President Trump’s foreign policies are unsafe and damaging | Opinion
Trump
Donald Trump’s foreign policies are unsafe.
The following are harmful foreign interactions:
The US is not giving Ukraine necessary military equipment to defend itself. Every night Russia is bombing. Putin is emboldened. Ukraine is the front line to contain his aggressive impulses. Imagine once Ukraine is defeated how much more money and resources Putin will have to threaten the Arctic?
Attacking/killing Venezuelan sailors without trials sets a dangerous precedent that will endanger our merchant marine. Interfering with the internal affairs more will only result in costly US involvement to “stabilize” the country, like Iraq did.
Saying you “run Venezuela” and we “need Greenland” sets international precedent for China to move into Taiwan.
Taking Greenland will ruin NATO.
Arming and funding Israel, which has a strong economy and state-of-the-art weapon manufacturing, is unnecessary and signals the world that we support the killing of Palestinians and seizing their West Bank lands. No wonder many Muslims are enraged by this and turn that to terrorist actions.
Please stop all of the above.
Please focus on what you were elected to do which is to help Americans improve our economy and help make their lives more affordable.
Laura Tirrell, Boise
Insurrection Act
The Insurrection Act is in the news. It shouldn’t be, but we are experiencing an engineered crisis. Inflammatory and misleading messages on social media by members of the administration are the cause.
We need to be clear about enforcing the law. Separate the WHAT of the law from HOW the law is being enforced.
Traffic laws are an example. Americans support traffic laws. Likewise with immigration laws. Americans support immigration laws. That’s the WHAT.
The question is HOW. How is a traffic stop conducted? Many of us have been through the experience, so I won’t elaborate.
Imagine the traffic stop is conducted by a masked person. You’ve stopped. They approach. You are not asked to turn off the engine. Instead, there is a loud rap on the window and someone yells, get the … out of the car. You jump in shock and the glass breaks. The door is opened, and you are dragged out of your car.
Would any of us traffic law supporting Americans consider HOW this traffic stop is conducted acceptable?
Minnesotans are protesting HOW ICE is enforcing the law. That is why Idaho’s congressional delegation must demand accountability from ICE and Homeland Security.
Mary Ollie, Bonners Ferry
One year in
January 20th was the one-year anniversary of the Trump Administration 2.0. Has there ever been a worse administration in American history? We have a president obsessed only with winning prizes. How many peace prize winners have kidnapped a foreign leader, blown up boats in international waters and threatened other counties? We might as well bring back Richard Nixon, Franklin Pierce or Warren Harding. They all seem to be giants in history compared to what we have now. Watergate was a picnic compared to this. And then there’s DOGE. The New York Times “tracked more than 58,500 confirmed cuts, more than 76000 employee buyouts, and more than 149,000 other planned reductions.” In the meantime, ICE has increased from 10,000 agents to 22,000. How can a democracy survive when law enforcement doesn’t follow any laws themselves. In 1938 a crazy leader in Central Europe annexed the so-called Sudetenland, which was cautiously accepted by other European leaders. Eventually the entire continent was annexed. Will the current administration be satisfied with simply annexing Greenland? Will history repeat?
Sidney Asker, Boise
Where’s Congress?
An Open Letter to Idaho’s Congressional Delegation
I have a simple constitutional question: Please identify the provision of the U.S. Constitution that allows President Trump to seize foreign oil, sell it, and personally control the proceeds through an offshore fund beyond congressional oversight.
I’ve checked Article I, which vests the power of the purse in Congress. I’ve checked Article II, which grants executive authority, but not ownership of a presidential oil slush fund.
Is the authority implied? Recently discovered? Or does the Constitution simply not apply when Donald Trump is the beneficiary?
Which leads to a brief thought experiment: If a Democratic president seized foreign oil and routed the money into an offshore account under personal control, would Senators Crapo and Risch still be silent? Would Representatives Fulcher and Simpson still be so serenely untroubled? Or would you suddenly rediscover separation of powers and begin issuing grave statements about tyranny?
Is there any line President Trump could cross that would compel you to defend the Constitution you swore an oath to uphold? Or has loyalty to one man fully replaced loyalty to the Republic?
If the Constitution is now optional, Idaho’s civics teachers need to adjust their lesson content accordingly.
Ron Nichols, Meridian
Bloat
Rep Josh Tanner loudly calls out a “bloated” state government. Could he please name specifically the state agencies that are bloated, and by how much?
George Moses, Boise
Marijuana
With marijuana’s reclassification to Schedule Three, Idaho has an opportunity to benefit both the government and its citizens. Idaho prides itself on conservative values, limited government, personal responsibility, and fiscal discipline-but our current approach to marijuana contradicts these principles.
Prohibition has not stopped use. It has increased government spending, overburdened police, and sent tax money to other states. Idahoans already buy marijuana legally in neighboring states, enriching those states while Idaho bears enforcement costs.
A regulated, state-controlled framework would allow Idaho to reclaim authority, enforce age limits, ensure quality control, and keep marijuana out of kids hands, outcomes prohibition has failed to achieve.
Fiscal benefits are significant. Ontario, Oregon, dispensaries make about $100 million annually, 75–80% of sales from Idaho residents. A 17% tax, like Oregon’s, would yield $13.6 million to Idaho from that city alone. Statewide, if an estimated 315,000 buyers spent $750 each per year, that would generate $236 million in sales, producing roughly $40 million in tax revenue for infrastructure, tax relief, and more.
Conservatism values practical solutions over ideology. States with regulated markets show legalization can coexist with safety and lower costs. Idaho can uphold its values while modernizing its laws. Prohibition is costly and ineffective.
Ben Douglas, Kuna
This story was originally published January 23, 2026 at 4:00 AM.