To the Editor:

Re “Trump Surveys the Ashes: ‘This Was a Really, Really Bad One’” (news article, Nov. 18):

The merits and wisdom of President Trump’s policies and agenda can be debated with widely divergent perceptions among fair-minded observers. But nowhere are his shortcomings more glaring than in his symbolic, but very real, role, as our national consoler in chief — the person the public looks to in times of tragedy, whether natural or man-made, for healing.

Consider the president’s performance after Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, or the synagogue massacre in Pittsburgh or just this past weekend at the site of the horrific wildfires in California. Mr. Trump is simply unable to express compassion and empathy. Why? Probably because his self-absorption is so grand, so total, there is seemingly no room in his heart for the pain and suffering of others.

As he doesn’t feel it, it’s almost impossible to be able to authentically express it to a grieving nation or a grieving family. As a symbol of hope, compassion and healing, Donald Trump is an abject failure.

Ken Derow

Swarthmore, Pa.

To the Editor:

President Trump’s assertion that “there is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor” is a pathetic example of the man’s inability to see beyond his own imagined, self-serving version of truth.