Letters from an American

April 22, 2026Virginia voters support a constitutional amendment to temporarily redistrict the state, VA judge rules the amendment and the referendum were invalid, Virginia’s attorney general will challenge judge's decision, The partisan gerrymander race stated in Texas, Republicans are trying to excuse their partisan actions while jumping on Democrats for similar behavior, This pattern is not new...

April 21, 2026Trump makes confusing statements about where things stand in Iran, Iranian officials say they are not sure about going to Pakistan for talks with the US this week, Reports indicate that Trump is considering using money from the US Treasury to shore up the finances of the UAE, Trump extends ceasefire with Iran, but Iran responds by saying it means nothing, Trump’s approval rating sink...

April 20, 2026Reporting indicates Trump entered the Iran War convinced that Iranian people would support it, The closing of the Strait of Hormuz has left Trump unable to figure out a way out of the war, The two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran expires on April 22, Insider trading over Trump’s war announcements appears to be widespread,  Jared Kushner is doing business on his own behalf with...

April 19, 2026The Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1776, marked the beginning of the Revolutionary War, Just over a year later, the colonists would declare that the people had the right to be treated equally before the law and the right to govern themselves. Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ- Get full, free access to Letters from...

April 18, 2026The opening of the Strait of Hormuz is short lived, The fragile temporary ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon is cracking, Iran has not agreed to further talks with the US, Damage from Trump’s attack on Iran means that high oil prices will persist for weeks, US plans to seize commercial ships in international waters, Trump’s erratic behavior is causing wide concern even with former...

April 17, 2026Strait of Hormuz opens after 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon takes effect, Trump hits media circle announcing that the war with Iran is over, Trump claims Iran has agreed to all the US terms, but Iran’s top negotiator rejects these claims, Article in the Atlantic claims FBI's Kash Patel is barely functioning, House Democrats create task force to focus on corruption in the...

April 16, 2026Congress is back in session, Republicans are reckoning with Victor Orbán’s fall, With Trump’s erratic behavior, rising oil prices, and the Iran War, Republicans are rushing to grab turf before the midterms, Administration is targeting Minnesota by overturning the ban on mining upstream from the Boundary Waters, Trump is threatening to fire Jerome Powell again, Tulsi Gabbard has sent...

April 15, 2026Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln spent the evening of April 14 at Ford’s Theater in Washington, That night, John Wilkes Booth entered the presidential box and fatally shot Lincoln, As Americans mourned Lincoln’s death, Andrew Johnson restored the political power of the Confederates, Congress fought back, and after discrimination based on race became punishable, the Confederate r...

April 14, 2026Viktor Orbán’s loss of control of the Hungarian government has changed the political game in the US, Trump’s emotional state “seems to be fraying,”  Trump’s post, depicting him as Jesus, has generated an outcry from his followers, Rep Jamie Raskin introduces a bill to create a commission to evaluate the president’s mental state, The 25th Amendment establishes a process for evaluating...

April 13, 2026Péter Magyar won the Hungarian election in a blowout, He revealed that Viktor Orbán was using government money to finance CPAC in the US, The modern day Republican Party has followed a historical pattern, endorsing the idea that society works best if a few wealthy men run everything, When Trump was elected, wealth had concentrated among the top 1% and skewing the vote was underway to...

April 12, 2026War with Iran has pushed inflation to 3.3% - the fastest rate of growth in almost two years, Energy costs skyrocket as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, J.D. Vance negotiates with Iran in Pakistan but quickly announces that the negotiators could not reach an agreement, While negotiations were underway in Islamabad, Trump watches a UFC match in Miami, Trump announces a blockade of...

April 11, 2026On April 12, 1861, Confederate forces fired on South Carolina’s Fort Sumter, South Carolina had left the Union the previous December, When Abraham Lincoln took office in March, 1861, seven Southern states had left the Union, forming their own provisional government,  The Confederate government rested on the belief that Black men are not equal to white men, Northerners rejected the wh...

April 10, 2026Donald Trump’s genocidal threats earlier this week terrorized millions of Iranians and thus violated the Geneva Conventions, Trump continues to try to assert his power over Iran, Trump has issued further threats in an interview and on social media, Trump is throwing the economic might of the US behind authoritarian Viktor Orban of Hungary in his run for re-election, Trump’s actions t...

April 9, 2026Trump’s ceasefire immediately begins to fall apart, Israel does not accept an end to its bombardment of southern Lebanon, Iran closes Strait of Hormuz in response to Israel’s continued bombing, Actual terms of the ceasefire remain murky and Trump backs away from his celebratory statements, Democrats return early to Washington DC to try to force a vote to end the war on Iran but Republ...

April 8, 2026General Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate General Robert E. Lee agreed to meet at the home of Wilmer McLean in Appomattox on the afternoon of April 9 to work out the terms of the surrender of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, Upon signing the papers, the grandly dressed Lee told the somewhat disheveled Grant that his men were starving, Grant did not hesitate to agree to provide the sold...

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April 6, 2026According to Aaron Rupar, “It is difficult to cover him in a way that conveys how unhinged he is,”  The story is the president, himself, At the White House Easter Egg Roll Trump makes outrageous claims, Trump tells lies to reporters and to children attending the Easter Egg Roll, At a White House press conference Trump continues with lies and non sequiturs and alarming statements about...

April 5, 2026In a rant on social media, Trump threatens Iran again,  Trump’s post threatens to commit war crimes, Post pushes back the deadline for extreme measures, possibly in an effort to affect the stock market, Trump claims talks are underway but Iran is not dealing with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner,  Kushner and Witkoff have deep financial ties to the Middle East, Saudi investments in the...

April 4, 2026Pete Hegseth fires US Army chief of staff, Iran shoots down a US fighter jet and hits a Warthog aircraft and a helicopter, One airman was missing but later rescued, Strikes come two days after Trump's claim that Iran has been beaten, No one in the administration has commented to the public about the strikes, A post on Trump’s social media suggests that he may be about to attack civili...

April 3, 2026April 4 is the anniversary of the creation of NATO - the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, After WWII, the US and its allies recognized the importance of peacetime alliances, The pact enlisted the US to stand behind the security of Western Europe, All 12 member states agreed to defend one another against an attack by a third party, Since 1949, the alliance has expanded to include 32...

April 2, 2026Trump invokes the right-wing vision of the Goldwater era, Trump's 2027 budget plan about to be released and will shape the Republican argument for the mid term elections, Administration is under pressure to fund domestic programs, Reporting shows that DHS has used special agents in immigration sweeps, resulting in use of force and deaths, Trump addresses nation, but does not make any...

April 1, 2026Trump attended the Supreme Court hearing of the case under which he hopes to end birthright citizenship, which is guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment, The Fourteenth Amendment overturned the Dred Scott decision and established that Black men were citizens, While discriminatory laws persisted until after WWI, the Supreme Court always upheld the citizenship of children born in the US...

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March 30, 2026Trump shares images of new White House ballroom, Trump again suggests discussions to end war in Iran are underway but Iran insists it is not engaged in talks with the US, Trump threatens to commit war crimes in Iran, Price of oil rises to $116/barrel, Current crisis shows what a government imagined by Movement Conservatives and beholden to the whims of one man looks like, Congress is...

March 28,2026Trump is attempting to rewrite our nation’s history, Administration calls for putting Trump's ideology in place in federal historic sites, national parks, and museums, The Smithsonian Institution has been charged with aligning the work of all of its museums with Trump’s effort to rewrite the past, On the anniversary of January 6, the White House released a website blaming the Democrat...