Free Republic

President Trump is admitting his luxe new Air Force One plane will be taken out of service for a new round of retrofitting. After Trump was forced to ditch the Qatar-donated jet in Turkey over concerns about its safety, he told reporters that the Boeing 747 would need to be “maxed out”, implying it must be upgraded to meet expectations to protect the commander-in-chief. “It has a lot of capability,” Trump said. “But as I understand it, in about a month or so, they’re gonna send it to have it be maxed out.” Trump didn’t specify what upgrades are needed...

Feckless and clueless, Donald Trump is lost in Iran, unable to find a way out of the disastrous war he started. Once again, the US military is pummelling the country and, increasingly, its civilian infrastructure. As before, this unlawful bludgeoning strengthens the resistance of a hardline regime that cares little for its people’s suffering. How often have Trump and Pete Hegseth, the Pentagon’s wildling lord of bones, hailed a bogus victory? The president claimed this week to be “winning big”. No one believes him. Even as it counts the vast human and economic cost of his Persian folly, a watching...

It was Iran that broke the 60-day “comprehensive cease-fire” established by the Memorandum of Understanding by attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz, period. Before the ink was dry on the MOU, which guaranteed open passage through the Strait of Hormuz, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard asserted Tehran’s control and ownership of the waterway and warned that merchant ships must obtain its OK to transit; then it started firing on vessels that didn’t comply. Blocking sea lanes reopened the war, and Israel had nothing to do with it. It’s also preposterous to charge that Jerusalem wants the war to drag on...

"Persian kings did not build empires by being naive about deception; they practically invented the genre.” —Jesus Enrique Rosas. Where do the enemies of our country — including the ones inside our country — get the idea that Iran is winning this war? They wish it into existence. The wishing is necessary to put across the talking points that President Trump and his advisors don’t have a plan, don’t know what they are doing, that the USA is persecuting and oppressing Iran for no good reason. We pounded Iran over the weekend for a very good reason: Iran needs to...

FROM THE RIGHT77 WABC: July 16, 2026. Sid Rosenberg unloads on Vice President JD Vance, accusing him of taking “marching orders” from Tucker Carlson and saying his rhetoric about Israeli influence crosses into antisemitism.* * *Tomi Lahren Says JD Vance’s Joe Rogan Podcast Appearance Was ‘Huge Misstep’. Zachary Leeman. Jul 17th, 2026. Fox News’ Tomi Lahren slammed Vice President JD Vance’s appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast as a “huge misstep” and questioned whether he’s trying to distance himself from the president for a 2028 run. Lahren joined Fox Business’ Larry Kudlow on Friday where they both took issue with Vance...

FORMER FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT R. LINDLEY DEVECCHIO INDICTED On September 5th, 2004, with the publication of COVER UP, Peter Lance, for the first time, told the story of how the FBI and the U.S. Justice Department covered up a scandal involving R. Lindley DeVecchio, a retired SSA known as "Mr. Organized Crime." This burial of evidence had the effect of suppressing a treasure trove of intelligence on an active al Qaeda cell in New York City and the possible connection between Ramzi Yousef, the original WTC bomber, and the downing of TWA Flight #800 on July 17th, 1996. Further,...

The Turkey of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is no longer the secular state founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Under Erdogan’s leadership, Ankara has become a center of political support for the Hamas terrorist organization. Over the years, it has hosted senior Hamas officials and repeatedly used inflammatory rhetoric against Israel. At the same time, Turkey seeks to present itself as a strategic ally of the United States. It continues to benefit from its membership in NATO and from the presence of the United States Air Force at Incirlik Air Base, one of Washington’s most important strategic assets in the region....

Yahya Sinwar, a Hamas leader and the individual behind the planning and execution of the October 7th terrorist attack on Israel, has reemerged from his radio silence after being previously assumed to be dead. Sinwar, who kept in contact with Qatari mediators, cut all communications on September 22nd, leading to speculation that he had been killed. .... Sinwar was first arrested in 1982 while he was studying at the Islamic University in Gaza. Sinwar was also in prison for 22 years after he orchestrated the abduction and murder of two Israeli soldiers and four Palestinians, earning him the nickname of...

Architect of the October 7 massacre, Yahya Sinwar, described in detail, in a handwritten document, what the brutal attack on Israel should look like. He precisely defined how many terrorists should be sent to each settlement or intersection - and what manpower was required to breach the perimeter fence. Sinwar also prepared for an Israeli response, and for the possibility that the IDF would use nuclear weapons. All the details Ohad Hemo. The main edition Published:07.12.26, 14:01 Even almost three years after that cursed day - more and more details continue to emerge about the diabolical planning of the architect...

We are two Muslim women who have each had a death warrant, a fatwa, placed on our heads—not for committing a crime, but for opposing the extremists who claim to speak for our faith. One of us, Anila, came to America from Pakistan and built a life here as a public school teacher. After September 11, Anila founded an organization to empower Muslim women and confront extremism. The other, Dalia, fled Egypt after Hamas’ attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. Dalia was targeted for opposing the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, and has spent the years since tracing the money...

