Explore every episode of the podcast Letters from an American
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manipulating the Media | 29 oct. 2026 | 00:10:37 | |
October 27, 2026 After a student-led democratic movement ousted Serbia’s Aleksandar Vučić from power, Serbian TV apologized to viewers for failing to report what had been happening under his regime, In Brazil, Flávio Bolsonaro lost the race for the presidency to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in spite of what appears to have been Meta's intentional restriction of accounts supporting him, Lula’s supporters used social media to override Meta’s restrictions, Bolsonaro had the support of Trump and MAGA insiders, but when Trump suggested he would not intervene in the election, Bolsonaro effectively conceded, Brazilian authorities ordered Bolsonaro to remain in the country, but he went missing, only to turn up in the US where the State Department indicated it would offer him and his family visas, Issues of vote suppression in the US have led House members to demand that Meta explain why the main Instagram account of No Kings was suspended during the organization's October 17th get out the vote rally, Disinformation, driven by AI, is rampant on social media in advance of the midterms, Trump’s allegiance to Putin continues as the administration considers lifting sanctions on Russia's government investment fund, Democratic candidate for senate from Florida, Angie Nixon, has posted to Meta that her campaign’s Instagram page was taken down, with just seven days to the election. To read this letter, click here: You can also find Heather at: Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Erratic and Corrupt | 27 oct. 2026 | 00:13:32 | |
October 26, 2026 Trump posted his longest-ever social media post last night, Giant turnout for rallies by Obama illustrate the changing mood of the country, Images of the packed venues for Obama, compared to the dwindling crowds for Trump, circulated on social media, Trump’s determination to keep Republicans in control of Congress reflects concern that Democrats will impeach him and worry over what such hearings might reveal, The administration is trying to hide documents related to the Kennedy Center, A shareholder of a publicly traded US crypto company sued Trump and World Liberty Financial, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee released a report saying that a growing body of evidence demonstrates that Trump was an active participant in Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of young women, Trump and his allies are trying to tip the scales in the election, by spending vast amounts of money, suing the state of Alaska, pressuring states to release voter files, trying to use the US Postal Service to screen ballots, and sending ICE agents to ask residents about their immigration status, The transparent attempts to steal the election could sow confusion and lay the groundwork for challenging a Democratic victory. To read this letter, click here: You can also find Heather at: Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Momentum | 26 oct. 2026 | 00:14:18 | |
October 25, 2026 In the last days of the 2026 midterm campaign, Democrats are picking up momentum, MAGA is pursuing what has worked in the past: a false narrative undergirded by cruelty, That narrative does not seem to be attracting voters, Republicans are avoiding any mention of tariffs, Trump is insisting that the economy is booming, and that rising oil prices are a good thing. He is attacking Muslim Democrats Abdul E-Sayed and Ilhan Omar, Attacks on El-Sayed are not going well, Vivek Ramaswamy’s decision to run an attack ad featuring Amy Acton’s estranged mother is backfiring, The choice to run the ad is revealing that Ramaswamy and the ad’s supporters (among them JD Vance and Trump) are willing to weaponize the rape of a child if it helps them win power, Trump’s erratic behavior isn’t helping Republicans and his repeated praise of Jon Husted’s physique makes for a strange message as midterm campaigns wind down, Meanwhile, in elections in Serbia and Brazil, nationalist strongmen were defeated. To read this letter, click here: You can also find Heather at: Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| A New Approach | 25 oct. 2026 | 00:10:53 | |
October 24, 2026 The election of 1920 gave the Republicans control of the White House and Congress, Republicans rejected the Progressive Era’s idea that government should regulate business and protect workers and consumers, and turned the government over to businessmen, At first industrial production took off and profits rose, As standards of living improved, consumers rushed to buy new products, and presidential candidate Herbert Hoover promised that the economic policies favoring business would banish poverty, Americans invested in the stock market and prices rose and rose, There was a rush to speculate and any warnings that the stock prices were a bubble were dismissed, On October 24, the tide turned as brokers began to sell off shares, and by the end of the day on October 29, an extraordinary number of shares had traded hands and the market had lost $14 billion. Manufacturing output fell and commodity prices tumbled, and by 1933 the number of unemployed across the country rose to 13 million - one out of every four American workers, Republicans blamed workers, and Hoover rejected calls for public works programs that would provide jobs, In 1932 Americans - looking for a new approach - elected New York governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who promised to use the federal government to provide jobs and a safety net to Americans, His New Deal protected workers’ rights, provided jobs, regulated business and banking and provided a basic social safety net. The new system enabled the US to defend democracy when WWII broke out. To read this letter, click here: You can also find Heather at: Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Oil Deals | 24 oct. 2026 | 00:06:57 | |
October 23, 2026 The restrictions that have been crippling Ukraine’s ability to protect itself from Russia continue in spite of Trump’s statement to the contrary, Oil deals explain Trump’s rush to normalize relations with Russia, The Polar LNG project, designed to liquefy natural gas in Alaska, will be funded with money from Novatek, a Russian company currently under US sanctions, Trump lifted new sanctions against Novatek that had been put into place in the recently passed Graham Act, The CEO of Polar LNG resigned when he learned funding will come from Russia, Trump, Putin, and their allies in the administration are pushing to carve the world up into spheres of influence as quickly as possible before the midterms, The deal to capture Venezuela’s oil sets up a partnership between the US and Alejandro Betancourt who has been accused of money laundering, The US is looking at taking a stake in Betancourt’s firm, buying shares in a parent company based in Barbados which enables investors to remain hidden, The deal appears to violate Venezuelan law, The administration is also suggesting it will take steps to control Cuba. To read this letter, click here: You can also find Heather at: Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Out of Whack | 22 oct. 2026 | 00:13:38 | |
October 21, 2026 The president’s behavior is becoming more and more erratic, He has abandoned the traditional allies of the US to align with Vladimir Putin and Russia, Trump claims he had nothing to do with the slowing of Starlink over Ukraine, but Congress members have vowed to hold whoever was responsible for the cuts accountable, Musk is threatening Congress, but is also worried about the move of Europeans and Canadians to develop their own satellite communications systems and if Congress were to do the same, Musk could be in real trouble, Nearly 12 million Americans have lost healthcare coverage under Trump and enrollment in SNAP had fallen by more than 5 million people since the enactment of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, The budget deficit for the fiscal year that ended on September 30 was about $2 trillion, $160 billion higher than during Biden’s last year as president, The cost of the Iran war is about $45 billion according to the administration but other costs drive it even higher, Republicans are peddling fear, warning of dire results if the Democrats win the majority in Congress, Right wing groups are sharing inflammatory flyers and Vivek Ramaswamy released an attack ad against Amy Acton that has created a storm of protest, although JD Vance has defended it, Some Republicans are speaking up about the direction in which the party is headed. To read this letter, click here: You can also find Heather at: Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| The White House Betrays Ukraine | 21 oct. 2026 | 00:10:47 | |
