to the editor: re <u+201c> trump takes to twitter in defense of transition <u+201d> (news article, nov. 17): on nov. 10, president obama told president-elect donald trump, <u+201c>if you succeed, then the country succeeds.<u+201d> with all due respect, mr. president, that is entirely wrong. virtually every item on the trump administration<u+2019>s to-do list makes the country weaker, from the gutting of environmental and financial regulation, to the destabilization of international security treaties, to reducing access to health care, to the terrorization of young people working and studying under deferred action for childhood arrivals, or daca. more to the point, the stunning disarray, nepotism, score-settling and incompetence of the trump transition effort make clear that your administration will not be <u+201c>assisting<u+201d> a transition. you will be the ones making the transition happen. history and the national interest may demand that you not be obstructionist. but nothing requires a more positive effort in the transition, except for national security. the courtesy of president bush toward you is not the same: your teams met with his, as professionals in government, albeit with policy differences. instructing islamophobic kooks, white supremacists and oil industry hacks in how better to degrade america is something else entirely. christopher kutz berkeley, calif. to the editor: this is just too embarrassing. donald trump is up in his ivory tower going through the motions of selecting the team that will be responsible for our government. from the little updates and tidbits we are privy to, one wonders if this is not an audition for a coming season of his program <u+201c>the apprentice.<u+201d> the infighting, indecisiveness, hiring and firing, and mostly the inexperience of these folks all sound like a casting session for the tv show. and worse, instead of his communicating with the media, one has to look up his tweets. heaven help us. victoria flora norwalk, conn. to the editor: let<u+2019>s face the facts <u+2014> no one likes change, even if our lives are not good, but change was necessary. our government was at a stalemate, totally dysfunctional. we needed a major revamping. but who could possibly do it? we needed someone brave, honest, independent, wealthy, thick-skinned, successful and brash enough to fight the total entrenchment of establishments strangling our american dream. someone who was comfortable in front of the media. we got what we wished. donald trump is not perfect, but he is perfect for change. we are now on a path into the unknown <u+2014> an adventure that the american spirit has always embraced. we lost that spirit for a while, but mr. trump reminded us how we can regain it. mr. trump has proved himself in business but, more important, he has proved himself in politics in an unconventional but brilliant campaign. he defied all odds. how can we doubt that he will succeed in his next phase <u+2014> making america great again? charles slane new york to the editor: it<u+2019>s extraordinary. donald trump could not go a week without going back on the central premise of his campaign: to <u+201c>drain the swamp,<u+201d> banishing washington<u+2019>s powerful special interests who have <u+201c> rigged our political and economic system.<u+201d> this promise of railing against the establishment won him the republican nomination. his promise to <u+201c>not be controlled by the donors, special interests and lobbyists who have corrupted our politics and politicians,<u+201d> like hillary clinton, helped swing the rust belt in his favor so that he could win the election. where are the baseball caps that, instead of saying <u+201c>making america great again,<u+201d> say <u+201c>selling america out again<u+201d>? don mckenzie west ryde, australia to the editor: each new fumble by donald trump<u+2019>s team brings me schadenfreude. yet i know that president obama, hillary clinton and others are right: his success is now our success, and i should wish him well. just not there yet. harry brod cedar falls, iowa a version of this letter appears in print on november 18, 2016, on page a30 of the new york edition with the headline: the transition from obama to trump. today's paper | subscribe
the transition from obama to trump
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