Readers Write: Billionaires’ influence, gun laws, Trump’s insults

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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We’ve heard stories about the president’s profit from his position since taking office over and over again, but I appreciate getting the big picture in the Washington Post story printed in the Nov. 23 Star Tribune (“How billionaires took over American politics”). In violation of our Constitution’s prohibition, the Trump family has been amassing wealth as it liquidates public assets, solicits favors from corporations and foreign powers and slashes regulations that could limit its financial schemes.

Trump’s wealth has increased by an estimated $3 billion since returning to office this year. His policies are chiefly driven by self-dealing. His cryptocurrency ventures facilitate foreign powers buying favors. He has proposed acquiring Greenland, Canada and the Gaza Strip with an eye toward personal empire-building. He punishes those who spurn his favors with tariffs or cancellation of programs (or even threats of invasion). He curries favor with con men and murderers in happy mutual back-scratching parties.

Most recently, Trump welcomed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with a lavish White House reception, dismissing the clandestine murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi with the casual statement “things happen.” The crown prince took the opportunity to announce plans to invest a trillion dollars in the U.S. under Trump’s leadership. Saudi Arabia has already invested millions of dollars in the Trump Organization.

Ellen Lowery, St. Paul

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“‘If you’re a billionaire, you want to stay a billionaire,’ said Catsimatidis, whose net worth is estimated at $4.5 billion. It’s not just about his own wealth, he said, adding, ‘I worry about America and the way of life we have.’”

Yes ... his way of life would be nice if we all had it. What hubris. What arrogance. He has no clue what most Americans experience as a “way of life” today. Truly one of Bernie Sanders’ oligarchs. It’s time to bring our country back to some kind of balance.

Harald Eriksen, Brooklyn Park

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Seems every older generation worries the world is going to heck as our culture and politics drift away from what we considered normal.

Now, as one of the retired boomers, I count myself as one of the disaffected citizens, though not with the social and cultural change that are part of our DNA as a free society. What scares me now is the undeniable dominance of the moneyed class and their influences on our country.

As reflected in the Washington Post article reprinted Sunday in the Strib, the richest Americans run our country, to an extent that is very alarming.

To wit: “The wealthiest people are business people, and they are surging to Trump because they understand how much better Trump is for a prosperous economy,“ says Thomas Peterffy, entrepreneur, worth $57.3 billion.

For whom is the question. Besides the inequalities in wealth, the moneyed support of Trump is partially funded by a patently unfair tax system. Also the disastrous results of the moneyed-backed Citizens United case, which allowed for unlimited political contributions by Super PACs and corporate entities. The amounts spent on ideological candidates (by both parties) is obscene.

This perfect storm is complete with a president who is for sale to the highest bidder. Taken together, all these dynamics add up a system of government where our representatives and institutions are owned. Plain and simple.

The reality I see is a long process to recover our democracy initiated by electing non-fringe candidates who have the interests of the people at heart. What hopefully follows is reforming the broken legislative process that will resist the now extreme outside influence. Such representatives can begin to balance a woefully flawed Supreme Court. They will pass laws that benefit all Americans, not just the rich and politically connected.

I don’t care what this correction is labeled, for right now we are basically approaching a feudal society. Dependent on the whims and avarice of the moneyed class.

Joe Carr, Eden Prairie

The recent commentary “We’ve lived through lockdowns” (Strib Voices, Nov. 20) misleads Minnesotans about our firearm laws. Contrary to the authors’ claim, it is generally not legal to carry a firearm to a high school football or hockey game.

Minnesota law strictly prohibits firearms on school property, including stadiums and arenas used for school activities, unless they are unloaded, cased and stored in a vehicle, or the person has written permission from the school’s principal (Minn. Stat. § 609.66, subd. 1d). Firearms are also barred at facilities not owned by the school, such as a city hockey rink, if they are temporarily under the school’s exclusive control and properly posted.

We all want students to be safe. However, emotional appeals must be grounded in an understanding of current law and not override facts or the Constitution.

Safety comes from identifying actual threats, not scapegoating peaceable gun owners or spreading misinformation about what is already illegal.

Let’s work on real solutions grounded in law and truth, not fear.

Bryan Strawser, St. Paul

The author is chair of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus.

For nearly a decade, we’ve watched him degrade women, mock journalists, belittle opponents and attack anyone who challenges him. This isn’t showmanship. It’s a deliberate pattern — one that treats cruelty as strategy and humiliation as leadership.

And here’s the truth he can’t outrun: The country remembers. The recordings, the comments, the lawsuits, the bragging, the alliances he once celebrated — none of it disappears. Each new insult he fires only drags his own history back into view.

But the real crisis is not his inconsistency. It’s the exhaustion. Families are facing rising costs, strained safety nets and deep uncertainty about the future. Yet Trump still responds to serious issues with the same schoolyard taunts he used decades ago. It’s tired. It’s corrosive. And it distracts from problems that demand real leadership.

At some point, a nation has to say: Enough. Enough misogyny. Enough bullying. Enough pretending that personal attacks are political courage.

Americans deserve a president who can speak without demeaning someone — someone focused on solutions, not insults. The era of shrugging and saying “that’s just Trump” should be over.