October 20, 2026 Elon Musk ordered SpaceX to slow down its Starlink service in Ukraine, It is unclear if Musk operated with or without input from White House officials, The slowdown caused a public uproar, whereupon representatives from SpaceX and the White House coordinated their messaging, Musk’s decision to take it upon himself to reverse US foreign policy for the benefit of Vladimir Putin is reminiscent of Revolutionary War general Benedict Arnold’s betrayal, The White House was happy to endorse Musk’s decision until it blew up in their faces, Venezuelan billionaire banker Julio Herrera Velutini, who wanted, and received, a pardon from Trump, had hired former Trump lawyer Alina Habba, for a reported $50 million, Trump is considering restoring the press briefing room to its original form as a swimming pool, Trump is attempting to shore up support from farmers by promising $8 billion in aid, but the fund that he plans to use for payments doesn’t have sufficient funds, After a call with Ukraine president Zelensky, Rep Jim Himes is pressing Congress to pass veto-proof legislation that will provide assistance to Ukraine, saying that “[W]e’re going to act as a Congress and override this president’s desire to see Vladimir Putin win." To read this letter, click here: You can also find Heather at: Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Two Observations | 20 oct. 2026 | 00:09:27 | |
October 19, 2026 Ten years ago, Hillary Clinton, who was running for president against Donald Trump, warned that Vladimir Putin hoped to have a “puppet” in the White House, and that Trump was that puppet, Trump protested, but ten years later he is openly embracing Putin and working to destroy the strongest and most successful alliance in human history, Meanwhile, support for Republicans has fallen to historic lows, Tariffs, the war in Iran, soaring costs of gasoline and diesel, and blatant corruption have meant that firm Republican districts are now up for grabs, Republicans are refusing to hold town halls or debate their Democratic challengers, In Texas, Kansas, North Carolina and South Carolina, and Maine, Republican candidates are being revealed as extremely weak, The Republican Party acts like a dying party that is no longer bothering to compete and is facing a rising one whose candidates are ready and willing to work, It is not unlike the 1850s, when the Democrats were so confident that they assumed they were entitled to their seats, The Democrats were trounced by the Republicans, who would dominate the political system for the next 70 years. To read this letter, click here: You can also find Heather at: Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Things Have Changed | 19 oct. 2026 | 00:09:08 | |
October 18, 2026 Putin has proposed a meeting with Trump and Xi Jinping to decide the fate of Ukraine, Such a summit would formally acknowledge that the US has broken from Europe and allied with Russia, In just over a week, Trump has lifted sanctions on the sale of Russian oil, i which will send desperately needed money to fund Russia’s war on Ukraine, Additional sanctions that Congress demanded in a recent law named for Lindsey Graham were waived just before they were to go into effect, Outrage over Trump’s actions has come from across the political spectrum, In response, Trump posted a screed on social media suggesting that Ukraine was to blame for the high costs of diesel, and claiming that Ukrainian president Zelensky doesn’t want to end the war, Tom Nichols wrote that a world in which the US was allied with the Kremlin was the “stuff of paranoid fiction…” The Framers of the Constitution thought they had designed a system that would prevent the rise of a tyrant, The Framers didn’t anticipate that senators would put party over country and stand aside as a president captured its prerogatives, And yet, here we are. To read this letter, click here: You can also find Heather at: Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| No Kings: Vote Early | 19 oct. 2026 | 00:05:55 | |
October 17, 2026 People around the US and the world gathered at more than 3,000 No Kings:Vote Early events, Events were designed to encourage people to vote early, Republican dominated state legislatures have restricted access to the vote since 2020, Since the 2024 election, 22 states have passed laws that make voting more difficult, Just at the height of the pre-voting events, Meta took down the No Kings organizing page on Instagram for about 4 hours, Meta claimed the issue was technical, but a report out of Brazil claims that in internal communications, Meta employees acknowledged that the company had restricted the Instagram accounts of Brazilian president Lula da Silva during the country’s recent election while recommending accounts related to his challenger, No Kings organizer Ezra Levin said the shutdown will not stop early voting, and that “No Kings means no kings in the White House,” he wrote, “or in Silicon Valley.” To read this letter, click here: You can also find Heather at: Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Making Voices Count | 17 oct. 2026 | 00:11:24 | |
October 16, 2026 Chaos reigns in the Trump administration with the resignation of new pick for WH press secretary after 5 days. Trump has walked back from braodcasting the execution of Nidal Hasan, The debilitation of Ukraine’s military defenses by SpaceX has led a bipartisan group of senators to demand answers from the Department of Defense, Trump claims that neither he nor Elon Musk are responsible, but it appears that they both were in on the decision, Musk has donated $158 million in September to a super PAC backing Ken Paxton, Trump is waiving more sanctions on Russia, defying congressional intent, Trump’s DOJ is demanding that California review a list of people it suspects are not citizens, California will not conduct this review and the administration is suing election officials and threatening election workers, The No Kings events on Saturday will be about boosting voter participation and making sure every eligible voter has a plan and know their options and is ready to make their voice count. To read this letter, click here: You can also find Heather at: Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Corruption as a Driving Force | 16 oct. 2026 | 00:15:23 | |
October 15, 2026 The idea that when a democratic system is taken over by a single party it quickly becomes corrupt describes what is happening in Trump’s orbit, In the last few days, multiple examples of corruption have emerged, Kimberly Guilfoyle was forced to resign from her post after allegedly trying to extract money from a donor, In response that donor is suing her for defamation, Trump’s former lawyer Alina Habba is claiming that Richard Grenell wanted to divert a donation from her husband intended for the Kennedy Center, Paolo Zampolli, appointed by Trump to be a special envoy at the State Department was accused of trying to get custody of his son by asking ICE to deport his son’s mother, and he has now been fired, Trump's new press secretary describes herself as a general counsel, but she appears never to have passed the bar, Rhein Amacher who started the rumor that James Talarico had been hospitalized in Ohio for mental health issues, is backing off that claim, The majority of the funds donated for Trump's ballroom have come from companies and individuals with interests before the federal government, The White House is claiming that conversations about plans to renovate the Kennedy Center are covered by executive privilege and can be kept secret, a dramatic expansion of the concept of executive privilege, All of this corruption is affecting voters, Corruption tops inflation and high prices as their primary concern, Growing numbers of Republicans are backing Democrats in the midterms. To read this letter, click here: You can also find Heather at: Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Taking Authoritarianism Out For a Spin | 15 oct. 2026 | 00:14:35 | |
