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Letter: Trump a member of the dictators club

(Sergei Chirikov | AP file photo) Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pose for a photo during their meeting in the Bocharov Ruchei residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2019. Welcoming the Turkish leader in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi on Tuesday, Putin said their meeting is very important in the current tense situation in Syria.

Dictators need to stick together, and Donald Trump considers himself one of the club — as evidenced most recently by his telling Congress that if he doesn’t feel like being impeached, they aren’t allowed to do it. (He claims the Constitution gives him the right to do whatever he wants.)

Considering how Trump savors his power, it’s astonishing the way he grovels at the feet of strongmen. His latest move is a tour de force of wholesale destruction and giving four dictators what they want.

In one phone call, Trump killed hundreds of soldiers and displaced tens of thousands of civilians. His decision, which his loyal crew is already spinning, means the betrayal of allies, more chaos in the Middle East and the rebirth of the Islamic State group.

Most of all, Trump’s actions benefit dictators. Trump was already empowering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Now he has created a power vacuum in the Middle East that Vladimir Putin is moving to fill. Trump helped Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan invade Syria to take land Turkey has long coveted. A third murderous autocrat who benefits is Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. Trump has hired out our military to him.

Fourth, Syrian President Bashar al Assad is now in the mix, with our former allies turning to him in desperation.

No, Trump doesn’t work for the American people, despite his nationalist rants. Domestically, he works for the wealthy and the white. Abroad he works for dictators. (He also adulates autocrats in China, the Philippines and North Korea.)

Trump is killing and displacing Kurds, making dictators happy every step of the way, enabled by the GOP’s silence or outright support.

Surely Trump deserves a badge as an honorary member of the dictators club.

Kate Coombs, Bountiful

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