Letters from an American

October 30, 2026
Stories of fraud continue, Last summer, the Department of Homeland Security paid more than $495 million for a 1,600 bed prison that the state of Minnesota declined to purchase at a selling price of $75 million, Trump Media and Technology Group, of which Trump owns 41%, received $350,000 for running ads on Trump’s social media site for Freedom 250, Low-engagement voters, who don’t pay much attention to politics, are swinging away from Trump, Almost half of Americans' spending now goes toward food and housing, the highest percentage in years, Oil company profits are skyrocketing, Americans are angry that oil companies are profiting while consumers pay higher prices and bear the cost of cuts to Medicaid, ACA subsidies, SNAP, medical and scientific research while Trump’s war in Iran goes on and on, The cost of the Iran war is now estimated to be more than $47 billion, without counting the costs of the damage to US military bases in the Middle East, US officials have warned Gulf Arab countries to be prepared for renewed strikes on Iran, Trump’s rallies for Republican candidates have not drawn big crowds, and Republicans are distancing themselves from him, Trump keeps going on the road, hoping to sell voters on his message, but that won’t be an easy sell. 
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October 29, 2026
Flàvio Bolsonaro’s escape from Brazil to Miami was arranged in part by White House officials, Trump ordered the State Department to give Bolsonaro and his family temporary status, Trump asserts that Lula’s victory was rigged, Trump posted at length on social media about the East Potomac Golf Course and is paying less attention to government affairs than to his building projects, He did not seem to know that General Brett Sylvia had been fired by Pete Hegseth, or even who Gen Sylvia was, Trump has cancelled rallies planned for this weekend and is trying to convince Americans that the 2026 midterms are being rigged by the Democrats, US District Judge David O Carter has refused efforts to set aside ballots in California, noting that the administration is engaging in election interference, even as Markwayne Mullin has sent letters to secretaries of state in several states, alleging that their voter rolls include noncitizens, The Department of Justice has directed California’s top federal prosecutors to launch criminal investigations of local and state officials, The administration is also jumping on the report that a staffer for Mary Peltola, who is running for senate in Alaska, engaged in ballot stacking, seeking a candidate to add to the ballot in order to confuse voters.  Ballot stacking is not illegal unless money changes hands, Trump has called for Peltola and the candidate to be removed from the ballot, In Alaska a number of polling places in rural areas failed to open as promised, Trump appears to have a plan to restart military actions in Iran after the election, Sen Chris Murphy has said that it will lead to a "an escalation of this war that will be devastating for our security interests."
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October 28, 2026
Flàvio Bolsonaro, who lost the election to become president of Brazil, arrived in Miami with his family, in spite of his being barred from leaving Brazil, His defeat strikes a blow to Trump’s campaign to install right-wing leaders across Latin America, Trump apparently intends to shelter Bolsonaro in the US, Brazilian police have been ordered to investigate whether Rockbridge, a donor network co-founded by JD Vance, illegally helped finance Bolsonaro’s presidential campaign, MAGA is showing signs of collapsing at home, The numbers of people watching Fox News are dropping, James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Texas, is running ads showing Republicans who are voting for him rather than the Republican candidate, Ken Paxton, Republicans in South Carolina and Alaska are also endorsing Democratic candidates, Trump’s multiple rallies in states that previously were reliably Republican underscore the alarm among Republicans that there are multiple paths to Democratic control of the Senate, Right wing activists James O’Keefe and Cam Higby have been charged with a felony for voting unlawfully.  
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October 27, 2026
After a student-led democratic movement ousted Serbia’s Aleksandar Vučić from power, Serbian TV apologized to viewers for failing to report what had been happening under his regime, In Brazil, Flávio Bolsonaro lost the race for the presidency to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in spite of what appears to have been Meta's intentional restriction of accounts supporting him, Lula’s supporters used social media to override Meta’s restrictions, Bolsonaro had the support of Trump and MAGA insiders, but when Trump suggested he would not intervene in the election, Bolsonaro effectively conceded, Brazilian authorities ordered Bolsonaro to remain in the country, but he went missing, only to turn up in the US where the State Department indicated it would offer him and his family visas, Issues of vote suppression in the US have led House members to demand that Meta explain why the main Instagram account of No Kings was suspended during the organization's October 17th get out the vote rally, Disinformation, driven by AI, is rampant on social media in advance of the midterms, Trump’s allegiance to Putin continues as the administration considers lifting sanctions on Russia's government investment fund, Democratic candidate for senate from Florida, Angie Nixon, has posted to Meta that her campaign’s Instagram page was taken down, with just seven days to the election.  
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October 26, 2026
Trump posted his longest-ever social media post last night, Giant turnout for rallies by Obama illustrate the changing mood of the country, Images of the packed venues for Obama, compared to the dwindling crowds for Trump, circulated on social  media, Trump’s determination to keep Republicans in control of Congress reflects concern that Democrats will impeach him and worry over what such hearings might reveal, The administration is trying to hide documents related to the Kennedy Center, A shareholder of a publicly traded US crypto company sued Trump and World Liberty Financial, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee released a report saying that a growing body of evidence demonstrates that Trump was an active participant in Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of young women, Trump and his allies are trying to tip the scales in the election, by spending vast amounts of money, suing the state of Alaska, pressuring states to release voter files, trying to use the US Postal Service to screen ballots, and sending ICE agents to ask residents about their immigration status, The transparent attempts to steal the election could sow confusion and lay the groundwork for challenging a Democratic victory. 
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