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A newsletter about the history behind today's politics.
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
On Friday night, just before 11:00, Trump announced that his administration “will, immediately, begin sending ‘Checks’ of nearly $100 to over 20 MILLION wonderful Seniors to help pay for their Medicare Part B premiums, which we have already reduced by significant amounts.
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
To read this letter, click here:
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
On Saturday, October 3, the Power to the People festival, organized by Rock & Roll Hall of Fame guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, took over the stage at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland.
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
To read this letter, click here:
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
Trump held a campaign rally tonight in Mobile, Alabama, the city where, as Shawn McCreesh of the New York Times recalled, his MAGA rallies really took off in August 2015, when more than 30,000 people showed up at a football stadium to hear the television personality turned presidential candidate.
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
To read this letter, click here:
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
John Hudson of the Washington Post reported this evening that the Trump administration is openly defying Congress, taking $52 million in military assistance lawmakers appropriated for European and Middle Eastern countries hurt by Russia’s war on Ukraine and diverting it to right-wing governments in Panama, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia.
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
To read this letter, click here:
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
A Washington Post headline today read: “U.S.
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
To read this letter, click here:
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
The scene that unfolded today at a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee was a snapshot of politics in the U.S.
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
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Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
To read this letter, click here:
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
It has become routine for Trump to spend the weekend posting wildly on social media, and this weekend was no exception.
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
A friend tells me that when I take a night off, other people feel they can take a night off, too.
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
September 26, 2026
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
Trump’s war on the free press is continuing.
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
September 25, 2026
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
I learned late this afternoon that, in addition to being Dolly Parton Day, today is National Lobster Day, honoring the cultural and economic history of the lobster industry.
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
After a hearing yesterday about Trump’s Friday ban of CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House campus, very early this morning—I was still awake writing yesterday’s letter—U.S.
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
In today’s Politics Chat: A federal judge blocked the State Department’s Office of Remigration from sending deportees to third countries with no ties to them, a program that has cost more than 400 million taxpayer dollars.
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
September 23, 2026
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
Yesterday, William Turton, Avi Asher-Schapiro, Molly Redden, and Kirsten Berg of ProPublica published a blockbuster story reporting that the anti-corruption group of the Federal Bureau of Investigation was investigating Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) for engaging in a pay-to-play scheme in which defense contractor Navatek made illegal donations to her 2020 campaign and later got multimillion-dollar contracts from the government.
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
In 1945, still reeling from World War II, representatives from 50 nations reached back to the U.S.
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
The White House revoked press credentials for CNN, Politico, and MS NOW after aide Natalie Harp reportedly showed Trump stories that angered him.
Letters from an American
• Heather Cox Richardson