October 14, 2026 Ukraine’s military relies on two satellite systems related to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, and last night SpaceX restricted speed limits, debilitating Ukraine’s drones even as Russian forces launched strikes against the country’s infrastructure, President Zelensky noted that Russia’s strike, one of the largest attacks of the war, was deliberate and demonstrative, SpaceX is a defense contractor for the US givernment, SpaceX’s undermining of Ukraine supports Trump’s effort to help Putin fund his attacks on Ukraine, There was an outcry about the failing communications service that left Ukraine vulnerable to Russian attacks, Musk blamed Trump, The White House claimed it had no control over SpaceX, blaming Musk, The Pentagon is required to inform Congress if it pauses or downgrades intelligence sharing with Ukraine, but it has not, Trump asked European countries to thaw Russian assets and transfer them to a vehicle controlled by the US, a request they declined, The administration appears to be looking for a way to strip Rep Ilhan Omar of her US citizenship, Numbers from the BLS show inflation at 3.7% in September, ahead of August, and much higher than 2024, Trump is courting foreign actors to invest in his meme coin, US District Court Judge Kelly, ruled that Trump cannot bar CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House, noting that both free speech and due process are protected by the Bill of Rights. The Justice Department plans to appeal. To read this letter, click here: You can also find Heather at: Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Desperate for Distraction | 14 oct. 2026 | 00:09:25 | |
October 13, 2026 The attacks on James Talarico were likely an attempt to get ahead of another damaging story about Ken Paxton, The Wall Street Journal reported that Paxton spent New Year’s Eve in Dubai partying along with two fugitives from US Justice, While the administration claims to be cracking down on fraud in the SNAP program, criminal syndicates are stealing millions of dollars from more than 990,000 households, a theft that could be stopped with digital microchips but Congress and the Trump administration are not addressing the theft, Diesel prices have jumped in spite of Trump’s move to lift sanctions on Russia, A bipartisan group of senators is pushing back on the lifting of sanctions, Zelensky said Ukraine got no warning about Russia’s strike, raising concerns that Trump is not sharing intelligence with Ukraine, Trump’s new WH press secretary debuted, apparently having been appointed over the objections of Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, After being asked by the administration to resign after her shakedown of a donor was revealed, Kimberly Guilfoyle stepped down, Almost 6 in 10 Americans say they believe Trump is either illegally profiting from the presidency or doing something unethical but not illegal. To read this letter, click here: You can also find Heather at: Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Radicalism | 13 oct. 2026 | 00:17:51 | |
October 12, 2026 Billionaire Elon Musk has put at least $366 million into trying to elect Republicans in the midterm elections, Republicans are publishing material accusing Democrats of being radicals, But it is the right that is radical, attempting to consolidate power in the hands of a few, The administration conducted a raid on the home of a sitting congressperson for a baseless reason, The raid occurred within the period before an election - when the Department of Justice normally does not take steps that might influence the outcome, The administration is attempting to intimidate Democratic representatives in a direct assault on democracy, Trump and his loyalists are trying to divide the country on old culture war lines, and becoming more extreme in their actions and their ads, They are distorting the truth, as with the claim that James Talarico had suffered a breakdown for which he was admitted into treatment in Ohio, a story that fell apart quickly, Trump’s promises are being revealed to be false, The administration has ignored a court order to stop running Trump's ads, just as it ignored a court order not to make irreversible changes to the East Potomac Golf Links course by cutting down more than 400 trees there, And Trump’s announcement that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an “energy ceasefire” is a lie, The Pentagon quietly raised the number of US service members killed and injured in the Iran War, The US military is drawing up plans for another round of combat operations in Iran. To read this letter, click here: You can also find Heather at: Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| How Much Longer? | 11 oct. 2026 | 00:14:12 | |
October 10, 2026 Trump is openly backing Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, Trump blamed President Zelensky for prolonging the war waged by Russia, Trump has issued a warning to Zelensky, The US previously stood against Russia’s invasions of Ukraine, In 1991 Russia agreed to secure Ukraine’s borders, but Putin worked to bring Ukraine under the sway of Russian oligarchs, After the election of Viktor Yanukovych as president of Ukraine was voided, he began to work with Paul Manafort, and finally won election, immediately turning Ukraine toward Russia, He was ousted from power in 2014, and Russia soon invaded Ukraine’s Crimea, Manafort then joined the Trump campaign, Manafort and his partner, Russian operative Konstantin Kilimnik, worked to elect Trump thinking he would be sympathetic to the plan to make Ukraine subservient to Putin, Trump was not able to implement their plan in his first term, While Biden pulled NATO countries together to stop Russia’s attack, once Trump was back in office, he tried to swing the US behind Russia, On Friday he announced he was removing sanctions to let Russia sell its oil on global markets, allowing Russia to earn cash for the war against Ukraine, Trump has asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on a longer will Republicans in Congress continue to protect Trump’s undermining of national security? To read this letter, click here: You can also find Heather at: Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Smash and Grab | 10 oct. 2026 | 00:15:47 | |
October 9, 2026 Kimberly Guilfoyle, Trump's ambassador to Greece, was revealed to have asked Eric Deters, who wanted help from the administration with tax and legal issues, for money to pay her credit card bill, The grifting and corruption of Trump’s family and associates continued with news that a company co-founded by a recent appointment at the Pentagon landed a $2.9 billion contract with the Navy, Trump is attempting to solidify his base by spinning the Iran war, calling for a public execution, attacking immigrants, and shifting the US away from defending international law to ally with authoritarian governments, Trump tried to turn his supporters against an invented “enemy,” The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Navi Pillay a South African-born jurist, and current judge at the International Court of Justice, Hours after the announcement, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on the ICC, setting the US against its allies in Europe, Trump has issued a temporary license to permit Russia to sell diesel on the global market, which likely will do little for US oil prices in spite of Trump’s claims, but will funnel money to Russia for its war on Ukraine, The latest Pew poll indicates that 68% of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the presidency, Trump’s campaign ads have backfired and 86% of Americans object to using taxpayer money to pay for them. To read this letter, click here: You can also find Heather at: Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Why We Remember the Great Chicago Fire | 10 oct. 2026 | 00:11:21 | |
October 8, 2026 On October 8, 1871, the Peshtigo Fire burned through the Midwest, and claimed between 1,500 and 2,000 lives, The Peshtigo Fire was the deadliest wildfire in US history, The Great Chicago Fire happened the same day, but was smaller and less deadly, Yet the Great Chicago Fire is the one people remember, It fit into a political narrative about the danger of organized labor, After the Civil War, workers organized, In August 1866 more than 60,000 people joined to launch the National Labor union calling for better working conditions and for the government to level the playing field between employers and workers, In 1868 Congress passed and the states ratified the Fourteenth Amendments and in 1870 the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified, When the Ku Klux Klan was organized to keep Black men from voting, Congress created the Department of Justice, Reactionary southerners began to argue that Black citizens were poor, and that they were determined to redistribute the wealth of white landowners, Their argument gained strength because of fears of what was happening in Europe, where the Paris Commune had been established, Republican fears of workers grew, And when Chicago went up in flames, some Americans blamed the fire on “communists” or “socialists,” or on immigrant workers, The Great Chicago Fire fanned the flames of fear that workers were trying to destroy America, and encouraged those who were determined to make sure workers wouldn’t have a powerful voice in American society. To read this letter, click here: You can also find Heather at: Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| I Can Do Whatever I Want | 08 oct. 2026 | 00:03:01 | |
