Free Republic

France President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X: “Congratulations, President Donald Trump. Ready to work together as we did for four years. With your convictions and mine. With respect and ambition. For more peace and prosperity.” Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulated his “friend” Trump after “a great battle”. Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orban called it “a much-needed victory for the world”, and “the biggest comeback in US political history!” in a post on X. South Korea President Yoon Suk-yeol congratulated Donald Trump and posted on X that “under your strong leadership, the future of the ROK-U.S. alliance and America will...

Four years after nationwide calls for a reimagining of the criminal justice system, voters dramatically reversed course on Tuesday night. California voters passed Proposition 36, a tough-on-crime ballot measure, and ousted progressive prosecutors in Los Angeles and Alameda counties. Proposition 6, an effort to ban involuntary servitude and mandatory work requirements for state prisoners, also failed. In deep-blue L.A. County, the “godfather of progressive prosecutors” lost his reelection bid by more than 20 percentage points to a former Republican. In the Bay Area, voters appear to have recalled another reform-minded district attorney. And statewide, a tough-on-crime ballot initiative passed with...

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell had a clear, direct response when asked during a press conference Thursday if he would step down if asked to do so by President-elect Trump. “No,” said Powell, whose term as chair ends in 2026. Powell also said in 2019 that he would not resign if asked by Trump. President Biden reappointed Powell in 2021 — despite objections from progressives who have criticized the chair — saying he has burdened the average American by keeping rates too high for too long. Trump suggested earlier this year that Powell, a lifelong Republican, was “political” and would...

President Joe Biden does not plan to pardon his son, Hunter Biden, who was convicted on federal gun charges, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated during a press briefing on Thursday. This is a developing story.

The three-time Emmy-winning journalist and anchor had worked for KCAL for just over a year before his death.Three-time Emmy-winning journalist and Los Angeles TV news anchor Chauncy Glover died unexpectedly Tuesday, his family announced. He was 39. Glover had co-anchored the 5 and 11 p.m. newscasts at KCAL with Pat Harvey, and he shared the desk with Suzie Suh at 8 and 10 p.m. for the last year after he joined the anchor team in October 2023. His family announced the news in a statement to KCAL, writing: "We, Sherry and Robert Glover, along with Chauncy’s beloved family, are devastated...

Sarah Cunningham, a British painter whose abstracted pictures of forests charmed audiences on both sides of the Atlantic, has died after having gone missing in London this past weekend. She was 31, according to the Camden Police. Lisson Gallery, which represents Cunningham, had posted news of her disappearance on Sunday, saying that she was last seen on Saturday. On Monday, the Camden Police said it had been informed of what it described as “a casualty on the tracks” of the London Underground. At the time, the body had not been formally identified by Cunningham’s family, which had been notified of...

Republican Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dave McCormick was declared victorious in his high-stakes election against longtime Democrat Sen. Bob Casey on Tuesd

I just saw a post (now apparently zotted), speculating that Trump would end up losing the popular vote with all the slowly-counted Dem states trickling in. It made me curious what the actual situation is, so I went over to Decision Desk HQ and did some snooping around. Basically, I went through the Blue states on the presidential election map and found all the ones that aren't reporting as >95% counted. I then extrapolated the total votes remaining to be counted based on their individual vote counts and percentages. They by and large are breaking roughly 60-40 in favor of...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden’s name wasn’t on the ballot, but history will likely remember Kamala Harris’ resounding defeat as his loss too. As Democrats pick up the pieces after President-elect Donald Trump’s decisive victory, some of the vice president’s backers are expressing frustration that Biden’s decision to seek reelection until this summer — despite long-standing voter concerns about his age and unease about post-pandemic inflation as well as the U.S.-Mexico border — all but sealed his party’s surrender of the White House “The biggest onus of this loss is on President Biden,” said Andrew Yang, who ran against Biden...

