To the editor: I’m glad that President Trump is suddenly concerned about crime, homelessness and filth in America’s large cities. (“It’s not just Baltimore; Trump is running against America’s cities,” Aug. 2)

So why hasn’t he ordered the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to fight homelessness? Why hasn’t he ordered the commissioned military officers of the U.S. Public Health Service to help fights rat infestation and disease and address homeless people’s health problems? These agencies are in the executive branch of government and are directly under his control.

If he needs Congress’ cooperation to help solve these problems, he had a chance to ask the Republican majorities that controlled the House and the Senate during his first two years in office.

Dominick Falzone, Los Angeles


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To the editor: Part of what Trump is doing in attacking American cities is cementing the idea that a minority of the “right” people should rule this country.

With his feral sense of an opponent’s weakness, he knows that a system that gives Wyoming — a state with about the same amount of people as the city of Fresno — three electoral votes, Republicans can win national elections with much lower vote tallies than Democrats.

Renee Leask, Glendale


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To the editor: This front-page article on Trump targeting large cities is an opinion piece, not a news story. It should have been printed in the op-ed section.

The idea that pointing out Baltimore’s problems and criticizing Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) are part of some cynical political strategy is only a hypothesis. Comments similar to the president’s regarding the terrible conditions in Baltimore were previously uttered by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and that city’s former African American mayor.

Richard Friedman, Culver City