Dear MAGA, Trump made over $2 billion last year - are you OK with that?

The President gave the country a revealing lesson in who receives his respect and who receives his contempt. Within 85 minutes, he praised his trust in Xi Jinping, protected his relationship with Vladimir Putin, and then turned around to mock Canada while demanding half the profits from a bridge built to connect two allied nations. That contrast matters because it shows a worldview where authoritarians are treated as partners, allies are treated as targets, and the American people are left asking who this presidency is really serving.

Based on the events of 7-24-2026

The Breakdown:

* At 11:15 in the morning, Donald Trump posted on Truth Social about Chinese President Xi Jinping and said, "I take him at his word."

* In that same post, Trump described his relationship with Vladimir Putin as one that "remains" intact.

* Trump also said he was doing Xi "very big favors," framing diplomacy around personal exchanges between powerful men.

* Eighty-five minutes later, Trump posted about Canada, one of America's closest allies and our neighbor across the world's longest peaceful border.

* Trump said being disinvited from the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge was "fine," turning an international infrastructure event into a personal grievance.

* Trump then declared that the United States had changed an agreement and would now take "50% of the Profit" from the new bridge.

* The Gordie Howe Bridge is named for a man whose life symbolized connection between the United States and Canada.

* The contrast was stark: warmth for Xi and Putin, contempt and financial demands for Canada.

* Trump's language suggested that his foreign policy rests less on democratic alliances than on personal relationships with authoritarian leaders.

* China and Russia are two of democracy's most significant adversaries, yet Trump described their leaders with trust and careful regard.

* Trump felt the need to say he does not sell weapons to Ukraine and added that he has "no idea" how those weapons are distributed.

* That phrasing let him avoid taking a clear moral stand against Putin while Russia continues attacking a sovereign nation.

* The larger pattern shows trust being extended to dictators while pressure and humiliation are directed toward an actual ally.

* The script turns directly to MAGA supporters and asks whether Trump's promises have made their lives better in practical terms.

* The questions are concrete: bank accounts, retirement savings, doctor visits, grocery costs, paychecks, and the future facing their children.

* Forbes has reported that Trump's net worth more than doubled since the start of 2024, rising from an estimated 2.4 billion dollars to 6.3 billion.

* The script points to cryptocurrency ventures, overseas licensing deals, and financial arrangements tied to the power of the presidency.

* One cited example is a UAE royal secretly buying half of the Trump family's cryptocurrency company for 500 million dollars before the inauguration.

* Weeks later, the administration granted the UAE access to advanced American semiconductor technology that had previously been blocked.

* The moral question at the center is simple: if ordinary Americans are not more secure, and Trump is becoming richer, who is this presidency for?

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.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

