To the editor:

I am 75 years old and have voted Republican my entire life. That is about to change. President Trump is out of control, and the Republican Congress is allowing him free reign. Here are some of my concerns:

1) Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection of the U.S. Capitol building. Trump calls it a “Day of Love”. That is an insult. There were 140 people injured, seven died, three were law enforcement officers. Trump pardoned over 1,500 of the insurrectionists.

2) Trump and Elon Musk gut most of our federal agencies with no basis, cutting billions of dollars of essential services and research, putting highly educated citizens out on the street, and breeching sensitive data from our social security system and more.

3) Trump is moving federal troops/National Guard into Washington DC and other major cities under the guise they are lawless. This is illegal, unnecessary, and unwanted by local authorities.

4) Trump attacks/fires anybody who does not agree with him: Director of Bureau of Labor Statistics, agency heads, media, etc.

5) Trump’s ethics: he is a convicted felon, the Epstein case, establishing policies that allow him to make a fortune in the cryptocurrency market based on his holdings.

6) Tariffs. These are an ill founded concept that are costing the American consumer considerably more at the grocery store, restaurants, etc, and hurting our farmers.

7) Unqualified leadership. Most of Trump’s agency heads have little to no experience in the areas they are heading up. They are loyalists or former Fox news staffers. We are missing out on critical expertise and diversity of thought.

8) 250 years ago our country was established with a Constitution and three branches of government: legislative, judicial, and executive, intended to create a balance of power. It was not intended that we would have a king that controlled everything.

9) Trump’s health. Watch his speeches or press conferences. He can not hold a coherent thought for two sentences. He is slurring many of his words.

Trump is alienating every sector of the American public, and it has to stop before it is too late.

Bill McLean

New Ulm