Free Republic

President Trump has always defied the laws of political gravity, seemingly impervious to setbacks that would sink any other figure and immune from the traditional ebb and flow of campaign cycles. But his capitulation in the fight over releasing the Epstein files, and other recent developments, suggest that, when it comes to Congress, the president is subject to at least some of the same currents as his predecessors, as the first signs of his lame duck status emerge. The willingness of congressional Republicans to defy Mr. Trump and back legislation requiring the disclosure of federal files on Jeffrey Epstein, the...

FRANKLIN PARK, Ill. (WLS) -- It's been about a week since Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino and his team left the Chicago area. But immigration operations still continue in the area as two people were detained by U.S. Department of Homeland Security federal agents in Franklin Park. A family in Franklin Park spent the afternoon fixing the front door which federal agents knocked down Thursday morning while executing an arrest warrant for a man in his 60s. The family says that man and his wife were both taken into DHS custody for allegedly living in the country illegally. The granddaughter...

The left sees that she might be useful in their war to bring down TrumpIt is always interesting to see who the American left claims are the leaders of the American right. There was a time during President Trump’s first term when Steve Bannon fit the role – and relished playing it. Back then most days brought another media profile of the dark genius of the MAGA movement. The Guardian, New York Times and others were obsessed. Vanity Fair would send reporters to follow Bannon as he conquered America and, er, Europe. Documentary crews were perennially in tow. Indeed one...

In what federal officials are calling the largest methamphetamine seizure in Colorado history, a grand jury has indicted 15 individuals – one of whom is accused of leading a drug trafficking organization and now faces a rare “drug kingpin” charge. On Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado announced the results of a massive drug bust involving federal wiretaps, extensive surveillance, and undercover operations that led federal officials to seize over 1,000 pounds of methamphetamine. Fifteen people were indicted in connection with the operation: Marco Antonio De Silva Lara, Sergio Ivan Arce Lopez, Juan Luis Cabrera Saucedo, Luis...

Washington (AFP) – In a sharp change, the United States said Thursday that its signature human rights report would start tracking countries that support gender changes for children and diversity and equity programs. Specifically, the report will ask US embassies to report on countries that allow "chemical or surgical mutilation of children in operations that attempt to modify their sex." Rubio also asked embassies to track "enforcement of policies like affirmative action of diversity, equity and inclusion that 'provide preferential treatment' to workers on the basis of race, sex or caste." The issues reflect top priorities for Trump since he...

The Trump White House is working to fix the affordability crisis, making “significant progress” in this area after Americans suffered under Bidenflation for years, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pointed out during Thursday’s press briefing.Leavitt pointed to the blockbuster September jobs report, which showed the addition of 119,000 jobs – more than doubling the forecast of 50,000 jobs.“These gains came after the summer passage of President Trump’s historic tax cuts and multiple big trade deals with countries around the world,” Leavitt said. “In particular, construction jobs surged by 19,000 in September, the largest monthly gain in a year.”She also...

From 10 December, social media companies will have to take "reasonable steps" to ensure that under-16s in Australia cannot set up accounts on their platforms and that existing accounts are deactivated or removed. The government says the ban - a world-first policy popular with many parents - is aimed at reducing the "pressures and risks" children can be exposed to on social media, which come from "design features that encourage them to spend more time on screens, while also serving up content that can harm their health and wellbeing". A study commissioned by the government earlier this year said 96%...

TEL AVIV — The first-ever Miss Palestine contestant in the Miss Universe pageant married the son of Hamas’ most-wanted prisoner, Marwan Barghouti, and even named a child after him, The Post has learned. Nadeen Ayoub — who claims to be a 27-year-old US and Canadian citizen living in Dubai — is competing this week to represent Palestine, a territory the US and Israel don’t even recognize as a sovereign state. Strutting through preliminary rounds ahead of the pending pageant, Ayoub has kept most of her personal life under wraps — until now. Years-old screenshots and social media posts obtained by...

FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allied military and the family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. FReeper Canteen Come on in, we're open Need a place just to hang out? This is it. It's that time of year for family and friends.Good food and drinks.Time to remember all that you are grateful for. No worries in the FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe. Grab a glass and start a conversation.Relax by the fire and share some of your holiday memories. You never know who you might meet...

West Virginia state Sen. Chris Rose is renewing and expanding his push for conservative-leaning counties in Maryland and Virginia to break away from their states and unite with West Virginia — a campaign he has labeled “An Appeal to Heaven.” On Tuesday, Rose announced on X that he was broadening his proposal to include additional counties in western Virginia. “Exciting update on our Appeal to Heaven movement for freedom in Appalachia!” Rose wrote. “Due to overwhelming interest and support, I’m thrilled to announce we’ve expanded our Senate resolution inviting even more Virginia counties, along with counties from Maryland, to join...

Sir Keir Starmer has insisted the G20 still matters and is a "really important" forum to bang the drum for British business, despite the decision of Donald Trump to boycott the international summit in South Africa. Asked what he thought of the US president's decision, the prime minister simply said Mr Trump had "set out his position". The PM added he thought it was "really important to be [at the G20] to talk to other partners and allies so we can get on with the discussions around global issues that have to be addressed, and do have an impact back...

A swanky new grocer in downtown Manhattan has been getting death threats over its stratospheric prices – even as the shop was forced to briefly shutter this week after its shelves were emptied by a customer frenzy, The Post has learned. Meadow Lane, a posh store in Tribeca at 355 Greenwich St., has drawn such massive crowds since it opened last Friday that it was forced to impose quotas on goods. Those include $625 tins of Siberian caviar, $65 bottles of extra virgin olive oil, $74 containers of matcha powder and gluten-free chicken nuggets priced at $15 per half dozen....

The Trump administration’s Department of Transportation has brought back shaming, and anyone who flies even just once per year should fully support it.Back in December 2021, aboard American Airlines to Cancún for a Christmas-time family vacation, I asked the flight attendant if the airline had started serving alcohol again. “No,” he said, “not until the passengers start acting right.”I felt so bad for the dude. I knew exactly what he meant. He was referring to the blow-up of in-the-air confrontations that took place in the immediate aftermath of totalitarian, pandemic-era lockdowns, as seen on social media — travelers screaming at...

It’s been a week of Donald Trump outrages—he barked at a female reporter, “Quiet, quiet, piggy,” and during a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, he denigrated Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post columnist who was slain and dismembered by Saudi operatives, allegedly on bin Salman’s orders. But perhaps his most horrendous transgression, so far, is his amplification of a call to execute Democratic members of Congress. Trump in front of members of the military President Donald Trump aboard the USS George Washington near TokyoEugene Hoshiko/AP Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs....

In Britain, a November dusting of snow is an aberration. In Ukraine, it is the beginning. Soon pavements will ice over and the Dnipro river could freeze thick enough to walk across.And General Winter, as Moscow knows, changes everything. In successive centuries, against Napoleon and Hitler, Russia counted on the big freeze to alter the course of conflict. Today, Vladimir Putin is hoping the year’s bleakest months will mark a breakthrough in a war whose costs in men, money and materiel have become ever more grotesque.Already, the Russian president’s enemy in Kyiv is on the back foot on three fronts.Diplomatically,...

The son of former US Ambassador Nikki Haley has raged against legal immigration and foreign aid to Israel in a stunning interview with Tucker Carlson.Nalin Haley, 24, called for restricting foreign students from attending American universities and banning naturalized US citizens from holding public office.Haley is fast-becoming a rising star among the dissident 'America First' right and Gen Z nationalists who hail his rejection of his mother's neoconservative orthodoxy as the unfiltered voice of a new generation. 'Naturalized citizens should not be able to hold public office. Growing up here is a big part of understanding the country,' Nalin, whose...

The Tesla CEO said at the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday that in the next 10 to 20 years, work will be optional, likening the decision to have a job to the more laborious upkeep of a vegetable garden. “My prediction is that work will be optional. It’ll be like playing sports or a video game or something like that,” Musk said. “If you want to work, [it’s] the same way you can go to the store and just buy some vegetables, or you can grow vegetables in your backyard. It’s much harder to grow vegetables in...

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY)– A Virginia Beach City Public Schools assistant principal and his brother have been arrested for threats made against police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. According to police, John Bennett, 54, and his brother, Mark Bennett, 59, were arrested Wednesday for threatening to commit acts of violence against local police, as well as ICE agents. John Bennett was arrested in Virginia Beach at 10:47 a.m. and Mark Bennett was arrested at Norfolk International Airport at 9:42 a.m., with the assistance of airport police. Both have been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit malicious wounding. [snip]...

Grok Summary of Video Transcript:US-Ukraine Discussions Amid Peace EffortsSenior Pentagon officials are visiting Kyiv to meet President Zelensky, focusing on President Trump's initiatives to end the Russia-Ukraine war. This occurs alongside unconfirmed media reports of a US-Russian envoy proposal for restarting Kyiv-Moscow negotiations. The reported 28-point plan demands major Ukrainian concessions, such as full withdrawal from the Donbas region and caps on military size—proposals Ukraine has historically rejected, including bans on foreign troops, long-range weapons, and mandating Russian as an official language. Ukrainian officials, including the deputy foreign minister, dismiss it as Russian psychological operations. The US delegation describes their...

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention webpage that previously made the case that vaccines don’t cause autism now says they might. The contents of the webpage came up during Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Senate confirmation process. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.) in February said Kennedy had assured him that, if he was confirmed, the CDC would “not remove statements on their website pointing out that vaccines do not cause autism.” The revised webpage says: “The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines...