Letters from an American

July 14, 2026
In 1870, a US exploring expedition headed to the Yellowstone River and reported back about the natural wonders of the area, The House Committee on Public Lands warned about letting the area be spoiled by private interests, In 1982 President Grant signed the bill making Yellowstone a national park, In 1890, the federal government stepped in to protect Yosemite, Presidents of both parties continued to protect American lands, New York Republican Theodore Roosevelt most dramatically expanded the effort to protect western lands, Roosevelt used the Antiquities Act to create national monuments and, then, the Grand Canyon, Since the 1980s Republicans have pushed to reopen public lands to resource development, Trump signed an executive order in his first term to review the designations of 22 national monuments and ordered land reductions in two of them, Biden restored those monuments to their original size, But although the national parks and monuments attract millions of visitors, support thousands of jobs, and bring billions of dollars into the local economies, Project 2025 has urged that the Antiquities Act be repealed, The Supreme Court seems eager to get a case that will allow them to reduce the scope of the Antiquities Act, or eliminate it altogether. 
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July 13, 2026
The US has few options for extricating itself from Trump’s war on Iran with conditions better than when it went into the war, or before Trump tore up the plan of action negotiated by President Obama, Trump is claiming that he will keep the Strait of Hormuz open, The administration continues to deny that Congress has any role in its activities in Iran, despite the clear language of the Constitution, Trump’s sons have amassed a portfolio of defense tech startups that are benefitting from what the Pentagon is doing, In Maine, an ICE agent shot and killed a man from Colombia who was on his way to work but it appears he was not the man that ICE and Border Patrol were looking for, Less an a week ago, ICE shot and killed a man in Houston, who was close to obtaining legal status who also was not the person ICE was looking for, In Florida, a judge said that Trump, his lawyers, and lawyers for the DOJ, had manufactured the settlement of Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS, She said that they launched the lawsuit to confer legitimacy on a course of action that they did not want to subject to judicial review, She recommended legal sanctions against some of the lawyers, She was “extremely troubled” by the testimony of Todd Blanche, who comes up for confirmation as Attorney General, on July 15.
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July 12, 2026
The US is in the grip of an outbreak of the Cyclospora parasite, which is no longer being tracked by the CDC, The Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network had monitored 8 pathogens for 30 years, but it now monitors only two, The New World screwworm continues to spread in the US and Central America, with infestations spreading rapidly in numerous animals, The Trump administration held up funding for a facility crucial to slowing the spread as well as a research initiative to find ways to stop the pest, In Iran, the MOU signed by Trump in June formalized Iran’s power over the Strait of Hormuz, Soldiers who survived the Iranian attack on Port Shuaiba in Kuwait allege that the generals in command ignored intelligence that the site was a probable target, Wounded soldiers were not admitted to the hospital and soldiers and their families say the Army downplayed their injuries, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina died over the weekend, A former critic of Trump, he became a staunch supporter.
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July 11, 2026
The Department of Justice has subpoenaed reporters from the New York Times over a story about the Secret Service’s concerns about the new Air Force One plane that was given to the US by Qatar, Hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars appear to have been spent on renovating the plane, The reporting by the New York Times reporters is protected under the First Amendment, Trump’s fury fueled numerous angry social media posts, There have been reports of the high costs of renovations in Washington DC, A Pentagon official told local DC media that the National Guard troops will be in Washington through Inauguration Day 2029, The real reason for their deployment is ominous.
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July 10, 2026Trump refuses to sign the bipartisan housing bill because the Senate won’t pass the SAVE America Act, an act that will suppress voting, The housing bill was designed to address the housing crisis, Trump is making clear that his focus is not on governing, but on rigging the 2026 election, Trump’s appointees in the Department of Justice have been trying to intimidate election officials, Trump has fired the last two Democratic members of the Election Assistance Commission, claiming he has the right to do so under the Slaughter decision, The White House is fortifying the North Portico entrance to the White House, covering the portico with scaffolding, The administration intends to put fencing around Lafayette Square and parts of Pennsylvania Avenue, suggesting to the nation and the world that the government is exclusive and fearful of its own citizens. 
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