October 7, 2026 On October 7, 2016, the story of the Access Hollywood tape broke, in which Trump told tv host Billy Bush about his approach to women, Five years later on October 7, 2021, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s draft report on its investigation into Trump's attempt to use the Department of Justice to overturn the results of the 2020 election found that Trump abused the power of the presidency, Five years later, on October 7, 2026, Trump asserted that he can do whatever he wants, including “bad things to Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Barack Obama.” Ten years we've been at this. To read this letter, click here: Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on Spotify You can also find Heather at:YouTubeBlueskyInstagramFacebookThreadsTikTok Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Panic | 07 oct. 2026 | 00:14:54 | |
October 6, 2026 Trump’s social media posts suggest he is panicking, Trump is blaming Ukraine for driving up oil prices, He is incensed about reports that people aren’t turning out for his rallies, He accuses the New York Times of doctoring a picture of Trump National Doral where he will hold the G20 summit, He has attacked Annie Andrews, the Democratic candidate for the US Senate from South Carolina who is in a competitive race with Darline Graham, He has walked back his announcement that he will cover the $20 milllion cost of his self-promotional ads, And there has been widespread outcry against his suggestion that a nuclear attack on LA and San Diego would be acceptable, Timothy Snyder warned that Trump appears to be inviting a terrorist attack, The administration is steering money for infrastructure investment to areas with higher than average birthrates and marriage rates in an apparent embrace of the Great Replacement theory, The administration has not invited monitors from the OSCE to observe the midterm elections, the first time since 2002 that these observers have not been invited, The push to interfere with the elections is underway, with Trump hinting that he and Russell Vought have “some big surprises coming up."To read this letter, click here: You can also find Heather at: Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Undermining the Post-WWII Order | 06 oct. 2026 | 00:13:11 | |
October 5, 2026 The US Southern Command struck another small boat in the Caribbean, bringing the number of strikes to more than 70, The administration has not made its justification for the strikes public, although there was a DOJ memo, US District Judge Engelmayer has demanded that it be shown to him, Pete Hegseth told reporters that the US can move military personnel from Europe and that the US is expanding its presence in Latin America, In an interview, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said that he does not anticipate that the court will overturn the decision recognizing the right to same sex marriage because “people have come to rely on it,” but that overturning Roe v Wade in the Dobbs decision was acceptable because that was “much more abstract,” The administration is undermining the post-World War II order by abandoning the UN prohibition on violating the territorial integrity and political independence of any state and the human rights that are covered by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, It is also abandoning the rights of women, In place of the post-WWI order, Trump and his allies propose a dictatorship, FDR noted that Nazi forces were openly seeking the destruction of elective systems of government in place of rule by a handful of individuals, In a speech in March 1941, he said that “the rallying cry of the dictators … will prove to be pure stuff and nonsense." To read this letter, click here: You can also find Heather at: Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| A Flood of Corruption Stories | 05 oct. 2026 | 00:12:41 | |
October 4, 2026 Saying he will make a payment to seniors, and also pay all Americans if Republicans win in the midterms, Trump is openly talking about using taxpayer money to buy votes, Trump is increasingly worried about Democrats winning control of Congress in the upcoming elections, Democratic control of one or both chambers of Congress will mean that investigations will start immediately, The administration is asserting that executive privilege protecting conversations by the president with government advisors extends to civilians to whom the president speaks, Stories of corruption are surfacing, Sen. Ron Wyden is demanding the release of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein’s finances and the transcript of FBI 302 reports, The administration is involved in business deals with Russia which will benefit Trump's family and donors, The deals shine a spotlight on the fact that under Trump national security is for sale, Jared Kushner’s financial interests in the Israeli military are shielded because he is not a government employee, Donald Trump Jr’s financial deals are likely to be investigated, The extensive hack of the FBI's jobs portal appears to have been the result of incompetence. To read this letter, click here: You can also find Heather at: Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Power to the People | 04 oct. 2026 | 00:05:06 | |
October 3, 2026 The Power to the People festival on October 3rd, organized by Tom Morello, had a legendary line-up of musicians, Attendees could find ways to get involved in government and a portion of the proceeds went to VoteRiders, a nonpartisan organization working to overcome barriers to voting, The artists urged Americans to remember they have the power to build a better nation and vote the Trump administration out of office, The ten-hour concert ended with performers singing Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land,” Guthrie famously displayed the words “This Machine Kills Fascists” on his guitars, Morello reminded people that “every act of art is an act of resistance." To read this letter, click here: You can also find Heather at: Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| A Seismic Political Change | 03 oct. 2026 | 00:11:59 | |
October 2, 2026 Trump held a campaign rally in Mobile, Alabama today, Mobile is where his MAGA rallies really took off in August 2015 when more than 30,000 people showed up, In 2015, Trump tapped into the anger of people who felt they had been dispossessed, Trump promised to bring back jobs and the military and to “Make America Great Agatin,” Trump’s return to Mobile was different, with many fewer people, but he hopes to rally MAGA voters who might not otherwise turn out, Only 31% of Americans give Trump good marks for how he is handling the presidency, Trump demanded that Russell Vought come up with $20 million to run ads praising him, The Republicans have pulled their spending on the Senate race in North Carolina, In Kansas, Republicans are trying to shore up the sitting Republican Senator whose race for reelection has tightened, Trump never intended to address the real problems facing the country, People are not buying his claim that the economy is booming, Democrats are fitting into the space that Republicans once exploited. To read this letter, click here: You can also find Heather at: Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| An Immediate Calamity | 03 oct. 2026 | 00:12:38 | |
