At 1:04 yesterday afternoon, Donald Trump landed in Arizona aboard Qatari Air Force One. Within minutes, he was preparing to tell another crowd that his followers would be okay if he murdered someone, that he had “aced” another cognitive exam, and that Canada would become the 51st state. He talked about Greenland and Venezuela as though sovereign nations were additions to his personal collection. Then he said, “Leakers should be shot… In the old days, we used to shoot leakers,” before pointing at the reporters and calling them leakers. At one point, just one of these statements from a president would have been a major issue. What I struggle with most now is how familiar it all feels. We hear another threat, another fantasy of conquest, another search for “wiggle room” to serve a third term, and we know something equally sinister may overtake it in the headlines tomorrow.
While he stood there promising things nobody had ever seen before, Ukrainians were dealing with another devastating Russian attack. At least 39 missiles and 128 drones had been launched at their cities, at least 9 people were killed, and more than 600,000 were left without power. The Starlink communications systems their defenders depended on had been blocked. Asked whether Trump had betrayed him, Volodymyr Zelensky said, “I am sure they knew what they did, absolutely.” Elon Musk said Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government, with limits ultimately decided by POTUS. We have watched this building for years, and now we are watching a president show his loyalty to the aggressor while an ally struggles to defend itself. I keep thinking about the responsibility the presidency once carried. Roosevelt was far from perfect, but after Pearl Harbor he understood that millions of lives depended on the decisions he made. He spoke about danger and sacrifice with the seriousness they deserved. We used to assume that, regardless of party, a president understood that the office was bigger than himself.
Donald Trump did not break the presidency; he revealed how little we were protecting it. This is also on the members of Congress who enabled him, the Supreme Court that granted broad immunity for official acts, and the people who keep defending cruelty and division. Watching him now, I worry about children growing up believing this is simply what a president is: someone who threatens journalists, talks about conquering countries, and shows loyalty to dictators. We cannot let that become the permanent baseline. People are already standing up at public events, sometimes at great personal risk, to make their opposition known. Not everyone can take those same risks, but we can vote. We can turn out for the midterms and begin putting a stop to this destruction. Future generations need to know that when our country needed us, we stood up together and did something about it.
See the full story in the video.
We are living through a pivotal moment for our country, and my goal is to reach as many people as possible with clear, factual information about what is happening. The more people who understand what is unfolding, the better our chances of pushing back against chaos, cruelty, and corruption ahead of the midterms.
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I’m fighting to save our country (before it’s too late).
I’ll see you tomorrow,
Heather
This video is based on my written post, available HERE, and based on the events of 10-14-2026.
This commentary represents my personal opinions and analysis of matters of public concern, informed by publicly available information. Any references to individuals constitute opinion and commentary protected under the First Amendment.
Sources:
Links to sources used in writing this article:
PBS NewsHour Trump speaks at rally along Arizona-Nevada border: YouTube Video
https://kyivindependent.com/zelensky-says-he-feels-betrayed-over-trump-russia-deal/
https://thehill.com/homenews/6149366-trump-rally-leakers-shot/
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/texas/news/pentagon-briefing-us-strikes-iran-nuclear-sites
