Dear mass media: Please pull your reporters from any kind of of public Trump event (“Trump hits back at ‘chaos’ portrayal,’’ Page A1, Feb. 17). He is a distraction from what his agencies are doing behind the facade of his presidency. Instead, make efficient use of your journalists by sending them to Congress to focus on the legislative actions taking place, which are more relevant to the American public than Donald Trump’s ridiculous clown show.

None of us should be surprised by Thursday’s press conference. Trump’s success in the primaries against 17 opponents was a bet he won against the American media and a public that prefers to be entertained and amused by his histrionics. His victory over Hillary Clinton was a regurgitation of this bet, targeting, instead, an individual who could not and would not outdo Trump in the swamp of political dialogue.

In regard to Trump’s promise to “drain the swamp,’’ he did the opposite, filling it with questionable creatures marked by incompetence, patronage, pay-for-play special interests, and the downright nefarious.

If the press had spent more time covering the fundamental economic and policy issues that concern most Americans, and in doing this, strived to inform rather than react to Trump’s circus, this global embarrassment would possibly not have happened. By parlaying Trump’s attacks into something easy and profitable, the media have betrayed themselves and their constituents. And by virtue of Trump’s noxious rhetorical drumbeat that all news is fake news, we are in danger of living in a country where no news is good news, and that will be bad news for everyone.

Edward Morneau, Salem