October 1, 2026 The Trump administration is defying Congress, taking funds appropriated for specific purposes and redirecting them, Some of those funds were used to pay for the ads boosting Trump before the midterms, The destruction of the fundamental separation of powers at the heart of our government has gotten little pushback from Republicans, Trump’s administration has not invited U.S, allies to a meeting of NATO members next month, This seems to be an attempt to splinter NATO according to who Trump deems loyal and those whose actions he dislikes, Time Magazine released the transcript of an interview they did with Trump at the White House last week, Trump appears unable to answer questions coherently, and is angry at the media, He made outrageous claims and threats and yelled at the reporters about their questions, He is also seemingly unable to tell the difference between fantasy and reality, making claims about a South Korean investment in Alaska that has not yet been agreed to and about a steel plant in Iowa that is not a done deal, Trump again threatened Iran with annihilation, A third aircraft carrier strike group has been deployed to the Middle East, The government’s case against David Hearn for vandalism at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was dismissed with prejudice. To read this letter, click here: You can also find Heather at: Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Withdrawal from Iraq | 01 oct. 2026 | 00:09:43 | |
September 30, 2026 After more than two decades, the deaths of countless Iraqi civilians and more than 4,500 US troops, the wounding of more than 30,000 US military personnel, and a cost of more than $2.8 trillion, the US has pulled out the last of its forces from Erbil Air Base in northern Iraq, A small contingent of advisors had remained after the US and Iraq agreed to a withdrawal plan in 2024, At that time, Iran seemed to be on the ropes, but Trump’s war on Iran has strengthened the country’s hand in the region, The invasion of Iraq in 2003 was based on the belief that Iraq’s Saddam Hussein was destabilizing the Middle East, Although Saddam had not been involved in the 9/11 attack, officials from the George W Bush administration pushed the idea that the terrorists were affiliated with Iraq, The administration warned that Saddam Hussein was amassing weapons of mass destruction and when Secretary of State Colin Powell warned in a speech at the UN that Iraq had chemical WMDs and the resources to create nuclear weapons, people were convinced it was true. Later the evidence was discredited, but enough countries backed an invasion that in March 2003 American troops invaded with the intention of overthrowing the government, Saddam’s forces crumbled and by May the US had set up a transitional government and Bush had declared “Mission Accomplished,” But it wasn’t, Now the United States is entering the eighth month of a war on Iran that Trump apparently began with the same cowboy mentality as Bush carried into the war in Iraq, And Pete Hegseth is celebrating his transformation of the military and its “patriotic cowboys.” To read this letter, click here: You can also find Heather at: Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| A Scene before the Senate Judiciary Committee | 30 sept. 2026 | 00:13:58 | |
September 29, 2026 At a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee Jack Smith was questioned about the case charging Trump with using fraud and deceit to overturn the 2020 election results, The courts have interpreted the language in the Constitution that protects speech in Congress broadly, Republicans have used that protection to make outrageous accusations and to spread disinformation, Smith was appointed special counsel by former attorney general Merrick Garland on November 18, 2022, In June 2023 a grand jury indicted Trump on 37 counts but after Trump was reelected Smith dropped Trump from the case, Today’s hearing focused on charges by a federal grand jury in August 2023, Trump challenged the indictment and the Supreme Court largely agreed with him in its Trump v United States decision that gave a president absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions performed as part of his official duties and Smith dismissed the case after Trump was reelected, Today's hearing seems to have been an appeal to either Trump or the MAGA base, Sen Eric Schmitt presented a conspiracy theory which was based on incorrect information, The right wing media ran with his story nonetheless, Smith’s opening statement at the hearing focused on his commitment to facts and the rule of law and emphasized that his actions were based on evidence, He expressed his belief that the rule of law faces extraordinary challenges but also his confidence that the rule of law will endure despite the pressures being put upon it. To read this letter, click here: You can also find Heather at: Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Headaches for Republican Lawmakers | 29 sept. 2026 | 00:14:11 | |
September 28, 2026 Trump posted a video ad on television with the words “Paid for by the U.S. Government,” The backlash was immediate, Social media users and lawyers alike asked why the US government was paying for a poilitical ad, The government paying for Trump’s vanity ads while at the same time announcing it is refusing to spend money on programs intended to help people was yet another headache for Republicans hoping to retain control of Congress after the midterm elections, Trump’s job approval numbers are collapsing, falling most sharply among voters who identify themselves as Republicans, Trump’s tariffs are eroding his support in the agricultural areas that used to be the backbone of his support, Republicans in battleground states are on the defense as voters turn against ICE agents conducting raids in their states, The skyrocketing price of diesel is pushing Republican candidates to call for an end to the war in Iran, Certain candidates are in the news for all the wrong reasons: Susan Collins in Maine because her campaign accepted an illegal contribution, Bo French in Texas for his inflammatory and racist posts, and Roger Marshall in Kansas for suing his patients for outstanding bills, many of them for as little as $101, Markwayne Mullins and Pete Hegseth are increasingly unpopular, And mentions of Trump’s name have dropped nearly 70% since before the 2024 election. To read this letter, click here: You can also find Heather at: Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Bad News Plagues the Administration | 27 sept. 2026 | 00:12:28 | |
September 26, 2026 Last night, the White House would not allow reporters from CNN on Air Force One as part of the press pool, With bad news plaguing the administration, Trump has reasons for wanting to control the press, A key prosecutor in the case of the Broadview Six resigned, in a scathing letter, The cases against the Broadview Six fell apart because of prosecutorial misconduct, The term of Andrew Boutros, the US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois has been problematic, Whistleblowers who worked at the Kennedy Center claim that $1.4 million that had been allocated to make repairs to the building’s roof was redirected to painting the building’s columns, While 69% of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the war in Iran, Trump has told aides that he is planning to resume bombing Iran after the midterms, Trump told heads of state at the UN that his administration is seeking a “fundamental change” in the government of Cuba, Marco Rubio told reporters that Trump has invited Vladimir Putin to the meeting of the G20 in December, but 14 senators have urged Trump to rescind the invitation, The US and Russia worked together to weaken a UN plan to regulate AI weapons, The administration is refusing to spend $810 million approved by Congress for research, but the Constitution places the power of the purse in Congress and such “pocket rescissions” are illegal, Director of OMB, Russell Vought, claims otherwise, And while opposition to his moves continues to grow, Trump is considering hosting a Major League Baseball game at a national park. To read this letter, click here: Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on Spotify To read this letter, click here: Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on Spotify You can also find Heather:YouTubeBlueskyInstagramFacebookThreadsTikTok Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| National Lobster Day | 26 sept. 2026 | 00:05:10 | |
September 25, 2026 September 25 is Dolly Parton Day and also National Lobster Day, National Lobster Day honors the cultural and economic history of the lobster industry, Lobsters have been vital to Maine’s coastal communities, but were once scorned as poor man’s food, It was fish that were central to the English settlement of North America, Scholars have called the discovery of fish in the Atlantic and the trade it sparked, the “Fish Revolution,” Fishing meant big money and British fishermen fished the Grand Banks and had moved into the Gulf of Maine by 1600, European fishermen brought diseases for which the Indigenous populations had no immunities and tribes were wiped out, The fish trade was so important to New Englanders that access to fishing grounds was written into the third article of the Treaty of Paris, which officially ended the Revolutionary War. To read this letter, click here: Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on Spotify You can also find Heather at:YouTubeBlueskyInstagramFacebookThreadsTikTok Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| A Hard Sell | 25 sept. 2026 | 00:12:09 | |
