Letters from an American - December 11, 2025

Episode Date: December 12, 2025

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December 11th, 2025. On Tuesday, President Donald J. Trump kicked off his nationwide tour to reassure Americans that the Republicans are focused on bringing down costs. Voters turned to Trump in 2024, in large part because he promised that his understanding of the economy would enable him to bring down the prices that had risen in the global inflation spike after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the world economy. Within weeks of the election, Trump began to back off on that promise, telling a reporter for Time magazine in December 2024 that it's very hard to bring down prices. Then, in April, he launched a

tariff war that began to raise prices, while his on-again, off-again tariff rates discouraged businesses from investing while they waited to see what made economic sense. Americans are not impressed with Trump's handling of the economy. A poll by AP Nork, which stands for Associated Press National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, a very reputable polling collaboration. Released today shows that only 31% of American adults approve of Trump's management of the economy, with 67% disapproving. Among independents, that number breaks down to 15% approving

and 80% disapproving. Trump's overall numbers are not much better. Just 36% of American adults approve of his job performance with 61% disapproving. Among independents, just 20% approve, while 74% disapprove. With them, he is underwater by an astonishing 54 points. So Trump's advisors have sent him off on a tour

to convince Americans the administration shares their concerns about the economy. On Tuesday in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, Trump addressed the question of affordability by telling the crowd, you're doing better than you've ever done. He blamed higher prices on former President Joe Biden, confirming the observation of CNN Stephen Collinson that Trump's answer for everything is to blame Biden.

Trump defended the tariffs that have raised prices by suggesting that the tariffs are protecting major items and that if people are feeling the pinch of higher prices, they can give up certain products. You could give up pencils. That's under the China policy, you know. Every child can get 37 pencils. They only need one or two, you know. They don't need that many. But you always need steel. You don't need 37 dolls for your daughter. Two or three is nice, but you don't need 37 dolls. So we're doing things right. Otherwise, Trump delivered his usual rally speech. Rambling for more than an hour and a half, he attacked immigrants and confirmed that in 2018 he did, in fact, call Haiti and African nations whole countries. He attacked the board of the

Federal Reserve, and, while boasting of his administration strikes on small boats in the Caribbean, said, and now we're going to do land, because the land is much easier. Anthony Zerker of the BBC noted that Trump told the crowd his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, had told him to focus on the economy, but boasted, I haven't read practically anything off the stupid teleprompter. after the speech at nine o'clock on tuesday night trump social media account posted there has never been a president that has worked as hard as me my hours are the longest and my results are among the best i've stopped eight wars saving many millions of lives in the process created the greatest economy and the history of our country brought business back into the united states at levels never seen before rebuilt our military created the largest tax cuts and regulation cuts ever, closed our open and very dangerous southern border

when previous administrations were unable to do so, and created an aura around the United States of America that has led every country in the world to respect us more than ever before. In addition to all of that, I go out of my way to do long, thorough, and very boring medical examinations at the great Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. medical center. Seen and supervised by top doctors, all of whom have given me perfect marks.

Some have even said they have never seen such strong results. I do these tests because I owe it to our country. In addition to the medical, I have done something that no other president has done on three separate occasions, the last one being recently, by taking what is known as a cognitive of examination, something which few people would be able to do very well, including those working at the New York Times, and I aced all three of them in front of large numbers of doctors and experts, most of whom I do not know. I have been told that few people have been able to ace this examination, and in fact most do very poorly, which is why many other presidents have decided not to take it at all. Despite all of this, the time and work involved, the New York Times and some

others like to pretend that I am slowing up and maybe not as sharp as I once was or am in poor physical health, knowing that is not true and knowing that I work very hard, probably harder than I have ever worked before. I will know when I am slowing up, but it's not now. After all of the work I have done with medical exams, cognitive exams, and everything else, I actually believe it's seditious, perhaps even treasonous, for the New York Times and others to consistently do fake reports in order to libel and demean the President of the United States. They are true enemies of the people and we should do something about it. They have inaccurately reported on all of my election results and in fact were forced to apologize on much of what they wrote. The best thing

