Politics Chat

In today’s Politics Chat: Trump signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario "Lake America," a symbolic move with no binding effect abroad. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney walked away from trade talks and imposed retaliatory tariffs effective September 8 targeting Republican districts, pivoting Canada's trade relationship toward the European Union instead. A new Strength in Numbers poll found Trump underwater on every issue including deportations, with 49 percent of Americans strongly disapproving versus 17 percent strongly approving. The national debt has passed 40 trillion dollars. Federal courts, including Trump-appointed judges, have ruled against the administration 23 times in a row over its attempts to obtain state voter rolls, producing a 17 percent false-positive purge rate. Trump's handpicked Kennedy Center board is threatening to demolish the building unless his name is restored to it. The Department of Justice has released only about half the court-ordered Epstein files, with Attorney General Todd Blanche accused of blocking the rest. New reporting found nearly 4.7 billion dollars missing from Trump-linked cryptocurrency schemes.

Politics Chat is recorded live on YouTube and Facebook every Tuesday and Thursday at 6 pm Maine time (3 PM PT / 6 PM ET).

Watch today's recording: https://youtube.com/live/os5f5VUCroU?feature=share

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In today’s Politics Chat: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries met with Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, sparking Democratic backlash. Trump's tariff war with Canada, launched under emergency powers after courts struck down earlier tariffs, is reworking the post-World War II international order built on free trade and alliances. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has refused further negotiation and is instead building coalitions with the European Union and other middle powers. Canada's retaliatory tariffs are targeting Republican-held states including Maine, Iowa, and Michigan. Six months into the Iran war, Iran has held off the U.S. and Israel and now controls the Strait of Hormuz. The loss of the U.S. base in Bahrain means the U.S. is unlikely to rebuild its regional military presence. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed an executive order blocking new copper-sulfide mining permits near the Boundary Waters. Country music icon Dolly Parton died today in Nashville, at 80.

Politics Chat is recorded live on YouTube and Facebook every Tuesday and Thursday at 6 pm Maine time (3 PM PT / 6 PM ET).

Watch today's recording: https://www.youtube.com/live/5TdLezlrhX8?si=AjS_K0Wz8XIlekrp

Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

You 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 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hcrichardson

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Topics covered in today’s Politics Chat: USS Abraham Lincoln resupply crisis, fabricated polling scandal, Natalie Harp and Trump's inner circle, spheres-of-influence foreign policy, alienating traditional allies, South Korea military exercise cancellation, North Korea and Russia alignment, Iran war, Strait of Hormuz control and transit tolls, rising diesel and food prices, renewable energy imperative, tactical nuclear weapons speculation, declining approval across demographics, Hoover administration parallel, federal workforce versus contractors, food safety failures, state voter roll lawsuits, voter intimidation, redistricting and independent commissions, fact-based media history, presidential self-enrichment

Politics Chat is recorded live on YouTube and Facebook every Tuesday and Thursday at 6 pm Maine time (3 PM PT / 6 PM ET).

Watch today's recording:https://youtube.com/live/_xi_O1EXPOc?feature=share

Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

You 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 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hcrichardson

Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

Topics covered in today’s Politics Chat: USS Abraham Lincoln resupply crisis, fabricated polling scandal, Natalie Harp and Trump's inner circle, spheres-of-influence foreign policy, alienating traditional allies, South Korea military exercise cancellation, North Korea and Russia alignment, Iran war, Strait of Hormuz control and transit tolls, rising diesel and food prices, renewable energy imperative, tactical nuclear weapons speculation, declining approval across demographics, Hoover administration parallel, federal workforce versus contractors, food safety failures, state voter roll lawsuits, voter intimidation, redistricting and independent commissions, fact-based media history, presidential self-enrichment.

Politics Chat is recorded live on YouTube and Facebook every Tuesday and Thursday at 6 pm Maine time (3 PM PT / 6 PM ET).

Watch today's recording: https://youtube.com/live/Vo18MtjJ4LU?feature=share

Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

You 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 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hcrichardson

Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

Topics covered in today’s Politics Chat: Kennedy Center takeover, monument and memorial legality, ICE-TSA data sharing and mass arrests, expedited immigration court proceedings, unaccompanied minor legal representation, detention deaths and reporting policy, ICE shock gloves, Haitian temporary protected status revocation, ankle monitoring, Big Bend border wall damage, DHS luxury aircraft purchases, RFK Jr. vaccine schedule changes, MMR vaccine executive order, executive privilege expansion, Corporate Transparency Act repeal and shell company data destruction, Epstein files contempt threat, state-level electoral strategy and redistricting, Watergate-era reform parallel.