Early today, US District Judge Timothy Kelly granted the request of media outlets to stop Trump’s order banning members of their organizations from the White House, Kelly ordered the credentials of 78 journalists restored immediately but the White House continued to deny White House access to reporters from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, While they were allowed in after the judge ordered the administration to respond, CNN and MS NOW were then blocked from access to the White House state dinner with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Trump’s response was to issue claims to try to convince voters he is winning but that is a hard sell, The Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants was stopped by a federal appeals court, whereupon Solicitor General Sauer asked the Supreme Court to step in to permit renditions to third countries, A GAO report found that ICE had not figured out how to spend the $45 billion that Congress gave it last year and it has wasted tens of millions of taxpayer dollars, In California, 650,000 ballots were confiscated by Republican sheriff Chad Bianco, The California Supreme Court ordered him to return the ballots, Trump’s claims of voter fraud took a hit as the claim that almost 16,000 noncitizens were on the voter roles in Nevada proved to be completely false, Trump’s approval rating continues to drop, Trump is running an ad, which was paid for by the US government, Democratic lawmakers are demanding that it be taken down, and that it is government propaganda more fitting for North Korea than the US. To read this letter, click here: Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on Spotify You can also find Heather at:YouTubeBlueskyInstagramFacebookThreadsTikTok Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Pay-To-Play | 24 sept. 2026 | 00:16:12 | |
September 23, 2026 When Trump returned to the White House in 2025, he fired the investigators in the anti-corruption group of the FBI who were investigating Sen. Susan Collins for engaging in a pay-to-play scheme, He largely stopped investigating public corruption, The Gilded Age was known for lawmakers rewarding business followers with government contracts and political office, The relationship between MAGA Republicans and the misuse of tax dollars is becoming more obvious, HHS Secretary Kennedy has taken funds from his department’s Office of Minority Health to fund security for himself, Kennedy has accepted gifts and his wife has accepted consulting fees from allies, Tax dollars are being used to pay authoritarian governments for imprisoning immigrants from the US, The administration is reversing its previous emphasis on resettling refugees, focusing instead on expelling them, often to places where they will be tortured, and all with little oversight, In Texas, an ICE agent shot a Venezuelan food delivery driver who had a valid work permit, The ICE agent was a recent hire, among those hired when the workforce was doubled after billions of dollars were provided by Congress, The NSF, NOAA, and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality are all running far behind in funding for the fiscal year, Trump’s ballroom will cost taxpayers more than $300 million, in spite of his early promises, And the ballroom’s design does not meet fire codes, a concern that Trump dismissed. To read this letter, click here. Get full, free access to Letters from an American here. You can also find Heather: Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Defiance | 24 sept. 2026 | 00:11:24 | |
| A Direct Assault | 22 sept. 2026 | 00:10:52 | |
September 21, 2026 On September 18th, Trump announced he was banning CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House, Trump invoked “national security,” again, as the explanation for the ban, CNN, MS NOW, and Politico have sued Trump, his communications director, the Secret Service director, and the White House chief of staff for violating the Fifth and the First Amendments, US District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, was assigned the case, Kelly previously ruled that revoking journalist Jim Acosta’s pass likely violated his due process rights, Trump has already vowed to appeal if he loses, The government has to respond to the lawsuit on Tuesday and a hearing is set for Wednesday, Major news networks are refusing to cover Trump on television, so there is no coverage from the White House, Trump, who has called journalists the enemy of the people, is trying to discredit any critical coverage of him or his administration. Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe You can also find me: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| NATO 3.0 | 21 sept. 2026 | 00:12:28 | |
September 20, 2026 Thousands gathered outside the JFK Center on Friday evening, in protest of Trump’s takeover of the building and his threat to shut it down or even demolish it, Trump is protecting his Triumphal Arch project by announcing that it will be essential for “national security,” Officials from the National Park Service agree that the construction of the arch will adversely affect dozens of historical sites, In a drone strike on a passenger train traveling from Kyiv to Warsaw, Russia appears to be sending a message to the western world, Russia has been pushing NATO countries with “hybrid attacks,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte noted that Russian attempts to interfere with help to Ukraine will only lead NATO to do more for Ukraine, Russia has been helping Iran in its fight against the US, yet Trump doesn’t feel that it is a threat to the US, Trump is suggesting that Putin will be more willing to end his war in Ukraine if the US makes business deals with Russia, In a New Yorker article, Dexter Filkins writes that the Trump administration has essentially privatized US foreign policy for their own interests, Trump, Jared Kushner, and other Trump allies may be participants in any of 10 money-making ventures, Rutte outlines what he called NATO 3.0, In this phase, the weight of NATO shifts from the US and toward the UK, Europe, and Canada. Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ- Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe You can also find me: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Bacon’s Rebellion | 20 sept. 2026 | 00:09:30 | |
September 19, 2026 350 years ago, on September 19, 1676, Nathaniel Bacon and his followers burned Jamestown - the capital of the Virginia Colony, Virginia lawmakers would respond by making sure poor men would not again make common cause by passing laws to divide them along racial lines, A year before Bacon's Rebellion, raids by both the Virginia militia and the Susquehannocks inflamed a power struggle in the colony, Since the colony’s beginning, there had been a clear line between men with land and power and those who worked for them, Enslaved people and indentured white workers worked and socialized together, and as their community grew, they migrated west, They resented the eastern government that seemed to ignore their interests, Nathaniel Bacon created a powerful coalition that marched on Jamestown, protesting taxes and corruption, They held Jamestown for several months before they were forced to retreat, When they tried to recapture the town they ended up burning it, The rebellion fell apart after Bacon's death a month later, and the crisis convinced the wealthy elite of Virginia to drive wedges between Black slaves and white servants to avoid anything like it from happening, They gave legal rights and protections to white servants and made it costly for white and Black Virginians to socialize, Black Americans were bound more tightly into slavery while white Virginians were convinced that they were independent. Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ- Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe You can also find me: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| The Media Begins to Turn Against Trump | 19 sept. 2026 | 00:14:48 | |
