To the Editor:

Re “Trump Defends Syrian Pullout on Visit to Iraq” (front page, Dec. 27) and “A Foot Doctor’s ‘Favor’ May Have Helped Trump Avoid Vietnam” (front page, Dec. 26):

President Trump’s stunt of visiting the troops in Iraq during a government shutdown created solely by him is an outrage. It’s shameless grandstanding. This brief cameo appearance in a place he’s never been, before people he doesn’t respect, insults our intelligence. How much did this for-cameras-only performance cost?

A cynic might think that it was a reaction to your report of his apparent leaning on a podiatrist to manufacture a physical defect intended to get him out of military service in Vietnam.

David Zielenziger

Great Neck, N.Y.

To the Editor:

I am second to none in my disdain for President Trump, but I found your long article about the possible origin of the bone spurs exemption to avoid the Vietnam War unworthy of front-page status.

First, the article hardly rises above the level of gossip. Second, in Mr. Trump’s segment of society, almost everyone did whatever he could to avoid the draft, including pulling strings.