To the Editor:

Re “Trump Warns Iran of Dire ‘Consequences’” (news article, July 23 ):

While President Trump may think that threatening the Iranians in ALL CAPS is the tough guy approach to diplomacy that will get the Iranians to back down, it will not be lost on the Iranians after the debacle in Helsinki that they are dealing with a deeply insecure man who is in over his head when it comes to foreign policy.

He also has a history of making histrionic threats that are full of sound and fury but rarely followed up with the type of concrete action necessary to make them credible.

Instead of relying on his Twitter finger to do the talking, maybe the president would be better served if he stopped haranguing everyone in such a willy-nilly fashion and started consulting with those in the government who might actually know how to protect and defend the interests of the American people before he launches another Twitter broadside. Perhaps then people would take his pronouncements a little more seriously.

Michael Scott

San Francisco

To the Editor:

This is classic Trump. The president has endured a couple of really bad weeks of public relations, so what does he do? He threatens Iran. This shows how tough and resolute he is, a sure winner with his base, while at the same time shifting the focus of attention away from his mounting personal problems at home.