Letters from an American
· collected 2026-10-10 · by Heather Cox Richardson
commentary
Late Wednesday afternoon, Dana Mattioli, Drew Hinshaw, Rebecca Ballhaus, and Joe Parkinson of the Wall Street Journal reported on the tawdry grifting of Kimberly Guilfoyle, former fiancee of Donald Trump Jr. and now Trump’s ambassador to Greece.
asserted
Mattioli → report → Greece
Panicked about how much money she owed on her American Express credit card, Guilfoyle reached out to Eric Deters, who wanted the administration’s help with tax and legal issues.
asserted
who → panic → issues
Deters had promised Guilfoyle as much as a million dollars if she was successful in getting him the help he wanted.
asserted
he → promise → help
With her confirmation hearing for the ambassador post coming up, Guilfoyle begged Deters to pay $100,000 to American Express.
asserted
Guilfoyle → come → Express
“It won’t show up anywhere if you wire money to American Express,” she wrote on the secure messaging app Signal, the Wall Street Journal reporters explained.
asserted
reporters → show → app
She reiterated over text: “Honey please I need you to get this done for me today.”
asserted
this → reiterate → me
“Your needing $100,000 urgent unfortunately is not going to work,” Deters wrote.
asserted
Deters → need → 100,000
“I can’t do this without getting a divorce.”
asserted
I → do → divorce
In their months of correspondence, Guilfoyle often complained that he was not being careful enough.
asserted
he → complain → correspondence
“Eric, I really wish you would stop papering all these things,” she wrote.
asserted
she → wish → things
“It’s really dangerous and not helpful to you or me while you could simply just call me on signal.”
uncertain
you → ’ → signal
She wrote: “It’s unbelievable when we have a private arrangement with you that you would now CC a producer talking about money.”
asserted
you → write → money
And later: “What a nightmare you’ll literally cost me my ambassadorship stop writing.”
asserted
you → cost → ambassadorship
Looking back today at stories of corruption involving Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, former secretary of homeland security Kristi Noem, and so on, Chris Hayes of MS NOW explained that Trump’s inner circle “works a lot like a crime family….
asserted
circle → look → family
[E]veryone gets their fiefdoms.
asserted
E]veryone → get → fiefdoms
They can get their beaks wet.
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beaks → get → ?
But they’ve always got to make sure they’re giving the boss his due.”
asserted
they → get → due
On Tuesday, Samantha Subin of CNBC reported that just days after Palmer Luckey joined the Pentagon’s new Project Meridian, set up to report on the military’s future needs, the company Luckey co-founded—Anduril—landed a $2.9 billion contract with the U.S. Navy.
asserted
Luckey → report → Navy
And today, Reuters reported that Kalshi is investigating suspicious trades having to do with Trump’s selection of Katie Zacharia as the new White House press secretary.
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Kalshi → report → secretary
Americans don’t like corruption, and with the midterms shaping up to be a disaster for the Republicans, Trump has launched an all-out offensive to solidify his base.
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Trump → like → base
That offensive includes spinning the Iran War, calling for a public execution, attacking immigrants both rhetorically and in real life, and shifting the United States against the defense of international law and allying with authoritarian governments.
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offensive → include → governments
On Wednesday, October 7, Jonathan Saul of Reuters reported that attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz hit the highest level since the war on Iran began.
asserted
war → report → Iran
Shortly after noon yesterday, October 8, Trump tried to spin the situation there to make it sound like he was in control.
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he → try → control
He posted that “Iran is in a very bad condition, both Economically and Militarily,” that the U.S. blockade is still in effect, that oil is flowing “in Record Numbers of Barrels through the Hormuz Strait,” and that the administration is having “productive discussions” with Iran.
asserted
administration → post → Iran
He added: “[W]e will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the Midterm Elections to be held in the United States on November 3rd.
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He → add → 3rd
IRAN WILL NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!”
asserted
IRAN → have → WEAPON
In an interview with far-right podcaster Jack Posobiec on board the USS Abraham Lincoln on Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appealed to the MAGA religious base with a promise that the execution of former Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the mass shooter who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, would be public.
asserted
who → appeal → 2009
An active Army officer when he committed the murders, Hasan was court-martialed and sentenced to death.
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Hasan → commit → death
“We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public, because people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things,” Hegseth said.
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Hegseth → make → things
CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen noted that a livestream of the execution would be a rallying cry for terrorists.
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livestream → note → terrorists
Representative Jason Crow (D-CO), who served as a paratrooper and Army Ranger and is now on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Intelligence Committee, said: “Pete Hegseth has taken our military’s tradition of selfless service and flipped it on its head.
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Hegseth → serve → head
With this public execution, he is degrading the culture of our military and turning a culture of service into one of vengeance and spectacle, performed for cameras and attention on social media.
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he → degrade → media
Responding to it by livestreaming a violent execution is not an answer.
asserted
Responding → respond → execution
A public execution only gives our adversaries fodder for anti-American propaganda that makes us less safe.
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us → give → propaganda
Pete Hegseth’s self-absorbed hunger for power, attention, and violence is disgusting and beneath the office he holds.
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he → hold → office
He is not fit to lead.
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He → lead → ?
The idea was “beyond disgusting,” Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) wrote.
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Tillis → write → ?
“Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do.
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dictatorships → do → Iran
It should not be happening in America.”
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It → happen → America
Trump then tried to rile up his supporters by turning them against an invented “enemy,” a tactic that is Authoritarianism 101.
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that → try → enemy
…and 50 more, not listed.
The Aporia
