Response to “An Assault on American Democracy: A Call to Action”

Phil Skotte
May 22, 2025

You may have seen the open letter with the above title, signed by about 200 former senior U.S diplomatic and security leaders. I know some of the signatories well, having retired as a senior U.S. diplomat after almost thirty years of service. Some of the signatories were fine diplomats and it was an honor to serve with them. Some were senior and mediocre at the same time. I do not know most of the signatories, but they run the gamut, just like those I know well. Three observations about the letter…

First, there are lots of retired diplomatic and security leaders who knew of the letter, harbor serious doubts about the current administration but chose not to sign it. I know some of them. They didn’t sign because the letter makes sloppy assertions and too broad generalizations. For example, the letter states that “A racist, misogynistic and homophobic mindset is leading to the erasure of history.” That is a broad and outrageous statement made without any supporting evidence or examples. Whoever drafted the letter assumed that people would agree with the statement and that they did not need to provide evidence or examples. Some people held their nose and signed the letter for the greater good, even though they objected to bits of it. Many sensible people did not sign the letter because of nonsense statements, such as the one above.

Second, to those who did sign, please compare the current administration, not to an ideal, but to an alternative. Lots of people, many millions of our fellow Americans, voted against an alternative, when they voted for Donald Trump. They are not stupid and don’t need your letter to tell them that the Trump Administration is not measuring up to an ideal. But they did not want to vote for Joe Biden who was clearly not compos mentis, claimed he could not secure the border and, late in the election cycle, handed the nomination to his Vice President, who was complicit in his lies and incompetence. Many Americans voted for Donald Trump because the alternative was a mess. A letter from you all would have been welcome during Biden’s Presidency, and you could have signed it. Your letter would have told us how the Biden Administration fell far short of our ideals, how the President was not mentally up to the job and how we had a shadow government. Your letter could have warned us that we would be paying the bar tab for open borders and other Biden foolishness for decades to come.

Finally, I agree with you that the President’s language can be diplomatically unsettling, but let’s use our diplomatic skills to untangle some of this. Let’s think about words versus actions, just like we did when we served in Moscow or Beijing. People often say things for effect and for reaction. Sometimes people threaten actions and don’t intend to carry them out. We were not taught this at Harvard, Yale or Princeton. But Poker players, businesspeople and streetwise people understand it. Your letter states that “The United States now seeks to lay claim to Greenland, the Panama Canal and Canada…” Really? What actions has the United States taken to make these claims real? Comparing words to actions, you signatories are more alarmed than you need to be.

If we retired diplomats want to be taken seriously, let’s be more careful with our language. Your letter is over the top in its assertions, outrageous even. Let’s compare the current administration to the alternative, not to an ideal. That alternative explains why President Trump won a resounding victory against Kamala Harris. And finally, let’s weigh words versus actions, just like we did when we served as diplomats.

When I follow this advice, I don’t feel the panic in the letter signed by 200 retired peers. I am much more hopeful.