1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

You need to find back channels to rebuild cooperation with Iran, Cuba, and every other nation Trump is torching with his rhetoric. At the U.N. General Assembly this week, he publicly mused about whether to "annihilate the Islamic Republic" or "drive them into hell" — and then watched both the Iranian and Cuban delegations walk out. That is not strength. That is the systematic destruction of decades of diplomatic groundwork. Cuba's struggles are inseparable from the U.S. embargo that has cut the country off from basic survival resources for generations. Trump standing at the U.N. podium calling Cuba an "absolutely failed state" — without a word about American culpability — is dishonest and counterproductive. Work to lift the embargo and bring Cuba into a cooperative relationship rather than continuing a Cold War relic that punishes ordinary people. The window for diplomacy with Iran is not permanently closed, but it is closing fast. Seven months of annihilation threats have done real damage. Use every legislative tool available — hearings, funding conditions, direct engagement — to force a course correction before this administration's recklessness makes conflict inevitable.