Free Republic

Vice President JD Vance is projecting loyalty to Donald Trump as the president leads the United States into the type of war the Iraq veteran didn’t want — and as the new conflict complicates Vance’s political future. Vance allies have played down the impact the operation in Iran could have on his presidential ambitions, insisting that a mission involving the U.S. military only for a matter of weeks won’t stay in voters’ memories. People close to the vice president have also conceded to The Washington Post, however, that a months-long conflict will pose a problem for whoever is the next...

Here we go again. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, current Republican governor of Arkansas and White House press secretary during the first Trump administration, has once again found herself on the receiving end of intolerance from the left, this time at a croissant cafe near her children's school. Sanders was apparently enjoying lunch last week at The Croissanterie in Little Rock alongside a group of fellow moms when she and her security were approached by staff and asked to leave "due to concerns that her presence was making employees feel threatened and uncomfortable due to her political views." When she stood to...

“The speed with which American democracy is currently dismantled is unprecedented in modern history,” one of the world’s top democracy researchers says in a new report. The Varieties of Democracies Institute, or V-Dem, a research group based in Sweden, cites the “suppression and intimidation of media and dissenting voices” as a key reason for the “derailment of democracy” in the United States. The researchers say that freedom of expression in the US “is now at its lowest level since the end of WWII.” The findings are featured in the 2026 edition of V-Dem’s annual Democracy Report, which finds that the...

Two weeks into Operation Epic Fury, the dominant narrative has settled into a comfortable groove: The United States and Israel stumbled into a war without a plan. Iran is retaliating across the region. Oil prices are surging, and the world is facing another Middle Eastern quagmire. US senators have called it a blunder. Cable news has tallied the crises. Commentators have warned of a long war. The chorus is loud and, in some respects, understandable. War is ugly, and this one has imposed real costs on millions of people across the Middle East, including the city I live in. But...

The Israeli killing of Ali Larijani marks another blow to the Islamic Republic’s capacity for coordination, weakening an already fragmented system and raising the risk of miscalculation under pressure. Iran confirmed on Tuesday that Larijani—Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and one of the regime’s central security coordinators— was killed in a morning strike on Tehran. The strike inevitably recalls the killing of Qassem Soleimani in 2020: another precise removal of a figure who linked diplomacy, intelligence and military power. Soleimani’s death did more than eliminate a commander. It weakened the regime’s ability to calibrate risk. Radical in purpose,...

WASHINGTON, March 18 (Reuters) - The ​Pentagon has ‌asked the White House ​to ​approve a more ⁠than $200 ​billion request ​to the U.S. Congress to ​fund ​the war in ‌Iran, ⁠the Washington Post reported ​on ​Wednesday, ⁠citing a senior ​administration ​official.

Authorities have rolled out incentives to boost marriages and births, but shifting attitudes and economic pressures among young Chinese pose deeper challenges.The past year has been both challenging and fulfilling for music teachers Huang Zhen Hui and Liang Ren Jia. Not only did they set up their own music school in Shanghai, they also got married after dating for seven years. Initially, the couple were worried their parents might oppose their relationship due to the 1,000km-long distance between their hometowns. Huang is from Shandong province and Liang is from Zhejiang province. But both families gave their blessings, and they tied...

WASHINGTON, March 18 (Reuters) - The ​Pentagon has ‌asked the White House ​to ​approve a more ⁠than $200 ​billion request ​to the U.S. Congress to ​fund ​the war in ‌Iran, ⁠the Washington Post reported ​on ​Wednesday, ⁠citing a senior ​administration ​official.

California's jungle primary system has created a path for Republicans to flip the state in a nightmare scenario for Democrats, according to new polling that shows the Democratic field splintering while GOP candidates consolidate. The Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll, conducted March 9-15, has Republican commentator Steve Hilton at 17 percent and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco at 16 percent, while the leading Democratic candidates are scattered below them. Representative Eric Swalwell and former Representative Katie Porter each sit at 13 percent, businessman Tom Steyer at 10 percent, and former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra at 5 percent. […] The...

A New York City Council bill under consideration wants to limit the number of items at self-checkout in an effort to combat retail theft.Pharmacies and grocery stores across the five boroughs would be required to limit the number of items customers can bring to the self-checkout line to 15. Stores must also staff at least one employee nearby for every three kiosks, according to the proposal.

