Trumps oil deal with Putin and more: Letters to the Editor Oct. 18, 2026

President Trump’s call for Ukraine to replace its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is a blunder of huge proportions (“Zel: Don on ‘wrong side’ in Vlad deal,” Oct.15).Ukraine has been conducting a valiant, underdog effort in its war against Russia and has had America’s support for over four years.

Now, because US diesel prices are sky-high, Trump wants Zelensky out.It’s unbelievable that Trump is worried about fuel prices while Russia continues its bombing of women and  children. Russian President Vladimir Putin has noticed Trump’s betrayal of Ukraine and now will never negotiate peace, believing that time is on his side.

Shame on Trump.Frank Olivieri North Fort Myers, Fla. I read Germania Rodriguez Poleo’s account of why Venezuela descended into socialist chaos with respect — but this is not an apples-to-apples comparison with America  (“New Caracas,” PostOpinion, Oct.11).America’s crisis isn’t socialism creeping in.

It’s capitalism being stripped for parts — not by socialists, but by conservatives for the last 50 years.In 1980, 38% of private-sector workers had a pension; today it’s 9%.

The federal minimum wage has sat at $7.25 since 2009 and buys less than it did in 1956.The top tax rate fell from 70% to 37%.

Health costs get pushed onto workers year after year.And here’s what the piece gets backward: Venezuela didn’t turn socialist because people read Marx.It turned because disparity grew so obscene that the old order lost all legitimacy.

Desperate people don’t elect a Hugo Chávez because they love authoritarianism. So who’s at fault — struggling workers, or those who use capitalism to take and take?Juan Carlos De La Espriella Marine City, Mich.As a born and raised New Yorker, I’m disgusted that some artist thinks he can decide who’s a real New Yorker via an arbitrary code of conduct (“Are you real or fugazi?,” Oct.12).President Trump is the quintessential New Yorker — contrary to what this code sa...