9/9/2025

My Dear Friend & POTUS, DJT, 

 I don’t think you had any Quakers at the event yesterday at the Museum of the Bible. Next time you convene religious leaders, I suggest you invite someone like Marvin Barnes, Presiding Clerk of Friends General Conference (FGC) or Jean-Marie Prestwidge Barch, Clerk of the Committee for Nurturing Ministries (FGC). As loosely organized egalitarian organizations, Quakers don’t have “leaders” so the power of any one person in the Quaker community is limited. Those two know as well as anyone else what Friends tend to believe about freedom of religion & the church/state relationship.  

I’m afraid you got carried away in your remarks at yesterday’s event when you explained DC’s crime stats by saying, “if a man has a little fight with the wife, they say this was a crime.” According to AI “Globally, 60% of the 85,000 women & girls killed intentionally in 2023 were murdered by an intimate partner or family member.” Those are not little fights. Moreover, placing National Guard troops on the street will not prevent domestic violence from happening. If you really want crime to go down to 0, you will need to do something to address the insecurities that lead men to attack their spouses. 

As usual, I request that you keep an eye on Burma. Today’s Irrawaddy reports that “currently, only one of the eight official border trade gates between China and Myanmar” making it doubtful that MAH can deliver on any of the promises he made to Chinese investors about the transportation projects they want to build in Burma. 

Speaking of delivering on promises, I’m afraid the raid on the Hyundai-LG battery plant where 300 South Korean workers were detained has left President Lee Jae Myung wondering about the promises you made to him when you were trying to entice more South Korean investments in the US.  

Making promises you aren’t going to keep does not promote trust! 

BYBS,