Why do I not support Donald Trump? Joe Grant, in his Jan. 18 letter (“We should be willing to give the Trump administration its due“), left out a lot. 

Trump’s character judgment is terrible. Since a young man, he has surrounded himself with criminals. His mentor Roy Cohn, who worked with Joseph McCarthy, died a disbarred lawyer. Felix Sater, a business associate, is a convicted felon. His company’s CFO, Allen Weisselberg, pleaded guilty to tax fraud. At least seven of his close colleagues or members of his first administration have been convicted of crimes. Many served prison time. 

Trump is not the “peace” president he has touted himself to be. Since January of 2026, he has bombed seven countries for a total of 622 missions. His “peace deals” are shaky at best. His Board of Peace is a vanity project, with a $1 billion pay-in with himself as its life-time head. The Greenland deal seems to be what we have had in place since 1951.

Trump’s immigration policy is out of line with our values. He is sending masked thugs to cities, under the pretext of being “immigration officials,” to arrest quotas of  Black and brown people with no warrants. Seventy-three percent of people in detention have no criminal convictions.

He calls people who are peacefully protesting terrorists. That insults me.

I am no terrorist. I am one of millions of Americans who believe Donald Trump is dangerous and we have a moral obligation to be clear that what he is doing is unacceptable. He serves us. That passion for accountability is what makes America great.

Jo Trafford
Portland