Letters from an American
· collected 2026-09-17 · by Heather Cox Richardson
commentary
Yesterday U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper of the District of Columbia refused to permit the Kennedy Center board, stacked by Trump with his own loyalists, to return Trump’s name to the facade of the building.
asserted
Cooper → refuse → building
Cooper reiterated that Congress had prohibited such an addition and would have to change that law in order to make the addition of Trump’s name legal.
asserted
addition → reiterate → name
The board of the Kennedy Center promptly appealed and voted to close the venue for two years for renovations.
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board → appeal → renovations
Then Trump posted on social media that those renovations couldn’t take place unless the court approved the addition of his name to the building.
asserted
court → post → building
Without that, he posted, “unfortunately, the Building is destined to doom.
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Building → post → that
Although the Kennedy Center board insisted that only Trump’s name on the building would restore donations, in fact, the Washington Post reports that ticket sales and fundraising plunged when Trump added his name to the building in the first place.
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Trump → insist → place
Nonetheless, Trump posted that he is the only one who can save it, “because I have the ability to raise the money, and the ability to construct—that few others have.
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others → post → that
I also have the strength and power of the Presidency, which will be needed [to] do what must be done, and give it a strong shot at Greatness again!”
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what → have → Greatness
As George Conway of the Bulwark noted, “To destroy things he can’t possess or control is his essential nature.”
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he → note → things
It is also as if Trump is self-soothing by celebrating his core identity even as his incompetence and greed have driven the United States, and the world, into crisis.
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incompetence → soothe → crisis
But even that is not providing him comfort these days.
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that → provide → comfort
Representative Joyce Beatty (D-OH), an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center board and the member who sued over his takeover of the center, explained to Symone Sanders-Townsend of MS NOW that Trump called into the board meeting after the court decision and “went into a tantrum.”
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Trump → sue → tantrum
While most people appear to have refused to confront Trump to his face—Maine governor Janet Mills’s “We’ll see you in court” was so rare it made headlines—Beatty took him on.
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Beatty → appear → him
She recounted: “It was the most unprofessional thing that I’ve ever witnessed or been a part of it.”
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I → recount → it
But after he called her “an obstructionist” and “dumb” and said he thought she was “incompetent,” she retorted: “I know you’re incompetent.”
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you → call → her
Beatty appealed to the chair to stop Trump’s unprofessional behavior, but when he continued to berate her, claiming it would be her fault if someone were killed at the center, she responded: “You’re already killing people, we’re at war.”
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we → appeal → war
And when he talked about what a great developer he was, she “reminded him that he had more bankruptcies than anybody in the room.”
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he → talk → room
“I mean, it really went there,” Beatty told Sanders-Townsend.
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Beatty → mean → Townsend
“I was not going to let him bully me, intimidate me.
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him → go → me
And the facts stand for themselves.
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facts → stand → themselves
Indeed, these days, facts across the board are challenging Trump’s image of himself.
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facts → challenge → himself
Panic is sounding across the U.S. about oil prices.
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Panic → sound → prices
The Houthis in Yemen, backed by Iran, are threatening the Bab el-Mandeb strait at the outlet of the Red Sea on its way to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, threatening another 4% of the world’s oil supply to global markets.
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Houthis → back → markets
Saudi Arabia had diverted oil shipments from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea through the East-West pipeline across the country, but officials have closed the pipeline after strikes.
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officials → divert → strikes
Today, senior executives from Shell and Equinor warned that the world is looking at tightening supplies of oil and “price volatility” as the industry is losing the ability to offset the disruptions.
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industry → warn → disruptions
On X, Patrick De Haan, a petroleum analyst at GasBuddy, charted the rise of diesel prices in the U.S. this week.
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Haan → chart → U.S.
Diesel jumped $0.82 a gallon in Fort Stewart, Georgia; $0.82 in Moorhead, Minnesota; $0.75 in Athens, Georgia.
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Diesel → jump → Athens
In the twelve hours before 1:30 this afternoon, Eastern time, gasoline jumped $0.30 a gallon in Lawrence County, Ohio, and Edwardsburg, Michigan.
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gasoline → jump → County
It jumped $0.28 a gallon in Des Moines, Iowa.
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It → jump → Moines
De Haan reported that gas prices in and around Chicago appeared to be rising to $4.99 a gallon today.
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prices → report → 4.99
As De Haan noted, it was “no shock, with diesel setting new all-time records and showing no signs of slowing,” that the Federal Reserve raised interest rates today for the first time since July 2023.
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Reserve → note → July
Trump has been adamant that he wants to see interest rates lowered and has threatened to cut off trade with certain countries unless the Fed lowered them.
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Fed → want → them
But rising inflation meant that the board instead voted unanimously to raise rates by a quarter of a percentage point to a target range of 3.75% to 4%.
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board → rise → 4
Trump did not take the news well.
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Trump → take → news
“Interest Rates in the United States should be 1%, or less, because we are the Best Credit in the World—BY FAR,” he posted.
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he → post → World
At a political rally in North Carolina, Trump suggested that the Fed is attacking him personally.
uncertain
Fed → suggest → him
“They’re raising the rates to make Trump do as bad as they can possibly do,” he said, referring to himself in the third person.
uncertain
he → raise → person
“The problem they have is that we have the greatest economy in history.”
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we → have → history
“So they’re raising that only for political reasons and that’s a raise against Trump.”
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that → raise → Trump
In Ireland, where he traveled for the Irish Open golf tournament at his course in Doonbeg, Trump told reporters on Sunday that the U.S. might stay in Iran and “keep the oil” as the U.S. did in Venezuela.
uncertain
U.S. → travel → Venezuela
…and 34 more, not listed.
The Aporia
