Letters from an American - August 24, 2025

Episode Date: August 25, 2025

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August 24, 2025, as the administration of President Donald Trump is using loopholes in the nation's laws to claim the right to use the military against American citizens, Democratic governors are pushing back. The administration has taken control of the Washington, D.C. police under the 1973 Home Rule Act, which permits that takeover if special conditions of an emergency nature exist. Although the Department of Justice itself reported that crime in the city is at a 30-year low, Trump declared a crime emergency in the District of Columbia on August 11th to take control of the police. The Home Rule Act limits the president's takeover to 30 days, unless the House and Senate pass a joint resolution to extend that time.

On Friday, Representative Andy Biggs, a Republican of Arizona, introduced a bill to extend the takeover for about six months and to make that time the default for all future emergencies. Tonight, California Governor Gavin Newsom's social media account posted, Trump's militarization of Los Angeles seems to have been just the start of an authority, and takeover of American cities. This is not leadership. This is a scary, unlawful grab for power,

and we should all be deeply concerned. Newsom has been calling attention to Trump's erratic behavior and mental incapacity by imitating the president's disjointed all caps social media posts and mimicking the president's merchandise. He recently replaced Trump's name with his own on ball caps, for example.

to say, Newsom was right about everything, after Trump appeared Friday with a cap saying, Trump was right about everything, and has offered flags that say, make America Gavin again, to troll Trump's make America great again's slogan. Right-wing media complaints about Newsom's unprofessional behavior highlight Trump's instability,

for Newsom is simply imitating Trump. On Saturday, Dan Lamoth of the Washington Post, reported that for weeks the Pentagon has been planning a military deployment of National Guard members and possibly active-duty troops to Chicago. The president cannot send National Guard troops unless a governor requests them, but Trump deployed troops in Los Angeles with the argument that the soldiers were protecting federal buildings and personnel, an argument that could apply almost anywhere he sends immigration and customs enforcement or ICE agents. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker responded,

The state of Illinois at this time has received no requests or outreach from the federal government asking if we need assistance, and we have made no requests for federal intervention. The safety of the people of Illinois is always my top priority. There is no emergency that warrants the President of the United States federalizing the Illinois National Guard, deploying the National Guard from other states, or sending active-duty military within our own borders. Donald Trump is attempting to manufacture a crisis, politicize Americans who serve in uniform, and continue abusing his power to distract from the pain he's causing families. We'll continue to follow the law, stand up for the sovereignty of our state, and protect Illinoisans.

This morning, Trump threatened to send troops to Baltimore, Maryland, after Maryland Governor Wes Moore invited him, in what Trump called a rather nasty and provocative tone, to join him on a walk through the streets of Baltimore. Trump wrote that, I gave Wes Moore a lot of money to fix his demolished bridge. I will now have to rethink this decision. Trump appeared to be referring not to his own money, but to federal funds supporting the rebuilding of Baltimore's Key Bridge, which collapsed after a container ship hit it on March 26, 2024. The collapse stopped operations at one of the busiest ports in the nation. In another post,

Trump suggested that Moore, who served in Afghanistan and received a bronze star, awarded for acts of valor in combat, had lied about getting a bronze star. Moore responded, President Bonespurs will do anything to get out of walking, even if that means spouting off more lies about the progress we're making on public safety in Maryland. Hey, Donald, we can get you a golf card if that makes things easier, just that my team know.

He added, did Donald Trump, the President of the United States, lie about an injury to dodge the Vietnam draft? The AI feature of X, called GROC, helpfully added, Trump received four student deferments during the Vietnam era, followed by a 1968 medical deferment for bone spurs in his heels, per official records. The diagnosing doctor's daughters later claimed it was a favor to Trump's father, with no actual spurs.

Trump fixer Michael Cohen testified Trump admitted faking it. Trump denies this, saying it was legitimate, but temporary. No medical records confirm or refute. On Face the Nation today, Moore said he was actively looking at redistricting in Maryland to offset the Republican mid-decade redistricting in Republican-dominated states Trump is demanding. Moore said, we need to make sure that if the President of the United States is putting his finger on the scale to try to manipulate elections because he knows that his policies cannot, in a ballot box, then it behooves each and every one of us to be able to keep all options on

the table to ensure that the voter's voices can actually be heard. The National Guard troops deployed to Washington, D.C., will begin carrying firearms tonight. But Trump appears angry that he is not being given enough scope for his desires. Tonight, he posted on social media that the tradition of blue slips, which enables senators to stop the appointment of objectionable federal judges in their own states, has made it impossible for him to appoint the judges he wants. He wrote, I have a consultational right to appoint judges and U.S. attorneys, but that right has been completely taken away from me. The only candidates that I can get confirmed for those most important positions are, believe it or not, Democrats. Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee,

Chuck Grassley, should allow strong Republican candidates to ascend to these very vital and powerful roles and tell the Democrats, as they often tell us, to go to hell. Trump is likely reacting to his inability to keep his attorney, Alina Haba, in the position of U.S. attorney for New Jersey, after New Jersey Senators Corey Booker and Andy Kim used blue slips to keep her from getting a Senate vote for confirmation. Trump appointed Haba acting U.S. attorney, but after her 120-day interim period expired, a panel of judges skipped over her to appoint her assistant, Desiree Lee Grace, to the job. Attorney General Pam Bondi then fired Grace and Trump reappointed Haba. Last week, U.S. District Judge Matthew Bran ruled that Haba was not holding the post lawfully. There seems to be some tension in the White House tonight.

As Trump's poll numbers are in the low 40s on his job performance and underwater on every one of his policies, Tonight he wrote, Except what is written and broadcast in the fake news, I now have the highest poll numbers I've ever had, some in the 60s and even 70s. Thank you. Make America great again. Trump followed that post up with another.

Despite a very high popularity, and according to many, among the greatest eight months in presidential history, ABC and NBC fake news, two of the worst and most biased networks in history give me 97% bad stories. If that is the case, they are simply an arm of the Democrat Party and should, according to many, have their licenses revoked by the FCC. I would be totally in favor of that because they are so biased and untruthful,

an actual threat to our democracy. MAGA. Letters from an American was written and read by Heather Cox Richardson. It was produced at Soundscape Productions, Dead of Massachusetts. Recorded with music composed by Michael Moss.