Letters from an American - Trump Under Pressure

Episode Date: May 26, 2026

May 26, 2026Tulsi Gabbard steps down, possibly having been forced out of her position as Director of National Intelligence, Trump is under pressure to find a way out of Iran, The timeline for Congressional approval of the war has run out, Members of Congress were poised to pass a war powers resolution, but Mike Johnson sent representatives home to avoid that vote, Trump claims that an agreement with Iran is imminent, but details are scarce, Republicans have condemned the deal described by Al-Jazeera, Thomas Massie, who lost the primary for re-election to his House seat, is demanding that the DOJ release the Epstein files. Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ-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

May 25, 26. Last Friday, just before the long holiday weekend, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard resigned, effective as of June 30th, citing her husband's recent cancer diagnosis as the factor that forced her decision. A source told Jonathan Land Day and Aaron Blanco of Reuters that President Donald J. Trump had forced her out.

Certainly, he has sidelined her. Congress created the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, or ODNI, in 2004, after concluding that intelligence failures, including a lack of communication across agencies, had contributed to the vulnerability that permitted the 9-11 attacks. The ODNI is supposed to oversee the 18 different intelligence agencies and to coordinate the information they produce. Gabbard did not have deep experience in intelligence and had endorsed Russian talking points about Russia's invasion of Ukraine when Trump named her director of ODNI. Trump's former national security advisor, John Bolton, called her a hand grenade ready to explode. Gabbard ran into trouble with Trump by June 2025 when she released a video warning of nuclear holocaust because political,

elite warmongers are carelessly fomenting fear and tensions between nuclear powers. They were bringing the world closer to the brink of nuclear annihilation than ever before, she said. She released the video days before Trump launched his first attack on Iran, and a former intelligence officer told Nick Schifrin of PBS that Trump considered the video an attempt to try to convince him not to launch the strikes. afterward, Gabbard seemed to try to regain Trump's favor by backing his extremist pet projects, including accusing former President Barack Obama of leading a treasonous conspiracy, and calling for him to be prosecuted over the FBI's investigation of the ties between Trump's

2016 campaign and Russian operatives. She also foresaw an FBI raid at the Fulton County, Georgia election headquarters, during which the administration, administration scooped up all the physical ballots from the 2020 presidential election, as well as ballot images, tabulator tapes, and the voter rolls from that election. But she never recovered her standing with the president. As Shane Harris noted in the Atlantic, while Trump was preparing to invade Venezuela and extract its president and his wife, Gabbard was posting pictures of herself on a Hawaiian beach.

Trump stayed in the White House over the weekend, missing his son Don Jr.'s wedding in the Bahamas with a social media post explaining that, while I very much wanted to be with my son, Don Jr., and the newest member of the Trump family, his soon-to-be wife Bettina, circumstances pertaining to government and my love for the United States of America

do not allow me to do so. I feel it is important for me to remain in Washington, D.C., at the White House during this important period of time. Whatever else might be going on, Trump is under pressure to find a way out of Iran. Not only are prices skyrocketing owing to the rising cost of oil after Iran shut the Strait of Hormuz

in response to attacks from the U.S. and Israel, but the clock has run out on any authorization he could have claimed for his military adventure in Iran, and Congress seems ready to force his hand. Congress alone can declare war, but the 1973 War Powers Act permits the President to act against an imminent threat, so long as he notifies Congress within 48 hours. Then he has 60 days to get congressional approval. That timeline ran out on May 1st, and the administration claimed it didn't need authorization

because it had declared a ceasefire on April 7th, although it continued. to maintain a blockade against Iranian ports, an act of war, and to exchange fire with Iranian forces. Republicans in Congress appeared to accept that argument for a time. But last Thursday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican of Louisiana, had to send representatives home a day early to keep members from passing a war powers resolution that would order Trump to remove U.S. troops from his war on Iran. The House and Senate will come back on June 2nd, and Trump clearly would like to have an agreement with Iran in place before they do. Trump's social media account over the weekend was active. He twice posted an image of himself leering over Greenland with the caption, Hello Greenland,

and repeated suggestions that China loves Trump. He posted an AI image of Representative Roe a Democrat of California, as a devil, I think, calling him a sleaze bag and a Democrat, and an image of eight lawmakers or officials in orange jumpsuits, except for Obama's tan one, claiming they had caused tremendous damage through weaponization. And he posted a number of images of colorful fountains. But much of the account's attention this weekend was on Iran. On Saturday morning, the account posted an image of Iran covered by a U.S. flag, and at 4.30 that afternoon, it posted that Trump had just had a call with leaders from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, or UAE,

