Alan Zendell, October 19, 2026
This morning, in today’s edition of her Letters From an American, Heather Cox Richardson wrote, “After ten years of Trump insisting that reports of his cooperation with Russia were a hoax, here we are, watching one profoundly unpopular man tear apart the global system under which we have lived for eighty years in order to climb into bed with Vladimir Putin.”
In less than two years, Trump has broken the alliances that have enabled us to avert World War 3, disrupted the world’s economy, our own, and those of our closest allies with his tariffs, undercut NATO’s support for Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression, and initiated a war with Iran that is out of control and that has exposed the vulnerabilities in what is left of the world order. In doing so, he has proved, once again, that superior weaponry and trillions of dollars invested in defense cannot defeat a determined enemy willing to sacrifice everything to stand against us.
That’s quite a list of accomplishments in a mere twenty-one months. And Trump, finally facing the reality that his dominance in American politics is about to be muzzled, seems determined to put the final nail in the coffin of the world order his predecessors created and which millions of Americans lost their lives defending. The complicity of the Republican party and his hand-crafted Supreme Court will be coming home to roost in two weeks, and Trump is determined to make the destruction of the world we grew up in an accomplished fact before a hostile Congress can stop him.
The violence that began in France last week with public protests over the rapidly spiking cost of living are now spreading across Europe, and nothing could make Vladimir Putin happier. His seemingly hypnotic hold over the American president seems to be finally bearing fruit as he has been given a windfall of billions of dollars to support his war machine, separated us from all of our allies and created chaos across Europe that has brought NATO to the brink of collapse, while allowing right-wing extremists to gain power around the world.
Even though we have all seen this happening before our eyes like a slow motion avalanche, it’s still difficult to comprehend that one insane narcissist could have caused so much damage. It’s not clear how he managed to turn a once proud conservative political party into the impotent lapdog that MAGA has made it, but Americans, though they may not understand how we got here, finally realize that Trump’s America is not a place they want to live in. Despite all his attempts to gerrymander the election, suppress the votes of his opponents, and persist with the lie that elections have been rigged against him, he’s about to experience a humiliating come down that will neutralize his power.
Even Putin couldn’t possibly have imagined how Trump’s incompetence in starting a war he can’t win would have shifted world affairs to Russia’s (and China’s) advantage. The chaos we’re witnessing across Europe which appears to be threatening Emanuel Macron’s government in France is a direct result of that war and Trump’s failure to understand the underlying power of the Iranian regime. The single egregious error of failing to recognize Iran’s ability to disrupt the world’s energy supply, especially with winter approaching, may bring more nations than France to their knees.
The cost of gasoline and diesel fuel have emerged as the most consequential results of the Iran war that are separating nations and increasing the influence of Russia, China, and the state sponsors of jihad and terrorism. We think we’re suffering in America as the cost of everything rises, but it’s far worse elsewhere, and that is very bad for our future. Today, gasoline prices average $4.33 per gallon and diesel fuel averages $6.31 per gallon across the United States. Compare that to what our former allies are facing:
Regular unleaded Gasoline Diesel
USA $4.33 $6.31
France $9.08 $10.06
UK $7.43 $8.49
Germany $9.38 $9.64
Italy $8.66 $9.55
Netherlands $10.45 $10.53
Canada $7.57 $9.88
Can you imagine what would happen across the United States if the prices our allies are facing existed here? Can you imagine what will surely happen starting in January when Trump’s cuts to SNAP (the federal food assistance program) will end assistance to up to six million people and up to ten million Americans will lose their health insurance due to cuts to Medicaid and Obamacare subsidies? After the January sixth insurrection that threatened our Capitol, will there be any restraints to how suffering people, millions of whom are armed, express their anger?
Pay attention to the worsening violence in Europe. It can and very likely will happen here if Trump’s horrendous policies aren’t reversed by the new Congress. Every vote matters. I cast mine a week ago.
