Smash and Grab

October 10, 2026Trump 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:Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyYou can also find Heather at:YouTubeBlueskyInstagramFacebookThreadsTikTok Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

October 9, 2026Kimberly 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:Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyYou can also find Heather at:YouTubeBlueskyInstagramFacebookThreadsTikTok Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

October 8, 2026On 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:Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyYou can also find Heather at:YouTubeBlueskyInstagramFacebookThreadsTikTok Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

October 7, 2026On 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 SpotifyYou can also find Heather at:YouTubeBlueskyInstagramFacebookThreadsTikTok Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

October 6, 2026Trump’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:Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyYou can also find Heather at:YouTubeBlueskyInstagramFacebookThreadsTikTok Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

October 5, 2026The 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:Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyYou can also find Heather at:YouTubeBlueskyInstagramFacebookThreadsTikTok Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

October 4, 2026Saying 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:Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyYou can also find Heather at:YouTubeBlueskyInstagramFacebookThreadsTikTok Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

October 3, 2026The 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:Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyYou can also find Heather at:YouTubeBlueskyInstagramFacebookThreadsTikTok Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

October 2, 2026Trump 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:Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyYou can also find Heather at:YouTubeBlueskyInstagramFacebookThreadsTikTok Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

October 1, 2026The 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:Listen on Apple PodcastsListen on SpotifyYou can also find Heather at:YouTubeBlueskyInstagramFacebookThreadsTikTok Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe