Trump can learn some lessons from Obama on the art of communication
Re: “US right to seal off its borders”, Have Your Say, June 28
The writer is correct. Like any other sovereign state, the US has full rights to secure its border. For President Donald Trump, one illegal migrant slipping through leads to the loss of one American job. It is far easier and quicker to create or return jobs to US nationals by sending illegal migrants back or preventing them from coming in, than to start new businesses or open new factories.
To achieve his goal, Trump can build border walls higher than the infamous Berlin Wall, but he should not insist on asking the Mexican government to pay for it. The president can also pass new laws to deport at sight any illegal migrants that the authorities can identify, but he should not treat them like criminals or insult their countries of origin.
There must be more gentle ways to show your unwanted guest the door. Perhaps President Trump could seek some advise from his predecessor. President Barack Obama, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, ordered more than 550 drone air strikes during his eight years in the White House. These covert bombing operations killed both alleged terrorists, civilians and animals, and demolished within a kilometre of the target. Yet the public see Obama as a gentle and father-like figure, a passionate person who is ready to shed tears for the neighbouring old lady who cannot afford her health insurance.
President Trump could be an expert on the art of deal, but he is definitely a greenhorn on the subject of public communication.
Yingwai Suchaovanich