Qatar, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain, and then a separate call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Iran. All the calls went very well, according to the post. An agreement has been largely negotiated, the post read, subject to finalization. Final aspects and details of the deal are currently being discussed and will be announced shortly. In addition to many other elements of the agreement, the Strait of Hormuz will be opened. But Iran's state media immediately posted that Trump's claim that the Strait would reopen as it was before the war was not true, adding that it should be noted that American officials have acknowledged in multiple messages to Iran

that Trump's tweets are primarily for promotional purposes and media consumption within the United States, and they have recommended that no attention be paid to these statements. Firm details about the deal were scarce, but as journalist David Schuster posted, Al Jazeera reported that the deal included, unfreezing billions in Iranian funds, lifting U.S. blockade, pulling U.S. forces away, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, though with tolls to Iran, and allowing Iran to keep its enriched uranium. This would be a total U.S. surrender, Schuster noted. Iran's military spokesperson, Ibrahim Al Thakar, posted an AI image of Trump kneeling before Iran's supreme leader,

with the caption, The End. Senator Roger Wicker, a Republican of Mississippi, chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, immediately condemned the deal. He told reporters, it would be a disaster. Everything accomplished by Operation Epic Fury would be for naught. Wicker urged Trump to allow America's skilled armed forces to finish the destruction of Iran's conventional military capabilities and, reopen the strait. Further pursuit of an agreement with Iran's Islamist regime risks a perception of weakness. We must finish what we started. It is past time for action. By Sunday morning, Trump was, once again, posting AI images of U.S. bombers attacking Iranian ships, complete with bodies flying through the air and insisting that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA,

negotiated between the U.S., China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and Iran during the Obama administration was one of the worst deals ever made by our country. Under the JCPOA, Iran agreed to reduce its stockpile of enriched uranium significantly and allow inspections in exchange for relief from some sanctions. The Strait of Hormuz remained open. Although inspectors said Iran was honoring the deal, Trump took the U.S. out of the JCPOA in 2018, and the following year, Iran resumed work on enriched uranium necessary for a nuclear weapon.

Trump added that he expected Middle Eastern countries, including Iran, to join the Abraham Accords. The deal hammered out during Trump's first term, under which the UAE and Bahrain formally recognized Israel. According to Barack Ravid of Axios, Arab leaders met Trump's suggestion of such a recognition during the Saturday phone call with silence. Then his account posted,

If I make a deal with Iran, it will be a good and proper one, not like the one made by Obama, which gave Iran massive amounts of cash and a clear and open path to a nuclear weapon. Our deal is the exact opposite, but nobody has seen it or knows what it is. It isn't even fully negotiated yet, so don't listen to the losers who are critical about something they know nothing about. Unlike those before me who should have solved this problem many years ago, I don't make

bad deals. This morning, Trump's account posted, I laugh at all of the Democrats, rhinos and fools who know nothing about the potential deal I am making with Iran. things that haven't even been negotiated yet. They are losers. The deal with Iran will either be a great and meaningful one or there will be no deal. It will be the exact opposite of the JCPOA disaster

negotiated by the failed Obama administration, which was a direct and open path to a nuclear weapon for Iran. No, I don't do deals like that. Meanwhile, on Meet the Press Sunday, Representative Thomas Massey, a Republican of Kentucky, who last week lost the primary for re-election to his seat after Trump backed his opponent and Trump's supporters through a gobsmacking $35 million at the contest, reopened fire from a different direction. Massey has been key to demanding the release of the Epstein files, and the administration continues to ignore the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which required the Department of Justice to release all the files no later than December 19, 2025. When host Kristen Welker, noting that Massey had named names from the files in the past, asked, Can we expect you to name more names in the coming weeks and months?

Massey answered, yes. 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.