jan. 23).

The power of all federal agencies will thereafter lie solely with Trump. Consider his directive to strip citizenship for children born in the United States to undocumented parents. The courts at every level will rule against it, but as Vice President JD Vance has noted, paraphrasing President Andrew Jackson: “The courts can make a decision, but let them enforce it!” Trump will, through the power of federal agencies, be able to deny rights of citizenship to any and all that he deems unworthy.

The Social Security Administration will deny those who are born in this country with Social Security cards. The State Department will deny them U.S. passports. All federal agencies will deny them the rights of citizenship and ICE will mark them as candidates for deportation. If Trump can do this to any group of citizens, then he can do this to you!

President Trump has shown that he can do without Congress and ignore the courts. Essentially, he can do anything he wants to do. France’s Louis XIV would envy his power! I don’t believe that Trump is a bad guy. I think his intention is to be a benevolent dictator, but the people whispering in his ear are another matter. Trump has a “kitchen cabinet” from Hell. They are the ones who wrote the 200 executive actions that he just signed. I doubt that Trump read most of them nor, if he did, fully understood their implications.

In this lack of comprehension, President Trump is not alone: He is joined by most politicians, pundits, editors and almost all of our fellow citizens.

— Jim Dempsey, Edgewood

Don’t be fooled by Maryland’s smooth operator governor

That was an excellent commentary by Kevin Igoe regarding the state budget in The Baltimore Sun (“What happened to the Hogan surplus?” Jan. 27)!

Gov. Wes Moore blamed everything that’s gone wrong on former Gov. Larry Hogan — and on President Donald Trump too — in his recent commentary, “Gov. Wes Moore: Now’s the time to fix our fiscal crisis” (Jan. 14). Governor Moore may pull the wool over a lot of people’s eyes, but anyone with a bit of financial acumen would not be fooled by his “smooth operator” speechifying.

The governor has turned a great CV into the persona of a hack politician. The worst thing is that he could well be the next president of the United States.

— Lyle Rescott, Marriottsville

The Baltimore Sun is seeking nominations for its 10th annual Business and Civic Hall of Fame, recognizing individuals who’ve fostered transformational change in the Baltimore region.

Email nominations by Feb.10 to talkback@baltimoresun.com with a brief description of the nominee’s accomplishments and background. We will announce the 2025 inductees in March, and honor them with an event and special newspaper section in June.