Republican Rep. Scott Perry defeated Democrat challenger Janette Stelson in the race for Pennsylvania’s Tenth Congressional District, ensuring one of Donald Trump’s top allies will remain seated. The Associated Press called the race Thursday afternoon. With over 95% of votes tallied, Perry had captured 50.8% of the vote to Stelson’s 49.2%. The conservative Perry, a former chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, was one of Democrats’ top targets this cycle.

Posts are getting pulled left and right here. What is up? The FR doesn't need the participation and traffic anymore? Censoring? Heavy handedness is not going to go over well at a critical time when you need traffic and donations.

When someone insults you, don’t fight it, own it.

Donald Trump's presidential victory means some U.S. allies may have to reckon with prior scathing remarks as their countries prepare to build diplomatic ties with a president-elect whose return they may not have anticipated. “The most destructive president in history,” Australian Ambassador to the U.S. Kevin Rudd said of Trump in 2020, who “drags America and democracy through the mud.” “A woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathizing sociopath” and a “profound threat to the international order,” David Lammy, the U.K.'s current foreign secretary, said in 2018. “A political pyromaniac who must be put before a criminal court,” Jean Asselborn, then-foreign minister for Luxembourg, said...

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday congratulated U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on his election victory. Putin also said he was ready to speak with him and described Trump as a "brave man" for how he conducted himself during the July assassination attempt. (snip) Putin's comments about Trump came after a speech during an international forum conference in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. ″I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate him on his election as president of the United States of America," Putin said, adding that what Trump has said "about the desire to restore relations with Russia,...

The ex-wife and son of the founder of the Oath Keepers are expressing concern that their safety could be compromised if former President Trump pardons Stewart Rhodes in a potential second term. Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the Capitol. The Oath Keepers are seen as one of the main groups involved in the attack. Trump has said he would pardon rioters from that day should he win the White House. In an interview with USA Today, Rhodes’s ex-wife, Tasha Adams, said she...

Barack and Michelle Obama on Wednesday called on Americans to listen to one another and abide by democratic norms in a statement reacting to Donald Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris in the presidential election. The former president and first lady began by congratulating the president-elect and his running mate, JD Vance. “This is obviously not the outcome we had hoped for, given our profound disagreements with the Republican ticket on a whole host of issues. But living in a democracy is about recognizing that our point of view won’t always win out, and being willing to accept the peaceful transfer...

Joe Biden rushes $9 billion in Ukraine aid before Trump takes office Trump critical of Ukraine aid, casting doubt on future US support Analysts question future aid with Republicans controlling White House> The White House plans to rush billions of dollars in security assistance to Ukraine before President Joe Biden leaves office in January, sources said on Wednesday, hoping to shore up the government in Kyiv before President-elect Donald Trump's January 20 inauguration."The administration plans to push forward... to put Ukraine in the strongest position possible" a senior administration official said on condition of anonymity, before its term ends in...

At the moment, I’d say about one-sixth of the TikTok videos on my for you page are about Korea’s 4B movement. UK Google searches for the term have absolutely soared since November 5th ― the day before the US election’s results. The trend seems to apply worldwide. Pauline Hamilton, who is currently doing “very preliminary” research on the phenomenon in Korea (though she stresses she is “by no means an expert”) revealed that “4B” refers to a sort of online gender strike. Though Pauline hopes to speak directly with women participating in the 4B movement in the future, she’s currently...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Donald Trump on his victory in the US presidential election. Calling him "courageous", Putin said he was impressed by Trump's reaction to the first assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Donald Trump is set to return to the White House in January after winning Tuesday's highly-charged presidential election. On the campaign trail, Trump promised repeatedly to work to end the crisis in Ukraine and try to restore relations with Russia.President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Donald Trump on his reelection. “I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate him [Trump] on being elected president of the United States of America,” Putin said at the Valdai International Discussion Club forum on Thursday. "First of all, I can tell you that his behavior during the attempt on his life impressed me. He...