Letters from an American - Gilding the Capital

Episode Date: May 5, 2026

May 3, 2026"86 47" graffiti in the Reflecting Pool sends Trump into a late night posting frenzy, many of them AI generated images. Trump pushes expensive "beautification" projects in D.C. to control his legacy. These projects include painting the reflecting pool blue and building The National Garden of American Heroes. Trump announces the launch of "Project Freedom, an effort to escort stranded merchant ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump gets offended by critical comments from European leaders on the Iranian war and threatens to pull U.S. troops from Spain and Italy. Election Fearmongering. Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribeYou can also find me: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.socialInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=enFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

Hello, this is Michael Moss. Heather Cox Richardson is unable to read the letter today, so I will be reading it in her place. May 3, 26. Late on Friday night, President Donald J. Trump took to social media. At 1103, he posted an AI-generated image of himself, alongside Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of the Interior, Bergam, all shirtless, along with an unidentifiable woman in a bikini, appearing to be relaxing in a swimming pool. But the swimming pool was the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Then at 1104, Trump posted an image of First Lady Melania Trump grinning at the press conference Trump held after the incident at the White House Correspondence dinner, when he said that

incident proved that he needed his proposed ballroom for his security. Then, at 1113, Trump posted an image of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat of New York, who is black holding a baseball bat. The caption calls Jeffries, low IQ, a thug, and a danger to our country. Then, at 1115, he posted an image of himself smiling and holding six wild cards from the game Uno. The caption read, I have all the cards. Then, at 1122, he posted a profile image of himself in gold. Then at 1126, he posted an image showing him standing near Mount Rushmore, with the angle arranged to make his head the fifth sculpture on the mountain. So from left to right they were George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, and Donald Trump.

Then, at 1132, he posted an image of himself and the First Lady. Then, at 1137, he posted an image of himself and King Charles III. Then, at 1140, he posted an image of what appeared to be the reflecting pool full of algae, next to one that appeared to be the reflecting pool clean and with a bright blue color. Above the dirty image was the label Hussein Obama, and below it, the caption, photo taken September 29th, 2012. The clean one was labeled with Trump and Coming Soon. Over the two together, the caption read, This is what our country was before and after Trump. Then, at 1141, he posted an AI image of the reflecting pool appearing bright blue

under the caption, American Flag Blue. Then, at 1145, he posted another AI image of the reflecting pool, appearing bright blue, under the caption, American Flag Blue. It was some 43 minutes. The president appeared to have been triggered by graffiti that appeared in the reflecting pool Friday morning. 86-47, spray-painted across it in a message that was about 15 feet by 30 feet. The message was double-edged. To 86-something in slang means to get rid of it.

And Trump is the 47th president. But the phrase has taken on a second meaning since April 28th, when the Department of Justice under Trump launched a criminal case against former director of the FBI James Comey for posting a picture of seashells spelling out 8647 on Instagram a year ago. But 8647, and for that matter, 864646, it's such a common meme that there are a wide variety of shirts and hats for sale with those numbers on Amazon today, prompting the host of NBC's Meet the Press, Kristen Welker,

to ask Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche if other people who shared that meme would also face charges. He said no and suggested that there was other evidence in Comey's case, although he did not explain what that was, and the indictment only talks about the seashell post. As Trump's popularity has sunk to new lows, he has renewed. his efforts to remake Washington, D.C., into a monument to himself, almost as if he is trying to anticipate history by making future Americans think that he must have been great because of all the tributes to him in the capital. Part of that effort has been his decision to paint the reflecting pool bright blue,

like a swimming pool, at a cost of about $2 million in taxpayer money. Yesterday, Rick Mace and Dan Diamond of the Washington Post reported that one of Trump's top fundraisers is collecting money to turn the heavily used, low-cost East Potomac golf links on the Washington D.C. waterfront, one of three D.C. public golf courses the administration is taking over into a championship golf course and to establish Trump's National Garden of American Heroes nearby. That imagined sculpture park will feature about 250 Americans Trump believes are significant to our history. The plans have not yet been made public, nor have they been approved by Congress or gone through the Federal Review process.

