Trump administration looks increasingly problematic

Because I am a registered Republican, I recently received a letter from Vice President JD Vance and the Republican National Committee. They said they want to “fix the corruption left by the Biden-Harris leadership in government.” So do I. I define corruption as “using entrusted authority or power to make a personal gain.”

When a budget line item for $400,000 for Tesla limos under President Joe Biden becomes $400 million for Tesla armored vehicles under Trump’s adviser Elon Musk (who is the largest shareholder of Tesla and the company’s CEO), that is corruption by definition.

When Musk orders the Federal Aviation Administration to scrap their project upgrading to fiber optic networks (after millions of dollars have already been spent) and install Starlink networks instead (a subsidiary of SpaceX, a company that he owns), that is corruption by definition.

When Trump creates a new cryptocurrency and invests his money in it three days before inauguration and then President Trump orders the U.S. Treasury to buy a cryptocurrency reserve after inauguration (which causes the price of crypto and the value of Trump holdings to skyrocket), that is corruption by definition (“What’s next for cryptocurrency industry after Trump’s push to create a strategic reserve?” March 4).

This looks like the pot calling the kettle black.

— Ken Duncan, Kingsville

Blame Congress, not civil servants, for budget woes

I cannot stay silent a minute longer! Why is the President of the United States denigrating and demonizing our American workers, our civil servants, the people who work for the American people completing tasks that the legislative branch has set for them (“Maryland lawmakers address ‘big lie,’ offer support to federal workers at town hall,” March 13)?

These Americans work for us, the people. They are not employees of President Donald Trump. They are not employees of South African immigrant Elon Musk. Why are we allowing this businessman to create chaos destroying American workers’ lives and livelihoods?

The DOGE machine has made clear that they do not know how the federal government actually works and how the tasks and jobs that the civil service performs for the American people is far ranging and very important. Taking these jobs away will not make government more efficient. On the contrary, it will make things very much harder to get done. The waste we should be looking at is not our civil servants’ salaries but the wasteful programs and subsidies that the Congress has mandated.

We should not be giving taxpayer money to Big Oil and Gas. We should not be giving taxpayer money to Big Pharma. We should not be giving tax breaks to large corporations who pay their top executives millions of dollars while their workers fight for a minimum wage. These corporations should be contributing to the communities that they are doing business with and pay their fair share of taxes. This will make our communities more robust and that is good for business.

Taxes are beneficial to everyone: They fund our schools, roads, parks, safe water, clean air, airport traffic, health and welfare of our children and a myriad of other very important programs and services. I am afraid that we will all be in trouble when our civil servants and the government safety net is not there for us when the government collapses and tariffs make prices explode and product availability scarce.

Congress needs to stand up and support the civil service and the good work those Americans do for the people of America.

— Kelly Boyle, Catonsville