We must address the rest of the world—Europe, Canada, Mexico, and Japan in particular—with this urgent message.
Please do not lose faith in the United States. For over seventy years our beliefs and values have made us staunch allies. Nothing and no one can change that.
Most Americans continue to value your loyalty and friendship, and look forward to many more years collaborating in the causes of democracy, equal opportunity, science, the environment, balanced growth, and human rights. And against totalitarianism, xenophobia, ignorance, climate change, nuclear Armageddon, and global poverty.
The current occupant of the White House does not represent the views of the majority of Americans. We are doing everything we can to ensure that he will not be president beyond his current term, which ends in January, 2021. It is possible he will be removed from office before then.
In the meantime, you can help.
You can maintain a united front against his nativism and xenophobia.
You can continue to stand against tyranny and stand for democracy.
You can welcome immigrants seeking a better life for their children, instead of breaking up families at the border.
You can renew your commitment to international institutions that promote peace, even as the Trump administration abandons organizations like the United Nations Human Rights Council.
You can join together to resist his demand that you reduce exports to the United States.
You can maintain the Paris climate accord despite the (hopefully temporary) absence of the United States.
You can countervail any harm to your businesses should they fail to go along with renewed U.S. sanctions against Iran.
You can jointly refuse to allow Russia to rejoin the G-8 (now G-7) alliance until Russia terminates its annexation of Crimea, ends its aggression in Ukraine, and stops its efforts to undermine democracies around the world.
You will be more powerful in these efforts if you join together than you can be separately. Together, you can better help constrain our current president than you can separately.
Until the United States is able to resume its postwar role of world leadership on these and other matters, the responsibility must fall to you. We urge you to unite in pursuit of them.
Respectfully,
The majority of the citizens of the United States
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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