To the Editor:

Re “Grief Turns to Rage Over Trump’s Trust of Kim” (front page, March 2):

The family of Otto Warmbier is rightly appalled at President Trump’s acceptance of Kim Jong-un’s claimed ignorance of the young man’s case. Mr. Warmbier died upon his return to the United States in 2017 after being held in brutal conditions in a North Korean prison for stealing a poster.

Why does President Trump put complete faith in the words of dictators alleged to have sanctioned murder, whether they are in Russia, Saudi Arabia or North Korea? Could it be that these men, unlike the men and women serving in our national intelligence agencies, feel like kindred spirits? Their word is final, regardless of fact.

They possess the power, savor the privileges and exercise the rights of unchallenged autocrats, free from any democratic constraints. They demand, and get, total deference and respect based on fear and intimidation. This clearly seems to be the model that has guided President Trump as a businessman and now as a political leader.

It is clearly time for members of his party to come forward to defend democracy itself from a leader who does not value it.