Opinion: The White House’s most powerful person isn’t Donald Trump. That’s frightening.

To the editor: Trying to understand President Trump is tricky. However, from what I see, the president seems to have a thin skin due to some kind of insecurity regarding, perhaps, his intelligence. (“White House aides who wrote Trump’s travel ban see it as just the start,” Jan. 30)

For protection, he has embraced two of his top advisors, Stephen K. Bannon and Stephen Miller. He probably sees them as more intelligent than he and uses them as his crutch.

This is the terrifying part: They have him by the nose, and where are they leading him? Stay alert for the next chapter.

Charlotte Schroeder, Costa Mesa

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To the editor: The one subject that our president has a deep knowledge of and has consistently and strongly supported is Donald Trump. He cares only about his own image, and it appears the United States takes a back seat when he sees an opportunity to create buzz about himself and build his brand.

I sincerely hope that journalists are not distracted by “shiny objects” thrown out by the administration, such as the recent flurry of executive orders signed by the president.

The dominance of the travel ban in the news overshadowed the fact that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the director of national intelligence will no longer regularly attend National Security Council meetings. They will be asked to attend on an as-needed basis, but Bannon (a truly dangerous man in my opinion) is now part of the council’s principals committee.

Margaret Sullivan, Woodland Hills

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To the editor: Let’s call a spade a spade: White nationalist Bannon has hijacked our government.

The executive orders were written by him and his cohort Miller, and the most reprehensible cabinet picks were theirs. Now Bannon will sit on the National Security Council instead of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the director of national intelligence.

Who will stop this farce? Who will stop Bannon? The Republicans? Congress? Or will we the people have to keep marching until the (diminished) powers that be acknowledge that the emperor has no clothes?

Jo-Ann McAuliffe, Venice

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