April 10, 2026
Heather Cox Richardson from Letters from an American<heathercoxrichardson@substack.com>
It feels like something shifted in the United States this
week after President Donald J. Trump threatened on Tuesday that “a whole
civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” As professor
of human rights, global affairs, and philosophy Mathias Risse of Harvard
University’s Kennedy School noted, the Geneva Conventions prohibit “acts or
threats of violence whose primary purpose is to terrorize civilians.” He
notes that Trump’s threat terrorized 90 million Iranians by threatening them
with genocide. Trump has continued to struggle to assert his power over
Iran since Tuesday, and has continued to fail. Yesterday former secretary of
state John Kerry told Jen Psaki of The Briefing that Israeli
prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had urged presidents Barack Obama, Joe
Biden, and George W. Bush to strike Iran, and they all refused him. Only
Trump was willing to go along. But negotiations have been rocky all along, and today
Trump warned that if Iran didn’t come to a peace deal, the U.S. would launch
even deadlier attacks. “We have a reset going,” Trump told the New
York Post. At 9:31 this morning, Trump’s social media account posted:
“WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL RESET!!! PRESIDENT DJT.” At 12:27, Trump vented some
of his apparent frustration that the Iranians have been trolling him,
posting: “The Iranians are better at handling the Fake News Media, and
‘Public Relations,’ than they are at fighting!” A minute later, he posted:
“The Iranians don’t seem to realize they have no cards, other than a short
term extortion of the World by using International Waterways. The only reason
they are alive today is to negotiate!” Trump continues to try to shore up the international
right-wing authoritarian project even as people are turning against it. Today
he threw the economic might of the United States of America behind Hungarian
prime minister Viktor Orbán, who gutted Hungary’s democracy and turned the
country into an authoritarian state. Orbán is deeply underwater ahead of the
April 12 parliamentary elections in Hungary. Vice President J.D. Vance has
been in Hungary to support Orbán, and today Trump posted: “My Administration stands
ready to use the full Economic Might of the United States to strengthen
Hungary’s Economy, as we have done for our Great Allies in the past, if Prime
Minister Viktor Orbán and the Hungarian People ever need it. We are excited
to invest in the future Prosperity that will be generated by Orbán’s
continued Leadership! President DONALD J. TRUMP” A recently revealed transcript of an October 2025 phone
call between Orbán and Russian president Vladimir Putin shows Orbán promising
to be a “mouse” aiding the “lion” Putin, telling the Russian leader: “In any
matter where I can be of assistance, I am at your service.” Tonight
Hungarians filled the streets to protest Orbán, chanting “Russians, go home.” Josh Dawsey of the Wall Street Journal reported
today that Trump has repeatedly promised to pardon his top officials before
he leaves office and that he brings up the subject frequently. In a recent
meeting, he said: “I’ll pardon everyone who has come within 200 feet of the
Oval [Office].” In response to a request for comment by Meredith Kile
of People magazine, White House press secretary Karoline
Leavitt said: “The Wall Street Journal should learn to
take a joke; however, the President’s pardon power is absolute.” But Tuesday has given momentum to those trying to rein
Trump in. Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the top-ranking Democrat on the
House Judiciary Committee, made a record of Trump’s recent bizarre behavior
in a letter today to the president’s personal physician, Captain Sean P.
Barbabella. Raskin noted that “[e]xperts have repeatedly warned that
the President has been exhibiting signs consistent with dementia and
cognitive decline. And, in recent days, the country has watched President
Trump’s public statements and outbursts turn increasingly incoherent,
volatile, profane, deranged, and threatening.” Raskin recounted Trump’s wild
social media posts and weird performance at the White House Easter egg roll,
what the congressman called “a bizarre display that shocked tens of millions
of Americans and astonished observers across the political spectrum.” Raskin wrote that Trump’s “apparently deteriorating
condition has caused tremendous alarm across the nation (and political
spectrum) about the President’s cognitive function and continuing mental
fitness for the office of President, and prompted concerns about the
President’s well-being.” Raskin asked the White House physician to “[c]onduct a
comprehensive neuropsychological assessment of the President, including a
formal cognitive screening instrument, and publicly release the results;
[p]rovide a detailed report on the President’s current mental and physical
health status, including any medications he is currently taking and their
potential cognitive side effects; and [m]ake yourself available for a
briefing, under oath, with Members of the Committee on the results of this
assessment.” Former secretary of transportation Pete Buttigieg said
on Morning Joe today that the gradual destruction of the
United States under Trump changed suddenly on Tuesday. “For the leader of the
free world, the leader of this country, to just make a nakedly genocidal
threat against another civilization, as if the United States of America was a
death star that was going around blowing up civilizations, of course that
crosses a new line, and, of course, that’s a new low,” he said. Buttigieg continued: “I think the really important thing
to remember is that the effects of that kind of thing will outlive Donald
Trump long after he has departed the scene, the collapse in trust, not just
affection for the United States, but trust in the United States, and it’s
very important that not just allies but, frankly, also adversaries that we’re
negotiating with when we’re making a peace deal or some other kind of deal,
that they have a level of trust that there is stability in the United States.” Those trying to write off Trump’s threat as bluster or
just Trump being Trump were missing the point, he said. “[T]he reality is
that the whole country is being judged. Even though most Americans don’t
support him anyway. The whole country is being judged just for tolerating
that kind of thing at the White House.” The pushback against Trump is spreading across the United
States. Jess Craven of Chop Wood, Carry Water today called
out rock and roll legend Bruce Springsteen’s opening last night at his
concert in Los Angeles: “Good evening, Los Angeles,” he said. “Welcome to the Land
of Hope and Dreams tour. We begin tonight with a prayer for our men and women
in service overseas. We pray for their safe return. “The mighty E Street Band is here tonight to call upon the
righteous power of art, of music, of rock and roll in dangerous times. We are
here in celebration and defense of our American ideals, democracy, our
Constitution, and our sacred American promise. The America I love, the
America that I’ve written about for 50 years, that has been a beacon of hope
and liberty around the world, is currently in the hands of a corrupt,
incompetent, racist, reckless, and treasonous administration,” he said. “Tonight we ask all of you to join with us in choosing
hope over fear, democracy over authoritarianism, the rule of law over
lawlessness, ethics over unrivaled corruption, resistance over complacency,
truth over lies, unity over division, and peace over war.” — Notes: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5825822-trump-threatens-iran-military-strikes/ Bluesky: jesscraven101.bsky.social/post/3mj5hmbih4c24 atrupar.com/post/3mj5mgqot3o2a acyn.bsky.social/post/3mj46zxfhas2s ronfilipkowski.bsky.social/post/3mj66vbwqcc22 onestpress.onestnetwork.com/post/3mj6rzlvk322q numb.comfortab.ly/post/3mj5opytgek26 woodwardnick.bsky.social/post/3mj5hznvx7k2v tomshafshafer.bsky.social/post/3mj5symdq5k2f paulballen.bsky.social/post/3mj65gur3yc27 opheliapg.bsky.social/post/3mj5tnl3g222o You’re currently a free subscriber to Letters from an
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© 2026 Heather Cox Richardson |
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