What do I think are the highest priorities of our current president? I am only able to guess, but here goes. He only cares about:

• His and his family’s wealth. So he promotes foreign and domestic policy that feeds this desire. His tweets may be manipulating markets to aid insider trading.
• His surroundings. So he coats the walls of the White House with gold, destroys historic national buildings and promotes other frivolous projects, like a ballroom.
• His image or legacy. He wanted a Nobel Peace Prize. He wants his face on money, passports and even Mount Rushmore. He wants an arch.
• Enhancing the wealth and power of his billionaire supporters. His dislike of alternative energy seems to cater to fossil fuel enterprises. This opens the door for China to dominate markets for electric vehicles and battery storage of energy, and looks like a catastrophe for our car manufacturers and many other important parts of our economy.
• What Putin and Netanyahu think of him. What else could explain weakening support for NATO and Ukraine, and his war in Iran? I guess he owes at least one of them for something.
• Punishing his perceived enemies. So he wastes taxpayer money to harass many who opposed him in some way, and diverts resources from more important matters.

Hold on! Where is the focus on making America great? I guess that’s reserved for later.

Leo Carter
Yarmouth