Dear President Trump,

This is not a letter of love or hate. This is not a letter telling you what you are doing wrong or right. This is a letter that, I hope, will help you leave a lasting positive legacy at the end of your term/s. This is a letter reminding you of what you can do and what you can achieve. This is a letter of hope.

By no means am I savvy in politics. Of course, neither are you. You’re a businessman. For many voters, you were the top choice because you are not a politician. It was abundantly clear that the U.S. needed a change in leadership—someone capable of leading the country, but with no untoward political agenda, no strings attached to the country’s purse. What we got was you. I’m not saying that’s a good thing, and I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. Everyone has their own opinion on that. My opinion is this: You have a chance to be better, to do better, and to make the U.S. better.

The country's interests come before yours.

I realize that is a daunting task. Don’t worry, we’ll do everything we can to hold you accountable. In fact, as a people, we will hold you accountable for what you have and have not done, for what we hear you’ve done, for what we think you’ve done, for what we hear and think you will do. We will do all of this with the most extreme judgement and prejudice. But again, don’t worry, you aren’t the first President to receive such judgement. Nor will you be the last.

Here’s the thing President Trump: I don’t know you. We don’t know you. Almost everything we know about Donald Trump is hearsay from the media, other government officials, our friends and family, etc. We don’t know what is really, truly going on in your heart and mind. We can only know you through your actions. So, impress us.

Now, you may think we want you to fix everything wrong in this country. Go ahead and take a deep breath… Now let it out, because we know that you can’t possibly fix everything. That’s not a slight against you, it’s just a fact. Health care? It’s shit. Taxes? Shit. Immigration issues? Shit. Equality issues? Shit. I could go on, but I think you get the point. Can anyone fix all of the U.S.’s problems in four years? No. In eight? Not likely. So, what can you do?

Make us promises. Then deliver.

You can start the changes that make things better. What a legacy that would be! Wouldn’t it be nice to sow the seeds of understanding, tolerance, health, financial stability, and so forth? I can’t tell you how to begin to accomplish this, but I have no doubt that there are highly intelligent individuals somewhere in the country who can. My best advice would be to pick a smaller, more manageable problem and begin to address it. Give your citizens some faith. That seems like the business-savvy thing to do.

I can imagine the Presidency comes with stress, paranoia, and the overwhelming feeling that you have to defend yourself from every negative comment spewed in the media. Perhaps this is all worse for you. I’m not going to lie—it seems pretty bad. And, truthfully, it seems you’re not doing anything to combat people’s negative perceptions of you. Many people don’t know what the hell you’re doing aside from posting controversial Tweets. Minority communities are downright afraid you’ll take their rights away. Will you? Are you going to repeal gay marriage laws? Are you going to prosecute minorities and illegal immigrants more extremely than white men? Are you creating an environment where race relations will worsen? Are you taking health insurance from people with preexisting conditions? Are you doing all the negative things that we hear you’re doing? If not, you might want to let us know, in no uncertain terms—maybe a press conference.

Sow the seeds of tolerance and equality—for all.

I don’t think the worst of you, President Trump. But, I think you can do better. How you do that is up to you to decide. What it all boils down to is this: We, the people, need assurances that you have our best interests and our safety first and foremost in your mind. We need assurances that you’re going to do right by us—all of us—and that you have a plan and are taking steps to sow the seeds of improvement in this country. We need to know that your goal is unification, not polarization. We need to see this happening.

President Trump, we need you to be a leader.

Sincerely and with hope,

RJ Plant