Politics Chat is recorded live on YouTube and Facebook every Tuesday and Thursday at 6 pm Maine time (3 PM PT / 6 PM ET).

Watch today's recording: https://www.youtube.com/live/FRzxaXIXI8g?si=Elg6hOLnWG2heqwP

Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

You 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

Topics covered in today’s Politics Chat: Executive order powers, Greenland oil ambitions, attorney general confirmation and executive privilege, presidential approval decline and health scrutiny, Iran war setbacks and Strait of Hormuz, White House departures, Air Force One decoy incident, border wall damage and military strain, White House renovation spending and park funding diversion, national monument reductions, MAGA realignment unraveling.

Politics Chat is recorded live on YouTube and Facebook every Tuesday and Thursday at 6 pm Maine time (3 PM PT / 6 PM ET).

Watch today's recording:https://youtube.com/live/Ek3Xru1uUmI?feature=share

Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

You 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

U.S. missile and munitions shortages, Iran war of choice, Strait of Hormuz control and transit fees, freedom of the seas, rising gas and food prices, inflation, Venezuela oil seizure, Trump family government contracts, taxpayer-funded vanity projects, Fauci contempt of Congress vote, pardon limits and self-incrimination, Salem witch trials, weaponized prosecutions, withheld funds to Democratic states, mail-in ballot Supreme Court challenge, Medicaid and SNAP cuts, Watergate-era reforms.

Politics Chat is recorded live on YouTube and Facebook every Tuesday and Thursday at 6 pm Maine time (3 PM PT / 6 PM ET).

Watch today's recording:https://youtube.com/live/Faf9hUi3bsk?feature=share

Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

You 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

Topics covered in today’s Politics Chat: Party realignment, Capital One money laundering allegation, bank enabling of Epstein trafficking, paid insider-trading access, attorney general confirmation, Justice Department non-prosecution deal, Epstein files litigation, presidential approval decline, Republican infighting, reflecting pool vandalism case, Iran war, data center and AI pushback, Margaret Chase Smith and Bill Cohen dissent precedents, Heritage Foundation and Powell memo history, arts and humanities funding, White House ballroom spending.

Politics Chat is recorded live on YouTube and Facebook every Tuesday and Thursday at 6 pm Maine time (3 PM PT / 6 PM ET).

Watch today's recording: https://youtube.com/live/1wzFzhtCf6A?feature=share

Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

You 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

Topics covered in today’s Politics Chat: 19th-century political biography collecting, Medicare and Medicaid anniversary, Medicare Part D subsidy elimination, Medicaid payment withholding to states, One Big Beautiful Bill Act Medicaid cuts, Medicare Advantage privatization, Iran war, Strait of Hormuz control, munitions shortages, State Department Africa map error, International Criminal Court targeting, Caribbean and eastern Pacific boat strikes, attorney general confirmation, Justice Department non-prosecution deal, Epstein files litigation, billionaire midterm spending, SAVE Act, mail-in voting Supreme Court challenge, Medicaid-for-children proposal.

Politics Chat is recorded live on YouTube and Facebook every Tuesday and Thursday at 6 pm Maine time (3 PM PT / 6 PM ET).

Watch today's recording: https://www.youtube.com/live/LG_YlRGTYrQ?si=lcPowX5y3hHVtY6c

Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

You 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

Topics covered in today’s Politics Chat: Trump mental acuity, partisan legitimacy double standard, historic preservation rollbacks, Caribbean and eastern Pacific boat strikes, Iran war of choice, War Powers Act evasion, Venezuela oil extraction, munitions shortages, revised Iran war casualty figures, tariff authority after Supreme Court ruling, tariffs as income tax replacement, wealthy tax cuts, Justice Department weaponization, reflecting pool vandalism case, Epstein files litigation, SAVE Act, food safety and measles outbreaks, 1913 income tax history, evangelical right and reproductive rights alignment.

Politics Chat is recorded live on YouTube and Facebook every Tuesday and Thursday at 6 pm Maine time (3 PM PT / 6 PM ET).

Watch today's recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQuR2yoUnVI

Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

You 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