If the president of the United States were an agent of the Russian government, under orders to destroy the United States from within, would he act any differently than he has? Totalitarian states like Russia, China and Iran have always hated the United States, because of the example we set of a nation aspiring to “liberty and justice for all.” Our very success refutes the lies they tell their people about power and its uses.

Now we have a president who on his first day in power shut down the Voice of America. In a matter of weeks he has ruined our international reputation for democracy, civil rights and rule of law. He doesn’t even understand the source of America’s greatness.  “Make America Great,” to him, means making the U.S. like Russia.  That’s a petty U.S., not a great one.

In his time President Barack Obama could accurately call Russia “a major regional player” — nothing more than that. Are we witnessing the Russian conquest of the United States? Whether Trump is a Russian agent or not, the result may be the same — if people like Rep. Cliff Bentz continue to toe his line.

Christopher L. Burford

La Grande