The new golf courts would erase the area's public bike paths and open recreational space. Spokesperson Davis Ingalls said, President Trump continues to beautify. and honor our nation's capital during America's historic semi-Quincentennial celebration. The Trump administration planned to take control of the East Potomac Golf Links today, shutting it down for renovation. Today, Democracy Forward, a watchdog group, ask a judge to stop the administration from going ahead with plans that would shut down the course. Trump's alterations to the capital seem to be a welcome distraction for the rest.

real estate developer from the crises around him. His claim that he has all the cards appears to be a boast about his dealings with Iran, but that is a wildly optimistic version of events. On Thursday, Iranian officials sent a 14-point offer for a resolution to the war to mediators from Pakistan. An Iranian official said that Iran hopes to end the war and resolve questions around the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports now and deal with Iran's nuclear program later. On Friday, Trump said he was not satisfied with Iran's offer, but did not say why he disapproved. Then, at 647 yesterday evening, he posted, I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but I can't imagine it would be acceptable in that they have not yet paid a business.

big enough price for what they have done to humanity and the world over the past 47 years. And yet, Iran said today it had received a response to its offer from the U.S. and is reviewing it. The Trump administration continues to look for a way to open the Strait of Hormuz. Today, Trump announced that on Monday, the U.S. will launch Project Freedom, an effort to escort stranded merchant ships through the strait. U.S. Central Command said tonight that Project Freedom will include guided missile destroyers, over 100 land and sea-based aircraft, multi-domain unmanned platforms, and 15,000 service members. Iran has said the use of U.S. Navy ships for the escort would be a violation of the ceasefire. It is not clear if

Navy ships will participate. As Barack Ravid of Axios notes, Trump says the attempt is humanitarian. Ships stuck from the straits closure are running low on supplies and are facing sanitation problems, but it's clear the administration is trying to challenge Iran's control of the strait. It's also worth noting that Trump often makes announcements that appear designed to move the market, and the price of oil dropped after the state. the announcement of Project Freedom. As Chandelies Duster of NPR reported yesterday, gas prices jumped more than 30 cents a gallon last week. According to the American Automobile Association, or AAA, regular gas averages $4.44 a gallon. Two days before the Iran war began,

the average price per gallon was $2.98. Last week, German Chancellor Friedrich Mears said, the Americans obviously have no strategy and suggested that Iranian officials were outwitting the Trump administration, saying the U.S. was being humiliated by the Iranian leadership. Trump didn't take that comment well, posting screeds attacking mayors repeatedly and claiming, he doesn't know what he's talking about.

On Wednesday, Trump talked to Russia's press. President Vladimir Putin for an hour and a half, the 12th phone call between the two leaders since Trump took office a second time, and just hours later posted about removing U.S. troops from Germany. Putin has wanted to weaken the U.S. commitment to Europe and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, for a long time. As Jack Dech, Paul McCleary, and Stephanie Bolson of Politico note, European officials worry that Putin is making plans to attack a NATO country. On Thursday, Trump suggested to reporters that he might also pull troops out of Spain and Italy. Why shouldn't I, he said.

Italy has not been of any help to us. And Spain has been horrible. Absolutely horrible. On Friday, the Defense Department said it was pulling 5,000 troops from Germany, and was canceling a plan formulated under the Biden administration to put an artillery unit equipped with missiles in Europe. The U.S. had increased its European presence after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

These moves will take U.S. forces back to where they were before the invasion. As scholar of authoritarianism, Timothy Snyder wrote, You can apply lots of normalizing frameworks, or you can just make a timeline of his calls with Putin. We don't have a sovereign foreign policy. We have superpower suicide. Julian E. Barnes, Helene Cooper, and Megan Minero of the New York Times, reported that senior defense officials wanted the force reduction to be understood

as a punishment for Germany after Mears' comment. In fact, U.S. bases in Germany are staging areas for U.S. operations, in the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. The Politico-Journalists report that defense officials were stunned by the announcement, and on Saturday the chairs of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the House Armed Services Committee, Senator Roger Wicker, a Republican of Mississippi, and Representative Mike Rogers, a Republican of Alabama,

declared they were very concerned by the decision to withdraw a U.S. brigade from Germany. They noted that any significant change to the U.S. forced posture in Europe warrants a deliberate review process and close coordination with Congress and our allies. We expect the Department to engage with its oversight committees in the days and weeks ahead on this decision and its implications for U.S. deterrence and transatlantic security. And yet Trump is clearly worried about the upcoming midterm election, especially after Democrat-backed Quentin Wilts yesterday flipped a seat in the Houston suburb of Pearland, Texas that had been a reliable Republican stronghold. After his Friday post calling Jeffries a thug, Trump posted yesterday that Democrats had rigged the 2020 presidential election. get tough Republicans, they're coming, and they're coming fast. They're no good for our country.

They almost destroyed it, and we don't want to let that happen again. He demanded Republicans, approve all of the necessary safeguards we need for elections to protect the American public during the upcoming midterms. Tonight, again, he posted that Jeffries was a low IQ individual. and called for his impeachment, although neither senators nor representatives can be impeached. His post went on to say more about his own fears than about Jeffries. I got impeached for a perfect phone call, Trump wrote. Where are you Republicans? Why not get it started? They'll be doing this to me.

Letters from an American was written by Heather Cox Richardson. It was produced at Soundscape Productions. dead in Massachusetts. Recorded with music composed by Michael Moss.