Letters from an American - June 24, 2025

Episode Date: June 25, 2025

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June 24th, 2025. At 6.02 last night, President Donald Trump announced on his social media account that Israel and Iran had agreed to a complete and total ceasefire that would lead to an official end to the 12-day war. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times reported today that the announcement took some of Trump's own senior advisors by surprise. Since then, Trump's social media feed has been unusually active, posting claims that his approval rate is soaring, that he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize, that

for the first time ever a majority of Americans believe the United States is on the right track and that Trump was right about everything. The ceasefire is now in effect. Please do not violate it. Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, Trump's social media feed posted at 108 this morning. But within hours Israel had struck Iran again. At 650 Trump's social media feed posted, Israel do not drop those bombs. If you do it is a major violation. Bring your pilots home now. Donald J. Trump, President of the United States.

At 7.28, it posted, Israel is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly plane wave to Iran. Nobody will be hurt. The ceasefire is in effect. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Donald J. Trump, President of the United States. After Israel struck, Iran retaliated. This morning, Trump accused both countries of violating the ceasefire agreement, although to be sure, there has been no published

confirmation that any such agreement exists. Sounding angry, Trump told reporters, we basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the f*** they're doing. At 1117, the account posted, both Israel and Iran want to stop the war equally. It was my great honor to destroy all nuclear facilities and capability, and then stop the war equally. It was my great honor to destroy all nuclear

facilities and capability and then stop the war." It also attacked Democrats, especially women of color, at length saying they were stupid and can't stand the concept of our country being successful again. The account also said, now that we have made peace abroad we must finish the job here at home by passing the great big beautiful bill and getting the bill to my desk ASAP. It will be a historic present for the great people of the United States of America as we begin the celebration of our country's 250th birthday. We are finally entering our golden age, which will bring unprecedented safety, security, and prosperity for all of our citizens. In fact, Trump's victory lap seems designed

to be the finale to a triumphant storyline that can convince his loyalists he has scored an enormous victory before reality sets in. According to a new CNN poll, Americans disapprove of the U.S. military strikes against Iran by a margin of 56 percent to 44 percent. Further, Natasha Bertrand, Katie Bollilas, and Zachary Cohen of CNN reported today that according to early assessments by the Defense Intelligence Agency, or DIA, of

the damage caused by the US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, the strikes did not destroy the main parts of Iran's nuclear program and probably set it back by only a few months. The DIA is the intelligence arm of the Pentagon. The White House called the DIA assessment flat out wrong. Later today, The New York Times confirmed CNN's reporting. Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky suggested today that the Obama administration had the right approach when it negotiated the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA,

that limited Iran's nuclear program. Paul said, I'm arguing that the intervention, the military intervention, may not have been successful as people are saying, and also that there may not be a military answer to this. That ultimately the answer to the end of the nuclear program is going to involve diplomacy. A video on Trump's social media feed posted at 715 Tonight recalled Senator John McCain's 2007 call to bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb Iran to the tune of the Beach Boys' Barbara Anne. Trump's version used McCain's bomb-Iran chorus but was longer and had visual imagery of planes dropping bombs.

In Trump's version, the soundtrack to the video used the melody of Barbara Anne to say things like, went to a mosque, gonna throw some rocks, tell the Ayatollah gonna put you in a box, and old Uncle Sam getting pretty hot, gonna turn Iran into a parking lot. It is a truism that like other authoritarians Trump tries only to appeal to his supporters but I confess this video from the President of

the United States left me aghast. It seems to me long past time to question the 79 year old president's mental health. Tonight, Trump's social media feed posted, fake news CNN, together with the failing New York Times, have teamed up in an attempt to demean one of the most successful military strikes in history. The nuclear sites in Iran are completely destroyed. Both the Times and CNN are getting slammed by the public." Trump's posts sound panicked, and even aside from the strikes against Iran, there is reason

for his loyalists to be concerned about political events. On Saturday, masked agents from Customs and Border Patrol were caught on video chasing Narciso Barranco, a 48-year-old undocumented landscaper who has lived in the US for decades, down a street with guns drawn, pinning him to the ground and hitting him as they handcuffed him. Barranco's oldest son, Alejandro,

served in the Marines for four years and is a veteran. Barranco's two younger sons are active duty Marines. There has been a popular outcry over Barranco's arrest. Barranco's son Alejandro told Jacob Soboroff, Julia Ainsley and Suzanne Gamboa of NBC News that his father is being held with at least 70 other people with one toilet and no privacy, and that he has received very little water and even less food.

ICE's detentions continue to create a backlash. Isabella Diaz of Mother Jones reported that the number of migrants detained in Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, facilities across the country has reached a record high of more than 56,000, leading to overcrowding and unsanitary conditions. Federal law permits members of Congress to make unannounced visits to ICE facilities to inspect them, but officers at the Department of Homeland Security last week said members of Congress need to give at least 72 hours notice before an inspection. ICE claims the power to deny a request or otherwise cancel, reschedule, or terminate a tour or visit by lawmakers or by members of their

staff if facility management or other ICE officials deem it appropriate to do so. Inspections will be hard to conduct at the newly approved detention facility deep in the Florida Everglades, designed to house up to 5,000 migrants. Members of the state legislature say they were not consulted about the plan. Florida says the new facility will cost

about $450 million a year to operate. The federal government will reimburse that money through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. News broke today that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, widely believed to be the individual responsible for the administration's draconian immigration policies, owns between $100,000 and $250,000 worth of stock in Palantir, the data and intelligence software company owned by Peter Thiel.

Palantir has a number of valuable contracts with ICE to track undocumented immigrants. Ken Delaneyan of NBC News reported today that concern about retaliation from Iranian sleeper cells has made the FBI return agents who had been pulled from their normal duties to focus on immigration issues back to their usual focus on counterterrorterrorism, counter-intelligence, and cybersecurity. One source told Delanion, guess they are realizing that this whole national security thing is important after all. Letters from an American was written and read by Heather Cox Richardson.

It was produced at Soundscape Productions, dead in Massachusetts. Recorded with music composed by Michael Moss.