Re “Trump Proclaims Federal Control of the D.C. Police” (front page, Aug. 12):

Like everything else he does, President Trump’s ordering the National Guard to Washington, D.C., is a performance designed to burnish his public perception and self-regard as a strongman. It has nothing to do with the reality on the ground and, rather than making the city great again, to use his words, projects an anti-democratic image that will only instill fear in those who don’t know better.

Troops on the Mall? It’s of a piece with the military parade on his birthday and will hopefully backfire in much the same way. To see a group of his cabinet members and associates smile as they take measures that will intimidate the majority Black population of the city is not simply a bad look — it is revanchist.

One can only hope that the president’s ill-advised and self-serving actions will prompt a massive protest on the Mall against these measures, one that will reclaim it and the rest of the District as a place — unlike Mr. Trump’s administration — of, by and for the people.

Jeffrey Hamburger

Belmont, Mass.

To the Editor:

President Trump is sending federal law enforcement into Washington, D.C., because of what he calls “out of control” crime, notwithstanding a falling crime rate there.