Dear John,
He’s sent border and DEA agents and the National Guard to patrol the streets of Washington, D.C., and then attempted to take over the city’s police department. He announced that the White House will host a “UFC cage match” next Fourth of July to “celebrate” 250 years since the founding of the U.S. He fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, because the numbers she reported on the economy and jobs growth (or lack thereof) were not to his liking—and nominated a Project 2025 contributor and chief economist at the Heritage Foundation to replace her. And somehow, he found time to fit in a stroll on the roof of the White House (??).
These are all things that Trump has done over the last two weeks. Some may be benign, and others will have genuinely devastating consequences for people’s lives and for our democracy. But they all serve the same purpose: to make eye-catching headlines that will distract the American people from the worsening economy, rising prices and uptick in inflation.
And of course, the Epstein scandal. (What did happen to Epstein’s “client list” on Pam Bondi’s desk?)
But it’s his and the Republicans’ budget bill that will decimate SNAP, Medicaid, and countless other programs that women and children rely on and his efforts to rig the 2026 elections that Trump’s trying hardest to distract from—along with his declining approval numbers, of course. Polls show Trump’s approval rating continuing to drop—a fall that’s been driven, in recent months, by his own voters, among whom his approval rating has dipped by ten points since the start of his term, according to Pew Research.
What’s more, according to polling from Navigator, a majority of Americans are concerned about Trump’s attempts to rig the 2026 elections by pushing the Republican-controlled Texas legislature to redraw congressional district lines. The ultimate goal: to create five more seats for Republicans in order to shore up the razor-thin margins that give them their current majority in the House. The redistricting battle is now escalating into an all-out war. California has launched its own mid-decade redistricting proposal to pick up seats for the Democrats, and other Democratic and Republican controlled states are looking at similar plans.
While the redistricting fight dominated the headlines, Texas also used the special session—which was called in response to the historic flooding that devastated the state last month—to introduce new abortion restrictions. The so-called “Woman and Child Protection Act” targets anyone who manufactures or ships abortion pills into Texas, or who helps a minor flee the state to obtain abortions without permission from a parent or guardian.
Fortunately, both efforts have failed for now, with the special session ending Friday. (Lawmakers also failed to pass the crucial bills that would’ve allocated funding for flood relief.) But as the session closed, Gov. Greg Abbott immediately called another, which began just two hours after the last one concluded on Friday. The Texas Democrats have announced their intention to return and fight the redistricting efforts in the special session and in the courts.
We know you won’t let them distract you—and we urge you to take action while members of Congress are in their home districts. Go to their town halls. Call their offices to complain about the horrible policies Republicans are pushing. And take to the streets to protest Trump’s efforts to rig the 2026 election.
We have ways to fight back—and we’re not standing by.
For equality,
