Letters from an American - September 6, 2025

Episode Date: September 7, 2025

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Hello, this is Michael Moss. Heather Cox Richardson is traveling today, and her travel arrangements did not allow her time to read today's letter. So I will be reading it in her place. September 6th, 2025. Today, the social media account of President Donald J. Trump posted an AI-generated image of Trump as if he were Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore from the 1979 film Apocalypse Now in front of the Chicago skyline

with military helicopters and flames and the caption, Chippocalypse Now. Kilgore loved the war in Vietnam in which he was engaged. His most famous line was, I love the smell of napalm in the morning. Over the image,

Trump's social media post read, I love the smell of deportation, in the morning. Chicago about to find out why it's called the Department of War. The words were followed by three helicopter emojis, symbols the right wing uses to represent former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet's goons, disappearing political opponents by pushing them out of helicopters. Although it has become trite to speculate about what Republicans would say if a Democratic president engaged in the behavior Trump exhibits daily, this open attack of the president on an American city

is a new level of unhinged. Medi Hassan of Zedio wrote, The President of the United States just declared war, actual military war, not a metaphorical one, on a major American city, and one governed by his political opponents. He added accurately, in any other period, this would be impeachron

worthy. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker called attention to the gravity of Trump's post. The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city. This is not a joke. This is not normal. Donald Trump isn't a strong man. He's a scared man. Illinois won't be intimidated by a wannabe dictator. Under the words, know your rights, Illinois, and stay safe and stay informed, the governor's social media account posted information about American's rights in both English and Spanish. Trump's threats against American citizens are outrageous, but they also feel desperate. Trump's popularity is tanking, the economy is faltering. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy is facing a chorus of calls to resign or be

fired, and the American people are taking to the streets. Thousands of people turned out today in Washington, D.C. for a We Are All D.C. march to protest the presence of troops in the city. And in Chicago, for the Chicago says no Trump, no troops, protest. The protests are notable for the sea of signs the peaceful protesters carry. And then, with Congress back in session, there was the resurgence of the issue of Trump's appearance in the Epstein files. Last week, the White House warned Republicans that voting to release the Epstein files would be viewed as a very hostile act to the administration. Yesterday, Trump reiterated his claim that the agitation for the release of the files is a Democrat hoax in order to deflect and distract from the great success of a Republican president. Also yesterday, lawyers for the Justice Department asked a federal judge to keep the names of

associates who received large payments from Epstein in 2018 secret. Days before the payments, the Miami Herald had started to examine the sweetheart deal Epstein got in 2008. One associate received a payment of $100,000 and the second received $250,000. As part of his plea deal, Tom Winter of NBC News reports, Epstein got a guarantee that the associates would not be prosecuted. Last night, Trump hosted the inaugural dinner of what the White House is calling the Rose Garden Club in the newly paved White House Rose Garden, telling those assembled that they were there because they are loyal to the president. You're the ones that I never had to call it four o'clock in the morning, Trump told them. You are the ones that have been my friends, and you know what I'm talking

about. Yesterday, talking to reporters about the Epstein files, House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican of Louisiana, said that Trump was an FBI informant trying to take this stuff down. The idea that Trump was secretly working to bring Epstein down is common fare among conspiracy theorists, but as Josh Marshall of Talking Points memo suggests, Johnson's embrace of it might well be an attempt to spin material in the files, before it becomes public. Marshall notes that journalist Michael Wolfe, who interviewed Epstein at length

during Trump's first presidency, says that Epstein suspected it was Trump, who told the authorities about his systemic sexual assault of girls. But if so, Marshall explains, this is damning rather than exonerating. It's pretty well known that Trump and Epstein had a falling out in 2004 after Trump went behind Epstein's back

to buy an estate in South Florida that Epstein wanted. But at the time, Trump was headed toward bankruptcy, and it was not clear where he was getting the money to buy the estate. Marshall calls attention to a recent interview in which Wolf said that Epstein suspected Trump was laundering money for a Russian oligarch, and indeed, Trump did flip the property to a Russian oligarch for a profit of more than $50 million a few years after buying it,

and threatened to sue Trump, bringing the money laundering to light. At that point, the Epstein investigation began. According to Wolfe, Epstein believed Trump had notified the police about what was going on at Epstein's house, which he knew because he was a frequent visitor. Marshall speculates that Johnson mentioned that Trump was an informant because that information could well be in the files the Justice Department has, and they're trying to spin it ahead of time to make it sound like Trump was a hero. But both Wolf and Marshall note that if indeed Trump turned the FBI onto Epstein, it shows he knew what was taking place at Epstein's properties. Johnson's claim that Trump was an FBI informant suggests Trump's team is worried that as more and more people get access to the files,

it will be increasingly difficult to hide what's in them. Trump's demand for Republicans' loyalty suggest that at least some of them are starting to recalculate it and that, in turn, might have something to do with why he is putting troops in the streets. 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. This is the world.