The unexplained attacks have added a dangerous new layer of uncertainty to an already volatile conflict, raising concerns that additional countries may now be conducting military operations against Iran without publicly acknowledging their involvement.New Airstrikes Came After U.S. Said Its Campaign Had EndedThe U.S. military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) announced Thursday morning that it had completed a coordinated operation striking approximately 90 targets inside Iran.Yet only hours later, Iranian state media reported another wave of explosions and airstrikes across the southern provinces of Bushehr and Sistan and Baluchestan.Those attacks occurred after the United States had publicly stated its operation was complete.CENTCOM...

Israel recently shared intelligence with the US about a new Iranian plot to assassinate President Trump, according to a report. The latest assassination plan, reported by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, comes after years of Iranian regime threats to kill Trump as revenge for the 2020 killing of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Gen. Qasem Soleimani by US forces. When asked for comment, the White House referred The Post to Trump’s Wednesday remarks at the NATO summit in Ankara. ”They want to take out the US leader — me,” Trump said. “I’m on whatever list. I saw this morning I’m...

President Donald Trump flew home from a NATO summit in Turkey on an old baby blue Air Force One plane instead of the new Qatari-gifted and retrofitted red, white and navy blue jet he arrived in, a surprise swap that came as the U.S. and Iran once again began trading strikes. Trump offered little clarity on the swap, instead saying he would fly on the legacy aircraft “for old time’s sake,” and indicating that both aircraft would make a previously unscheduled stop on the way back to the U.S. at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, a base used by U.S. troops....

Iran’s terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) claimed on Wednesday that they had targeted 85 allegedly “American military facilities,” in reality launching sweeping bombing campaigns against neighbors Kuwait and Bahrain. The IRGC’s aggression follows Iran bombing various vessels attempting to navigate the Strait of Hormuz, reportedly ships linked to Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The Iranian regime’s attacks prompted U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) to resume targeted strikes on Iran’s terrorist infrastructure to protect free navigation in the strait, which the IRGC used as its reasoning for bombing Kuwait and Bahrain. The IRGC’s statement, as shared by the Iranian government’s Islamic Republic...

The Iran war exposed a long-simmering feud within the world’s most powerful oil cartel, boiling over this spring when it contended with the biggest oil supply shock in history. Now OPEC faces a fight for its existence. The Strait of Hormuz has started to reopen, and some OPEC nations are clamoring to ramp up oil production The ultimate decider will be Saudi Arabia Unlike Iraq and Kuwait, the Saudis don’t need production to ramp up . The country was able to keep its oil business afloat by bypassing the strait with pipelines that shipped oil to a port in Yanbu...

MOSCOW (AP) - Russia's foreign spy agency denied Saturday that Moscow gave Saddam Hussein information on U.S. troop movements and plans during the invasion of Iraq, while analysts speculated the Pentagon claim was tied to a growing rift between the West and the Kremlin. A Pentagon report Friday cited two captured Iraqi documents as saying Russia obtained information from sources "inside the American Central Command" in Qatar and passed battlefield intelligence to Saddam through the former Russian ambassador in Baghdad, Vladimir Titorenko. The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service dismissed the claims. "Similar, baseless accusations concerning Russia's intelligence have been made more...

Prof. Mordechai Kedar is one of the world’s leading experts on Islam and Arab society. In this powerful interview, Prof. Kedar explains why Western models keep failing in the Middle East, why the Palestinian Authority is doomed, and how Israel should adopt the successful clan-based "Emirates" model in Judea and Samaria ( the West Bank) to achieve real stability and peace. Chapters: 00:00:00 – Intro 00:00:53 – Middle East Clan System: Why Muslim States Fail or Succeed 00:10:22 – Why the PA Is Doomed to Fail 00:25:52 – The Spiritual War of Islam – Path to Real Peace 00:44:18 –...

Tucker Carlson had an expletive-filled kiss off to Donald Trump as he continues to burn bridges within the White House over the Iran War. The former Fox News anchor has been one of most public critics from the right of Trump's foreign policy, coming to a head with the strikes on Tehran. Carlson, appearing on the Jack Neel Podcast, accused Trump of feigning strength by using empty threats against Iran as the war continued on. 'He tried to posture his way out of it,' Carlson said of the President after the initial killing of Ayatollah Khomeini didn't force Iran's surrender....

The city's main liquified natural gas (LNG) processing site suffered a "technical accident" in Ras Laffan industrial zone on Sunday night, the interior ministry said, with the city's skyline turning orange because of the explosion. Qatar's Energy Minister Saad Sherida al-Kaabi said the explosion would not affect the country's exports, adding "this was an accident and not sabotage or hostile in nature". The Ras Laffan Port is the largest artificial harbour in the world and has the world's largest LNG export facility. ... On Sunday, QatarEnergy, which is the country's state-owned energy company, confirmed the explosion occurred at "Barzan local...

Ukrainian drones attacking the port city of Sevastopol... "And I want to thank the Emir of Qatar" US President Donald Trump unveiling a new presidential aircraft... The 65th deadly US attack on a boat linked... US Envoy Steve Witkoff reported on his way to Switzerland... The Netherlands moving an air defense frigate closer to the Middle East... US politics President Donald Trump endorsing both Republican candidates... Bodies of migrants washing ashore near the northern Libyan city of... In Israel a man with a suspected case of the Ebola virus is hospitalized... A train driver is dead, 89 people injured 11...