Letters from an American
· collected 2026-10-07 · by Heather Cox Richardson
commentary
Judging from his social media posts, Trump is panicking.
asserted
Trump → judge → posts
Shortly after noon yesterday, he posted that it was “no longer the Strait of Hormuz” driving up gasoline prices, but Ukraine’s strikes on Russia’s refineries.
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Strait → post → refineries
In fact, some oil tankers have indeed been passing through the strait but, as Spencer Kimball of CNBC explains, “only due to a major U.S. military commitment and at a high cost to the lives of tanker crews.
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Kimball → pass → crews
” That policy was already too expensive to sustain,
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policy → sustain → ?
now increased strikes from Iran are threatening it altogether.
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strikes → increase → it
Then, clearly incensed at reports that people are not turning out for his rallies, he posted pictures to prove the arenas were full, but those pictures were carefully cropped to avoid the empty upper decks shown in news photographs.
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pictures → incense → photographs
“I never have empty seats—Never have, and never will
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I → have → seats
!” he posted.
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he → post → ?
He added: “The New York Times, and many other Artificial Media Outlets, should be arrested for their dishonesty and disservice to our Country.”
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Times → add → Country
Then he accused the New York Times of doctoring a picture of his Miami club, Trump National Doral, where he has announced he will hold this year’s Group of 20 (G20) summit of leaders from the world’s major advanced and emerging economies this December.
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he → accuse → economies
His attempt to hold the G7 there in 2019 created an uproar even from Republicans about the blatant self-dealing.
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attempt → hold → dealing
There is less uproar now, leaving Trump free to complain that the New York Times “is a CROOKED outfit that caters to Lunatics who want to see our Country fail” and to warn that “Some day in the not too distant future The Times will be forced to close its dirty doors, and that will be a Great Day for America!”
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that → be → America
Next to the New York Times image that showed a dirty, yellowed building looking out at the elbows, Trump posted one showing it gleaming white with immaculate gardens.
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it → show → gardens
A New York Times spokesperson told Alice Gibbs of Newsweek that the 2020 photo was not doctored.
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photo → tell → Newsweek
Gibbs noted that multiple photos from 2023 to 2026 show the same weathering shown in the New York Times photo.
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photos → note → photo
The founder of the Photography Ethics Center, Savannah Dodd, told Gibbs that the image Trump shared appeared to be a promotional photograph, and “[c]ommercial photography has different standards for accuracy, which are less stringent than journalistic standards.”
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which → tell → standards
Then Trump posted a wild attack on Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate from South Carolina, Annie Andrews, in an effort to boost his hand-picked candidate, Darline Graham, the late Senator Lindsey Graham’s sister.
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Trump → post → candidate
Begging people to vote for her, he wrote: “For years my dear friend Lindsey would say that, ‘Darline is the finest, most reliable, and one of the smartest people I have ever known.’
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I → beg → people
He would then always add, ‘Also, the most loyal!’
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He → add → ?
Oftentimes I would be upset with Lindsey for saying this, because I thought I had all of those qualities.”
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I → say → qualities
As William Kristol noted in The Bulwark today, new polls show that Andrews, a doctor who has refused to respond to what Kristol calls Trump’s revolting bigotry, is competitive against Graham, whose major qualification for the seat is that she is Graham’s sister.
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she → note → seat
Kristol notes that in response to Trump’s post, Andrews wrote: “As a mom and a pediatrician, I’m in this race to fight for my patients, my three kids, and South Carolina.
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I → note → patients
And I’m going to work with anyone to put South Carolina first, because lowering costs and making life better for families across our state is going to take all of us working together.
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all → go → us
If you care more about your bills than the politics in Washington, this campaign is for you.
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campaign → care → you
Then, once again, Trump promised: “If Republicans win the House of Representatives and the Senate in the 2026 Midterm Elections, I’m going to give all Adult Citizens in the United States of America, $5,000.”
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I → promise → America
Then he acknowledged the bipartisan outcry over his using $20 million of taxpayer money to run ads boosting himself, writing: “The Radical Left is upset with the fact that I am taking Ads, which I consider to be a positive promotion for our Great U.S.A., and paying for them with U.S.A. money.
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I → acknowledge → money
This is a rather standard thing to do but, rather than doing that, although nothing will make them happy, I have decided to do the Patriotic Ads, among others, and pay for them myself, and with money I raised for MAGA, Inc. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
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AMERICA → do → Inc.
(This afternoon, Trump walked that back, telling reporters that “many presidents before” him had produced ads like the ones he’s been running that boosted himself, so “we’ll decide” if he should reimburse the American public for the cost of the ones he’s run.
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he → walk → ones
Tonight, the White House said he would not reimburse the American people, and his promise would only apply “moving forward.”
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promise → say → people
Then, yesterday, he posted again about the Doral photo, saying “The New York Times DOCTORED the picture of the beautiful exterior facade of Doral, in Miami, trying to make it look as bad as possible.
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it → post → Miami
That’s why they’re going TO HELL, and their subscription numbers are way down!”
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numbers → ’ → HELL
With media stories noting that Republican candidates do not want to be seen with Trump, this morning he posted: “My Rally crowds and enthusiasm are unbelievable!
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crowds → note → Trump
Nobody has ever seen anything like it.
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Nobody → see → it
We are flipping races all over the place.
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We → flip → place
The Fake News knows it, but they don’t want to be truthful with their viewers.
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they → know → viewers
It’s all happening!
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It → happen → ?
The Dumocrats never counted on this.
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Dumocrats → count → this
Thanks you [sic] to the great Networks that are covering the Rallies in full.
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that → cover → Rallies
They are being rewarded with BIG RATINGS.
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They → reward → RATINGS
About an hour and a half later, he posted: “MY RALLIES ARE SAVING THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, AGAIN!!!”
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RALLIES → post → PARTY
…and 43 more, not listed.
The Aporia