September 18, 2026 Diesel has hit its highest recorded average price, An advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader said Iran would not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until Trump and Netanyahu are removed from power, The economic pain of this moment appears to be turning the media against Trump, Trump responded by announcing he is banning CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House after scoops by these outlets, The US appears to have come close to starting a war with China based on a report generated by AI, A shipment of F-35 fighters disappeared, possibly falling into China’s hands, At least four more US service members have died in the Middle East than the Department of Defense has announced, A Fox News poll shows people trust the Democrats more than Republicans on inflation and prices, Trump’s tariffs are being hailed by Republicans in public, but in private they are looking for ways to work around them for their districts, Trump’s PAC is putting money into campaigns in districts that had elected Trump by huge margins in 2024, Prominent Republicans are speaking out against Trump’s actions and the actions of Trump supporters, Republican leaders are endorsing Democrats like James Talarico in Texas, Jon Ossoff in Georgia, and Adam Hamilton in Kansas, Vice President Vance has asked voters for “another chance." Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ- Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe You can also find me: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| The Supreme Law of the Land | 18 sept. 2026 | 00:07:33 | |
September 17, 2026 In 1776, Benjamin Franklin helped draft the Declaration of Independence and in 1787, he urged his colleagues at the Constitutional Convention to rally behind the new plan of government they had written, The framers of the new constitution hoped it would fix the problems of the first attempt to create a new nation, A "firm league of friendship," the Articles of Confederation had given the federal government few duties, Within a decade the nation seemed on the verge of tearing itself apart, Leaders called for a reworking of the new government centered not on the states but on the people of the nation represented by a national government, The Constitution established a representative democracy, a republic, with three branches of government, the legislative branch - the Congress, the executive branch - the president, and the judicial branch - the courts, The Constitution declares that the laws made under the authority of the United States shall be the supreme law of the land, Franklin urged his colleagues to put their names to the Constitution, even with any perceived faults, and that any of them who still had objections “doubt a little of his infallibility - and to make manifest our unanimity, put his name to this instrument," And on September 17, 1787, they did. Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ- Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe You can also find me: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Trump Isn’t Taking the News Well | 17 sept. 2026 | 00:13:40 | |
September 16, 2026 A US District Judge refused to perist the Kennedy Center board to return Trump’s name to the building’s facade, The board promptly appealed, and voted to close the venue for two years, Rep. Joyce Beatty of Florida, an ex-officio member of the board, confroted Trump, Panic is spreading over oil prices, Revelations about the Iran War continue to be published, from reports of extensive damage to US bases in the Middle East to the cost of the war, Thomas Massie introduced eight counts of impeachement against Defense Secretary Hegseth, Trump expressed anger that his three hand-picked appointees to the Supreme Court did not support his rule to allow the USPS to screen mail-in ballots. Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ- Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe You can also find me: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Letters from an American | 16 sept. 2026 | 00:06:07 | |
September 15, 2026 Seven years ago, I wrote a Facebook post that was the start of Letters from an American, I wrote about how things at the White House looked to me, I wrote that a dictator was on the rise, using the power of his office to amass power, The patterns I saw seven years ago are slicing to the heard of both the mechanics and the soul of the US, In that first letter, I warned of rising authoritarianism, I encouraged people to make noise, take up oxygen, defend what is great about this nation and its people, And we have made noise, and taken up oxygen, I write these letters because I love America, To those who read these letters, I thank you for bringing me along on this wild, unexpected, exhausting, and exhilarating journey. Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ- Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe You can also find me: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Attempting to Establish an Authoritarian Government | 15 sept. 2026 | 00:13:21 | |
September 14, 2026 News broke about a Russian oligarch spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding, The inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security released a report detailing violations of standards at the now-closed detention camp in the Florida Everglades, But it has been suggested that the conditions were even worse than reported and that the report is part of a cover up, A whistleblower has alleged that inspectors under the direction of top Homeland Security leadership may have broken state laws in their zeal to find noncitizens on voter rolls, These actions all add up to an attempt to establish an authoritarian government, Stocks in AI companies and companies that produce chips fell after warnings about AI, Trump posted frantically on social media, Oil executives are warning that the US and the world are in for a fuel crisis, The Supreme Court refused to allow Trump to put his new orders for the USPS to screen mail-in ballots in place. Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ- Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe You can also find me: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Asking the U.S. Government to Regulate AI | 14 sept. 2026 | 00:12:50 | |
September 13, 2026 Dario Amodel, the CEO of Anthropic expressed concern that AI models are advancing faster than engineers can understand them, He warned that a swarm of programs could take over the internet and called for AI companies to establish safety standards and limit their rate of progress, He expressed the opinion that the government and public need to have a stake in the development of the technology and that there should be regulation to limit what private companies can do, An Anthropic researcher who recently resigned has expressed concerns about the dangers of unrestrained AI, Employees as well as CEOs of AI companies have posted their support for slowing down the pace of AI improvements, In 2023, President Biden issued an executive order, calling for responsible behavior in the development of AI, Trump revoked this executive order on the day he was inaugurated, Trump and his family have invested heavily in companies tied to the AI boom, Trump has hailed AI data centers although the majority of Americans are against their construction, The Trump administration insists it can overcome rising deficits, through growth, but productivity is slowing, Trump's administration may be thinking that AI is its solution. Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ- Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe You can also find me: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| The Writing is Already on the Wall | 13 sept. 2026 | 00:10:30 | |
September 12, 2026 Judge J. Michael Luttig published a warning about how Republicans could refuse to seat elected Democrats after the midterm elections, Speaker Mike Johnson has the power to replace the current House clerk with a MAGA loyalist who will refuse to list Democrats on the roll of those elected to the 120th Congress, In this scenario, Democrats will have to go to the courts, perhaps eventually the Supreme Court, which would take weeks, leaving the country vulnerable, Trump’s plan to use the US Postal Service to screen mailed-in votes is being tested in Florida, and shows what will likely happen if the Supreme Court lifts its injunction blocking the USPS from implementing new rules, The DOJ under Trump is threatening, without cause, election workers, using harassment and intimidation to force them to put Trump’s election changes into effect, Luttig urged Republicans to decide not to betray their oaths of office and the country, and wrote that the Republican Party must “loose the chains of its political and moral enslavement to Donald Trump and separate itself from the MAGA political party cult." Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ- Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe You can also find me: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| The Twenty-fifth Anniversary of 9/11 | 12 sept. 2026 | 00:11:14 | |