I'm Heather Tlaney Reese, and you're listening to Hope for America, where every day I bring you the truth about our politics, our country, and the forces trying to destroy them. Together, we cut through the noise, expose the lies, and stay focused on what really matters, fighting for the survival of our country. At 11:15 yesterday morning, the sitting president of the United States of America published a post on his own social media platform, True Social. Exactly one hour and 25 minutes later, he published another. Taken individually, they show his leadership failures. But taken together, these two posts tell us almost everything we need to know about who he represents, who he sees as a personal threat, and most importantly, the kind of America he is shaping our country into. In the first post, he wrote about Chinese President Xi, saying, I take him at his word. He described his relationship with Vladimir Putin as one that remains intact and added that he was doing Xi very big favors. 85 minutes later, he was writing about Canada, our neighbor, one of our closest and strongest allies, and the country with which we share the longest peaceful border in the world. In that post, he shares that being disinvited from the opening of the Gordy Howe Bridge was fine. Then he declared that the United States had changed an agreement and will now take 50% of the profit of the new bridge. In the span of 85 minutes, the contrast could not have been clearer. There was warmth and trust for two authoritarian leaders, and for a country that has always been there for us, that we share a border with, there was mockery and contempt. And when we look at everything he said in that first post, it just gets worse. He is telling the entire world that the full basis of his leadership rests on personal relationships between powerful men. I take him at his word. Because he refuses to take a strong stand against his friend, Vladimir Putin, even though he is attacking a sovereign nation. The warmth and careful consideration of words goes to strong men. He gives his trust to dictators and our actual ally, Canada, there's nothing but a demand for money from a bridge named after a man who spent his life bringing our two countries together. And Canada paid for that bridge. Now I know that most of you watching this already see this for exactly what it is. So right now I want to talk to the people who might not. And for those of you who are on the right side of history, but who have a friend or a loved one who still supports this president, maybe this gives you something further to start a conversation around. Maybe it plants a seed, or maybe it just helps you feel less alone in what you already know. Dear MAGA, I'm not saying this to mock you or ridicule you. I'm saying this because somewhere underneath all of this chaos, I believe most of you still care about this country the same way that I do. So I'm asking you to stop for a moment. Not to listen to me, but to listen to yourself. Look at your own life, not the entertainment the other side is bringing you, just your actual life. Is it better? Do you have more money in your bank account than you did before Trump? Are your retirement savings stronger? When you or someone you love needs to see a doctor, is that easier or harder than it was before? Do your groceries cost less? Has your paycheck gone up? When you look at the country your children and grandchildren are going to grow up in, do you feel good about where it is headed? Do you honestly feel like the world is safer for them right now? Because those were the promises. That was what Donald Trump promised us. And if the answer is no, even to just one of those questions, then we need to ask whether he has actually delivered on his promises or simply replaced every missed deadline with another promise that everything will happen in two more weeks. Because if you are not more financially secure, then where is all the money going that Trump has cut from what was being spent to support the needs of the American people? What we do know is that according to Forbes, his net worth has more than doubled since the start of 2024, climbing from an estimated $2.4 billion to $6.3 billion. This money came from cryptocurrency ventures, overseas licensing deals, and a magnitude of financial arrangements tied directly to the power of the presidency. A UAE Royal secretly bought half of the Trump family's cryptocurrency company for $500 million just days before the inauguration. And weeks later, the administration granted the UAE access to advanced American semiconductor technology that the previous administration had blocked. None of this is new reporting. We just keep learning how deep the corruption goes. He is selling Bibles, watches, sneakers, and digital coins while he is occupying the Oval Office. And the programs we have paid into our entire working lives, the ones that were supposed to be there for us, when we retire, when we get sick, or when we need them most, those are the ones they keep cutting funding from. So I will ask again, who is this presidency for? Is it really for us? If you're starting to see what is really happening to our country, you do not have to go public or post about it or even tell a single person. You don't have to admit anything to anyone. But when you look at what is in front of you and decide whether this is really what you want, it's okay to know it isn't. The country is headed somewhere very dark, but it does not have to keep going there. We still have a constitution and elections, and the midterms are less than four months away. That can be your moment to let your voice be heard. And if you are the one who has been quietly questioning, who has been wondering whether this is what you really signed up for and voted for, you're not alone. More people are stepping back from this than any of us can see. Many are doing it the same way you might be, quietly to themselves or to a small group of others who are also deciding this has gone too far. Every single person who decides they do not want to take this country on the path Donald Trump is taking us changes the math in the next election and the trajectory of our entire country after. This is a dark time for our country. People on both sides of the divide that the president has created are hurting. And maybe some are too far gone to reach, at least for now. But there are enough people who were on the sidelines for far too long, or who truly believed in Trump's words, who are seeing him for what he truly is. And they will vote accordingly in November. And that is why I still have hope for America, and you should too. Every night I write a post on Substack, and then I create the video of it the next day. And in those posts, I include something I call the picture of the day. It started during the pandemic where I was just trying to hold on to something good that was happening. It was maybe a meal that one of my children had cooked, or it was a beautiful sunset, or um eventually when we started it was safer to go out a little more, I would be just going to get a quick coffee. And I I really appreciated, you know, those little things in life. And so I've continued that on and I started sharing them with you all with my posts just because these are different types of really dark days. Uh, and last night I am gonna read to you right now what I uh wrote about the picture of the dead. I spent the evening at the Things Can Only Get Better tour with my oldest sister and my middle daughter. We spent hours listening to 80s music and just having fun. Dave Wakling from English Beat opened his set by telling the crowd he wakes up every morning not sure if it is the start of World War III or the age of Aquarius, and then promised us a 30-minute escape from having to think about the reality of the world. And I did just that for those full 30 minutes. Instead of the horrors of what is happening here and around the world, I focused on the moments when nearly the entire audience was singing together. It made me believe again that just maybe we can still come back together in meaningful ways. But it was the closing that really uh got to me. Howard Jones closed the night with the song Things Can Only Get Better. And before he played it, he said something about how in hard times like these, you have to hold on to hope that things can get better. And that ironically has always been my favorite song of his. And last night, standing there with my sister and my daughter in an arena full of strangers, all singing and dancing to the same words, it actually felt true. And uh the irony that he closed it with hope, and I was going to come home and write, you know, finish writing a post. I'd already started it. Um, I felt like it was a sign. I think that the reality is that there are a lot of things that bridge us together. Maybe right now it doesn't feel like there is anything left to connect us. And I think that it's going to take a lot of healing, and I don't have a clear path to, you know, what that looks like. But I do know that if we can at least all come together for the sake of our country and take back what this wannabe authoritarian is doing, that it is possible. And remember, no matter how dark the days get, I will be here every single day. And together, we will always find hope for America. I'll see you tomorrow.