Sir, – The phrase “TACO” – Trump Always Chickens Out – is proving to be correct. Over his first and second terms we have repeatedly witnessed bombastic threats followed by retreat when he is pushed back, from annexing Greenland and Canada, to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, to the trade war with China to name but a few examples.
Trump has said himself that he respects strength, not submission. Yet all too often European leaders respond to these threats with caution, hoping to avoid confrontation at all costs.
The evidence clearly shows that the opposite approach works better. When leaders stand firm against these bullying tactics, the American president recalibrates.
Europe is not weak. It is a bloc of over 450 million people. It should start acting like it. – Yours, etc,
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DEAN LITCHFIELD,
Dundalk,
Co Louth.
Sir, – When I read Keith Duggan’s report that US president Donald Trump’s state of the union speech was a record one hour and forty-eight minutes long, all I could think of was, have Americans not suffered enough? – Yours, etc,
BRIAN CULLEN,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 16.