Yesterday, Trump’s midterm convention had its second night, The audience was sparse, but Trump got the loyalty he demanded from the crowd that showed up, He promised, again, to pay all adult US citizens $5,000 if the Republicans hold control of the House and the Senate, Meanwhile, along with the Strait of Hormuz being under the control of Iranian forces, Iran backed Houthi militants expanded their control of the area around the Bab el-Mandeb strait which has become an alternative route for Saudi Arabian oil to be shipped to the west, Although the Houthis do not control both sides of the strait, they threaten shipping through the passage, Iran appears to be retaliating for Trump’s threats to strangle the Iranian economy by further slowing the transport, Today is the 25th anniversary of 9/11, Trump did not attend the commemoration at Ground Zero, but delivered a speech at the Pentagon, tying the war on Iran to the attacks of 9/11, All four former presidents and first ladies attended the ceremony, As a famous issue of The Amazing Spider-Man, published in November, 2001, explained, the heroes of 9/11 were ordinary people, who were made extraordinary “by acts of compassion, and courage, and terrible sacrifice." Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ- Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe You can also find me: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| A Chokepoint for World Trade | 11 sept. 2026 | 00:05:39 | |
September 10, 2026 Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militants have taken control of an area near the Bab el-Mandeb strait, With the Strait of Hormuz largely closed, the Bab el-Mandeb has become very important for global shipping, The Iran-backed Houthis have been in a struggle against the Saudi Arabia-backed Yemeni government, The attacks on Saudi targets started fires at oil facilities and wounded more than 70, Reports indicated that Iran had planned an economic “nuclear option” closing the Bab e-Mandeb, The price of oil jumped to $109 a barrel, The average price of diesel hit $6.00 for the first time ever, The new record will be painful, especially if diesel prices continue to climb, Trump spent the day at the Dallas rally that is intended to fire up his base before the midterms. Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ- Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe You can also find me: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Self-inflicted Problems | 10 sept. 2026 | 00:13:21 | |
September 9, 2026 At a White House event marking the anniversary of 9/11, Trump told a story about being at the site of the World Trade Center that day, but fact checkers and Trump’s nephew dispute his account, Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on US-made goods went into effect on September 8, The US and Iran are striking each other again, Trump’s advisors have warned him that the Iran war could continue to the end of his term, straining markets and the military, The economic and military problems are all self-inflicted, from the Iran War to the feud with Canada, to the effect of tariffs around the globe, Corruption continues to expand across the administration, As Trump attempts to rally his base in Dallas, Democrats are taking notice of the president’s dereliction of duty. Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ- Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe You can also find me: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Hell-bent | 09 sept. 2026 | 00:13:07 | |
September 8, 2026 Germany’s far right AfD party won 43.8% of the vote in the small state of Saxony0Anhalt, formerly part of the Soviet dominated East Germany, Right wing leaders across Europe celebrated the outcome, Elon Musk, a supporter of AfD, was the largest donor to any political committee in the 2024 presidential eletion, Musk has plowed money into the Texas Senate election, pitting Ken Paxton against James Talrico, Musk is attempting to buy elections for the Republicans, Musk used DOGE to strip agencies like USAID, but appears not to have made signficant savings, Musk’s antics have confirmed the sense that billionaires are a threat to democracy, There is pushback, but it is unclear whther populr pressure can withstnd the extrqaordinary amount of money thta Musk and other billionaires are pouring into the midterms, DOGE’s access to detailed information on US citizens is poised to corrupt the midterm elections. Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ- Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe You can also find me: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Trump’s Frantic Pace | 08 sept. 2026 | 00:09:42 | |
September 7, 2026 Trump has been posting on social media at a frantic pace, He is posting AI images of himself as a superhero, as various historic figures, as a mapmaker, and a stock trader. He apparently believes that trolling the country is a good way to keep attention focused on himself rather than on inflation, corruption, or the war in Iran, Trump’s approval rating on the economy is 41 points under water, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said we may never see a nuclear agreement with Iran, Trump claimed that oil prices are going to plummet, Trump appears to have abandoned the idea of governing and is operating as if he can do whatever he wishes, Trump’s Labor Day message was vastly different from Joe Biden’s message for the country which recognized the role of every worker in making the country run. Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ- Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe You can also find me: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| In a Nutshell | 06 sept. 2026 | 00:12:12 | |
September 5, 2026 The Trump administration had a busy Friday, US District Judge Talwani blocked Trump’s illegal and unconstitutional plan to use the US Postal Service to screen mail-in voters, A day after Interior Secretary Burgum announced that work was starting on Trump’s arch, US District Court Judge Chutkan ordered the administration to give the court notice before proceeding, Trump said the Iran War is not a war, and denied that military personnel are seeing record long deployments, and that the US controls the Strait of Hormuz, Trump also denies reports of a shortage of munitions, and Pete Hegseth is forcing members of the military’s Joint Staff to take lie detector tests to prove they were not source of leaks, The Defense Department and NIH are moving funds for medical research to the Pentagon, where the Navy has run out of money, Trump appears to misunderstand how trade and trade deficits work, And the US was the only country to vote against a UN resolution to change the world map to more accurately reflect the size of continents, more than 450 years after the commonly used Mercator projection was created. Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ- Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe You can also find me: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||
| Labor Day | 05 sept. 2026 | 00:07:24 | |
September 4, 2026 On September 5, 1882, workers in New York City celebrated the first Labor Day holiday, Their goal was to emphasize the importance of workers in the industrializing economy, Twenty years after the Civil War, government had swung toward men of capital, and working men worried they would lose their rights, Inequality was growing in the country, Workers helped elect reformer Democrat Grover Cleveland to the White House in 1884, In 1888 Cleveland won the popular vote but lost in the electoral college to Benjamin Harrison, In 1892 Cleveland was re-elected in a landslide, Investors rushed to take their money out of the stock market and the economy collapsed. Cleveland and the Democratic Congress had to abandon many of their pro-worker policies, But on June 28, 1894, Cleveland signed Congress’s bill making Labor Day a legal holiday. Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ- Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe You can also find me: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.social Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe | |||