Nicholas Kristof: The Trump Stain

It grows like a cancer View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Wednesday, February 14, 2018 [NYTimes.com/Kristof »]( [The Trump Stain]( [John Kelly, chief of staff, center, with Jared Kushner, senior adviser, left, and Rob Porter, former staff secretary, in the Oval Office in September.]( John Kelly, chief of staff, center, with Jared Kushner, senior adviser, left, and Rob Porter, former staff secretary, in the Oval Office in September. Nicholas Kamm/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images First, Happy Valentine's Day! If you're reading my newsletter, you definitely qualify as my valentine! Big hug! Now [to my column]( All presidential administrations suffer embarrassments, and the challenge becomes how they respond. When a White House lacks all integrity, the tendency is for them to grow inexorably: Misconduct is protected by lies, deceit is layered upon deceit, and cover-ups gain a momentum of their own. So the dishonor becomes a cancer, spreading insistently — and [my column]( argues that this is now metastasizing in the Trump White House. [Please read!]( “An explosion’s coming” in Gaza, warns a Palestinian quoted in [a recent piece]( David Halbfinger in The Times about the growing suffering there. I’ve been to Gaza several times over the years and seen the plight of ordinary citizens steadily worsening. There is so much blame all around: Hamas is oppressive and incompetent; Israel’s blockade is oppressive and punitive; the Palestinian Authority is corrupt and incompetent. And ordinary citizens suffer — and will suffer far worse if another war comes. We grieve for the 17 people killed in the school shooting in Florida, but I hope we'll do more than mourn. Unless we change our policies on guns, these tragedies will continue, quite predictably. So instead of just offering thoughts and prayers, let's offer up a real debate on gun safety. [Here's a piece of visual journalism]( I did in November about how we can reduce shootings in America. We have been so focused on the opioid epidemic that we perhaps haven’t noticed that meth is back in a big way. In some places (including my home state of Oregon), meth is killing more people than heroin. [This is a good look]( at the resurgence of the drug. One of the great successes of American social policy is a 60 percent drop in teen births since the modern peak in 1991. This is an important way to break the cycle of poverty — but we still have far more teen births than in Europe (even though American kids don’t have more sex than European kids). [This article]( that in many states, girls can’t access contraception (even if they have had a baby) without a parents’ permission — a damaging policy every which way. Now [here’s my column]( about the Trump White House and my argument that its biggest problem isn’t lack of experience, or poor judgment, but above all a lack of integrity that is a spreading stain on government. [Please read!]( ADVERTISEMENT I welcome suggestions for what to include in this newsletter. You can connect with me on [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Google]( [Instagram]( and [Pinterest](. If you have friends who might enjoy this newsletter, forward this email; they can [sign up here](. Send feedback or tech questions to newsletters@nytimes.com. Recent Columns [President Trump, How Is This Man a Danger?]( Immigration agents took away a chemistry professor about to drive his daughter to school. [President Trump, if You’re Innocent, Why Act So Guilty?]( Here are a dozen reasons to question Trump’s protests. [Several hundred protesters outside the White House on Wednesday chanted, “No hate, no fear, trans students are welcome here.”]( Nicole Sganga [My Blog]( My blog, On the Ground, expands on my twice-weekly columns, sharing thoughts that shape the writing but don’t always make it into the 800-word text. It also features contributions from other writers. [Several hundred protesters outside the White House on Wednesday chanted, “No hate, no fear, trans students are welcome here.”](  [My Columns]( Explore a searchable collection of my previous columns dating back to 2001. ADVERTISEMENT FOLLOW NICHOLAS KRISTOF [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@nickkristof]( [Instagram] [nickkristof]( Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »]( | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps. [Subscribe »]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Nicholas Kristof newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Change Your Email]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Contact]( | [Advertise]( Copyright 2018 The New York Times Company 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018