that could happen to this country would be if the New York Times would cease publication because they are a horrible, biased and untruthful source of information. Thank you for your attention to this matter. America great again. Trump's performance seems unlikely to reassure Americans that he is prioritizing their economic concerns. Congressional Republicans are not helping. The Republicans' Budget Reconciliation Bill of July, the one they call the One Big Beautiful Bill Act,

did not extend the premium tax credits for health care insurance bought on the Affordable Care Act market that subsidizes that insurance. Today, Senate Republicans voted against the Democrats' measure to extend the premium tax credits for three years. The vote was 51 to 48, nine votes short of the 60 votes needed to avoid a filibuster. Only four Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine, Josh Hawley of Missouri, and Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan of Alaska, voted yes. Senate Democrats, joined by Rand Paul, a Republican of Kentucky, then voted against a Republican bill that would have let the credits expire, but would have given adults who were in less

than 700 percent of the federal poverty line access to $1,000 annually to put toward health care costs if they are under 50, and $1,500 a year if they are between 50 and 65. if they are on lower-cost Affordable Care Act plans with an annual deductible of $7,500. The money could not be used for abortion or gender transition procedures and would require verification of immigration and citizenship status. In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican of Louisiana, has rejected the idea of extending the premium tax credits but is facing a revolt from some members of his conference who recognized that the American people overwhelmingly want to see the credits

extended. Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican of Pennsylvania, has launched a discharge petition to force Johnson to bring a bill to extend the credits to a vote. The measure would only pass with Democratic votes, making Johnson and other Republican leaders scramble to create their own plan. Ever since the Affordable Care Act became law 15 years ago, a Republican alternative has remained elusive. Jake Sherman, John Bresnahan, and Laura Weiss of Punch Bowl News reported today that Johnson has said he will keep the fight over health care going into next year. They note that no Republican thinks it's a good idea for the Republicans to be talking about health care, their worst issue during an election year. Democrats are likely to

emphasize that the cost for extending the Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, which benefit everyday Americans and which the Republicans did not extend in their one big beautiful bill act, would be about $350 billion over 10 years. The cost for extending the 2017 tax cuts, which overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy in corporations and which they did extend, will be more than $4 trillion. over the same period. The punchball reporters note that Republican confusion over health care is just one more sign of trouble for Republicans in the House. We won't say that the House is in total chaos, they wrote this morning. Total chaos is when members unleash censure resolutions against each other,

or a trio of House Republicans publicly claim Speaker Mike Johnson has no business running the chamber. That was last week. They note that fear of Trump kept Republicans in line earlier in the year, but with Trump's numbers falling and voters turning to Democrats, Republicans are either planning to leave the House or protecting their own political prospects. Concerned about control of Congress after 2026, Trump and members of his administration are pressuring state legislatures to redraw their congressional districts in order to favor Republicans. In Indiana, Republican state senators have resisted their pressure, along with death threats, to pass a map that would give Republicans two districts currently dominated by Democrats, giving Republicans the entire congressional delegation. Vice President J.D. Vance and Don Trump Jr. have jumped into the struggle,

and today the lobbying arm of the Right Wing Heritage Institute, Heritage Action, post-President posted on social media that President Trump has made it clear to Indiana leaders. If the Indiana Senate fails to pass the map, all federal funding will be stripped from the state. Roads will not be paved, guard bases will close, major projects will stop. These are the stakes and every no vote will be to blame. Indiana Lieutenant Governor Micah Beckwith confirmed that the Trump administration, was very clear about this. Political observer John Collins commented,

Nothing shows confidence like threatening your own party. Another Hoosier seemed unconcerned with the threat that Trump would illegally withhold federal funding, posting, we know how to roll with potholes better than any other state, with a laughing emoji. This evening, the Indiana Senate rejected the new gerrymandered congressional map by a vote of 31 to 19. The vote wasn't close. 21 Republicans, that is, a majority of the Republican senators, joined the 10 Democratic senators in voting no. This evening, Megan Messerly and

Maya Ward of Politico reported that the White House is looking to send surrogates like Vance and Treasury Secretary Scott Besant on the road instead of Trump to carry the message of affordability to the American people, leaving Trump to focus on motivating his die-hard supporters who might not otherwise vote when he isn't on the ballot. 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.