The Trump administration's top counterterrorism official Joe Kent announced his resignation Tuesday over opposition to the Iran war, becoming the highest-profile administration official to step down publicly over the conflict. In a resignation letter posted publicly on social media, Kent said he could not "in good conscience" support the war, which is now in its third week. "Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby," Kent, who served as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, wrote in his resignation letter....

There is no institution that has lost more trust among the American people since 2020 than our judicial system. This is not surprising. The legitimacy of the court depends upon it being seen as non-partisan arbiters of the law, and ever fewer Americans see them as such. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) started this when he allowed only 28 percent of President Obama’s nominees to be confirmed in the final two years of his presidency — and that was before his double standard with respect to the Supreme Court nominations of Merrick Garland and Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

Two weeks after the United States and Israel launched their combined military campaign against Iran’s clerical regime, the outlines of victory are beginning to emerge. Military campaigns of this kind—especially those aimed not only at degrading military capability but also at creating conditions for political change—unfold in phases. The first phase of this conflict was bound to be the most important: stripping the Islamic Republic of its ability to wage war against America and its allies, threaten its neighbors, and intimidate global markets. The early results are promising, though much remains unfinished. A regime still reeling from last year’s 12-day...

“What does Trump expect a handful of European frigates to do that the powerful U.S. Navy cannot?” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Monday. “This is not our war, and we didn’t start it.” “Neither the United States nor Israel consulted us before the war, and ... Washington explicitly stated at the outset ​of the war that European assistance was neither necessary nor desired,” German spokesperson Stefan Kornelius added.

New York City's charismatic new socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has a ruthless and tyrannical streak behind closed doors, progressives who have crossed him say. The 34-year-old skyrocketed to popularity among New Yorkers and Americans alike during his mayoral campaign as his team positioned him as a man of the people. Known for his smiling and seemingly unflappable attitude, Mamdani attacked both Donald Trump and New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a fellow Democrat whom he deemed too centrist. But sources inside Mamdani's political circle have now alleged that the mayor wields his power for personal gain and has no qualms sidelining...

Global attention has been focused entirely on events in Iran and Lebanon these last two weeks. Media coverage has been at saturation levels and understandably so given the military, political and economic consequences that will directly or indirectly impact the lives of millions who are uninvolved. But what about other conflicts creating equal suffering to civilians but not attracting any media attention and certainly no street protests nor statements from political leaders, influencers and the social media mob usually so quick to spew their vomit. -As at the time of writing, 10.30 am Friday March 13, a simple search verifies...

In an expedited procedure, the European Commission recently raised tariffs on ceramic and porcelain products from China. Additional tariff measures are also being considered to protect the European internal market from the Chinese export engine. Is the EU economy now facing a trade war with Beijing, alongside the potential import halt on rare earths? Tensions in international trade policy are escalating on multiple fronts. After the U.S. Supreme Court initially declared the tariff regime implemented by President Donald Trump since April of last year unlawful, it appears the administration has explored new ways to stabilize its tariff policy going forward....

U.S. President Donald Trump's demands for a coalition to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz appeared to fall on deaf ears on Monday as allies Japan and Australia said they were not planning to send navy vessels to the Middle East to escort ships through the vital waterway.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — In the two weeks since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran, President Donald Trump increasingly has been knocked on his political heels. He’s grown more agitated with news coverage and has failed to find a way to explain why he started the war — or how he will end it — that resonates with a public concerned by American deaths in the conflict, surging oil prices and dropping financial markets. Even some of his supporters are questioning his plan and his overall poll numbers are declining. Meanwhile, Moscow is getting a boost...

President Donald Trump and some of his closest advisers were caught off guard by the scope of Iran’s military response to U.S. strikes, while key Gulf allies have privately expressed anger at the White House’s decision to escalate the conflict, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The publication reported Friday that “the president and some aides were surprised at the breadth and scope of Iran’s retaliation,” which included missile and drone launches targeting regional countries from Azerbaijan to Oman, according to people familiar with the matter.” Gulf allies have reacted sharply behind closed doors. “Allies in the Gulf are...