Free Republic

President Trump’s speech to the Polish people wasn’t quite President Ronald Reagan telling Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall, but in setting the tone for what may be called the “Trump Doctrine” it may be equally important in a historical context. It was not an apology but a full-throated declaration of American exceptionalism and a shared interest with loyal allies, such as Poland, to resist tyranny and terror in all its forms. Trump was also speaking to both Vladimir Putin and Germany’s Angela Merkel. Poland is a NATO member that, unlike Germany, has met its NATO commitments. It...

In his speech in Poland on Thursday, Donald Trump referred 10 times to “the West” and five times to “our civilization.” His white nationalist supporters will understand exactly what he means. It’s important that other Americans do, too. The West is not a geographic term. Poland is further east than Morocco. France is further east than Haiti. Australia is further east than Egypt. Yet Poland, France, and Australia are all considered part of “The West.” Morocco, Haiti, and Egypt are not. The West is not an ideological or economic term either. India is the world’s largest democracy. Japan is among...

President Trump delivered one of the most important speeches of his young presidency on Thursday. Billed as "Remarks to the people of Poland," the address was as clear a statement we've heard of Trump's nation-state populism. This philosophy, which differs in emphasis and approach from that of other post-Cold War Republican presidents, is both enduring and undefined. Reaching as far back as Andrew Jackson, and carrying through, in different ways, William Jennings Bryan, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Spiro Agnew, Ronald Reagan, Ross Perot, Patrick Buchanan, James Webb, and Sarah Palin, the nation-state populist tradition has suffered from its lack of intellectuals,...

*As Europe's leaders have no children, they seem have no reason to worry about the future of their continent. *"Europe today has little desire to reproduce itself, fight for itself or even take its own side in an argument". — Douglas Murray, The Times. *"'Finding ourselves' becomes more important than building a world." — Joshua Mitchell.There have never been so many childless politicians leading Europe as today. They are modern, open minded and multicultural and they know that "everything finishes with them". In the short term, being childless is a relief since it means no spending for families, no sacrifices...

In the latest example of fake news, journalists on Thursday hyperventilated about a dramatic snub of Donald Trump by Poland’s first lady. Agata Kornhauser-Duda, it seemed, refused to shake the hand of the President. Except, that’s not what happened. Mere seconds after shaking Melania Trump’s hand, Kornhauser-Duda and the President shared a warm embrace.  You wouldn’t know that from the coverage. Newsweek opted for this all-caps, blaring headline: “WATCH DONALD TRUMP HANDSHAKE REJECTED BY POLISH FIRST LADY IN HILARIOUSLY AWKWARD EXCHANGE.” Like it was grainy Bigfoot footage, the website even slowed down a shortened version of the footage to showcase...

The Czech Republic’s Lower House has voted by a large majority (139 of 200) to allow Czech citizens to use their firearms in support of the State; loosely translated as “Folks can help out by shooting at terrorists”. And although this still needs two thirds of the Senate to become law, the President, Milos Zeman, is apparently quite excited to sign the bill. The draft states: “This constitutional bill is in reaction to the recent increase of security threats, especially the danger of violent acts such as isolated terrorist attacks … active attackers or other violent hybrid threats.” It is...

While many world leaders and top musicians will be taking the stage Thursday at the Global Citizen Festival in Hamburg, Germany, ahead of the G20 summit, President Donald Trump won’t be there…because he wasn’t invited. Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Argentina’s President Mauricio Macri, Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg and other world leaders will gather for the event with the likes of Coldplay, Pharrell Williams, Shakira and Ellie Goulding, all with the hope of raising as much as $661 million from governments for dealing with international health, gender equality and education issues. A source familiar with the policy goals of...

This may be the most important speech given by our president to date.

In Warsaw today (7:15 a.m. ET), President Trump delivers what the White House sees as one of the most important speeches of his presidency. He won't identify himself with the nationalist populist ruling party in Poland, but has something grander in mind. The president will present himself as the leader of the West during an address to thousands of Poles in a public square. Trump's team, led by senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, saw an opportunity to use the story of the Polish resistance as the setting for a new rallying cry to Western civilization. From Trump's text: "The fundamental...

US President Donald Trump is to argue that the future of Western civilisation is at stake in a keynote speech in the Polish capital Warsaw. Holding up Poland as an example of a country ready to defend civilisation, he will warn against the threats of "terrorism and extremism". Poland's conservative government shares Mr Trump's hostile view of immigration and strong sense of sovereignty. Mr Trump is in Poland ahead of a G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. "Because as the Polish experience reminds us - the defence of the West ultimately rests not only on means but also on the will...

Western European efforts to isolate President Trump for rejecting the Paris climate change agreement appear to be faltering as leaders gather for a summit meeting in Hamburg, Germany, at the end of the week.The gulf between Mr. Trump’s worldview and that of most European leaders on topics from trade to immigration will be on display in the coming days. But nowhere is the difference as stark as it is on climate change, which Mr. Trump has mocked as a hoax.In announcing last month that the United States would withdraw from the Paris agreement, the president portrayed the pact signed by...

Austria will “very soon” impose border checks and deploy soldiers on its frontier with Italy if the influx of migrants across the Mediterranean does not slow, Vienna's defence minister was quoted as saying. “I expect that very soon border controls will be activated and that an assistance deployment (by the military) will be requested,” Hans Peter Doskozil told the online edition of the Krone daily on Monday.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates has warned that Africa’s population explosion will overwhelm Europe unless the continent makes it more difficult for migrants to reach its shores. In an interview with the German Welt am Sonntag newspaper, Gates said massive population growth in Africa will result in “enormous [migratory] pressure” on Europe unless countries increase overseas development aid payments. Praising Germany having achieved its commitment to devote 0.7 per cent of GDP to foreign aid as “phenomenal”, the 61-year-old called on “other European nations to follow its example”. But Gates also spoke of a dilemma caused by ‘the German attitude to...

In this photo taken on Saturday, July 1, 2017, women walk by a poster advertising U.S. President Donald Trump's speech, that reads "Donald Trump. First Public Appearance in Europe", in Warsaw, Poland. President Donald Trump is breaking tradition by visiting Poland, an ex-communist country in central Europe, before making a presidential visit to longtime allies Britain, France and Germany. The White House has stressed Poland’s importance as a loyal NATO ally and its potential as an energy partner as reasons for the visit, which he will make Thursday, July 6. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz) Alik Keplicz

NBC News demonstrated again this morning that it's wildly anti-Trump. Check out this headline: "To Welcome Trump, Poland Taps Old Communist Party Playbook." So not only does NBC and MSNBC compare Trump to communist (and fascist) dictators, now foreign leaders who might make him look good are like communists. Reporters Ali Vitali and Corky Siemaszko began:  Back when Poland was part of the Soviet bloc, the Communist Party would bus people into Warsaw from the provinces to ensure there was a compliant crowd to welcome high-level visitors from Moscow. Now with President Donald Trump heading to Poland this week for...

One person was reportedly raped during Håkan Hellström's concert at Bråvalla. Photo: Pontus Lundahl/TTFollowing one reported rape and several sexual assaults at this year's Bråvalla music festival, there will be no festival in 2018, the organisers said on Saturday. One of Sweden's largest music festivals, Bråvalla has been arranged outside the eastern Swedish town Norrköping every summer for the past five years, and this Saturday, July 1st, is the final day of the 2017 edition. But the popular festival will not return in 2018 due to concerns over several cases of sexual assault, the organizing company FKP Scorpio said in...

TWENTY per cent of the 100 largest payments under the European Union’s “direct” subsidy system now go to people or families on the Sunday Times Rich List. According to a new investigation by Energydesk billionaires and aristocrats last year scooped up an even greater proportion of the UK’s biggest farm subsidy payouts, with “basic payments” to the Top 100’s Rich List recipients totalling £11.2 million in 2016 – up from £10.6 million the previous year. Direct EU subsidies – now known as “basic payments” – have attracted criticism for largely rewarding landowners simply for owning land, rather than paying farmers...

"We are not going to take part in the madness of the Brussels elite." Many so-called asylum seekers have refused to relocate to Central and Eastern Europe because the financial benefits there are not as generous as in France, Germany or Scandinavia. In addition, hundreds of migrants who have been relocated to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which rank among the poorest EU countries, have since fled to Germany and other wealthier countries in the bloc. "It needs to be said clearly and directly: This is an attack on Europe, on our culture, on our traditions." — Poland's Prime Minister Beata...

Poland's leading politician said Saturday that other European nations are envious that U.S. President Donald Trump is planning to visit Warsaw before a summit in Germany with other world leaders. The ruling Law and Justice party leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, singled out Britain as being resentful over Trump's brief trip to Poland next week before the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. "We have new success, Trump's visit," said Kaczynski, a conservative who sets the direction for Poland's home and foreign policy. "(Others) envy it, the British are attacking us because of it."(continued)

More than two dozen states have refused to fully comply with a sweeping and unprecedented White House request to turn over voter registration data, including sensitive information like partial Social Security numbers, party affiliation and military status. Overall, the states that have said they will not be complying at all with the Kobach commission's request represent over 30 percent of the nation's population. That could complicate any efforts to build a truly national voter file, although it remains unclear what the commission's ultimate goal is in collecting the data.