Free Republic

A well-connected drug company and Laura Loomer wanted Kennedy ally Vinay Prasad gone. Trump chief of staff Susie Wiles got his job back.White House chief of staff Susie Wiles was behind President Donald Trump’s highly unusual decision last week to rehire a vaccine regulator he’d just fired at the urging of MAGA influencer Laura Loomer.Wiles’ intervention in getting Vinay Prasad’s job back, as described by two senior administration officials granted anonymity to discuss sensitive details, followed pleas from both Prasad’s boss, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary, and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. They insisted that Prasad is...

Public safety is a gut issue and it is also the foundation of all other blessings of good governmentFor decades, Washington, D.C., has been synonymous with crime, murder, and more recently vagrancy, but this week, President Donald Trump is taking a page from an ancient political playbook and looking to finally clean up our nation’s capital. "Salus Populi Suprema Lex Est," wrote Marcus Tullius Cicero over 2,000 years ago. It roughly means, "the safety of the people should be the supreme law," and the safety of the ancient Roman citizen, at least for a while, was almost unquestioned.Trump wants Americans...

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) has called for more “transparency” from the government as she described evidence of “interdimensional beings” to Joe Rogan. Luna joined Rogan on The Joe Rogan Experience this week and described both her personal experience with UFOs and what she’s seen as the head of the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, a subcommittee under the House Oversight Committee. “Based on the photos that I’ve seen, I’m very confident that there’s things out there that have not been created by mankind,” Luna said. The congresswoman said these unidentified objects are referred to as “interdimensional...

President Donald Trump used a template for his takeover of DC policing that’s worked for him before: Move quickly, establish a large and visible security presence — then wait for Democrats to splinter over how to respond.Democrats in Congress denounced the 30-day mobilization inside the capital, which Trump previewed during the 2024 election, as an “unjustified power grab” and vowed to block an extension. The city’s elected attorney general called it an “unlawful” abuse of emergency powers to lower crime rates that the administration itself said had fallen.But DC Mayor Muriel Bowser was more cautious, criticizing Trump’s takeover as “authoritarian”...

A police video has emerged showing a South Carolina Democrat running for governor getting arrested in his underwear and going on an insane tirade that must be seen to be believed. As WCBD reported, 53-year-old William “Mullins” McLeod was arrested back on May 15 after he was found “yelling at the top of his lungs” while walking in downtown Charleston. At the time of his arrest, He was wearing only underwear and shoes. The Charleston Police Department released video of the arrest on August 12 following a Freedom of Information request. The video, which is approximately one hour long, shows...

A London restaurant has been shut down after dog meat was allegedly found in the freezer. Pho Na, a Vietnamese restaurant on Old Kent Road, Southwark, closed after inspectors found the suspicious looking meat labelled as ‘goat wrapped in leaves’. But when it was sent for analysis it was confirmed it was dog meat. Inspectors also discovered mice droppings and cockroaches inside the establishment.

The time for restraint will be after the course correction.I haven’t really followed the controversies over what’s going on at the Smithsonian or Kennedy Center, so I don’t pretend to be an authority on either. If you know less than I do, here’s a quick update on the Smithsonian…The Trump administration is cracking down on the Smithsonian Institution ahead of America’s 250th anniversary celebration next year, requiring specific national museums and affiliated exhibits to “reflect the unity, progress, and enduring values that define the American story.”In a letter penned to Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lonnie Bunch III, Trump administration officials laid...

'Rebar is very expensive. The hardest rebar. It’s very hard to cut.'WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump vowed Wednesday to complete the border wall with materials that former President Joe Biden sold off “for pennies on the dollar,” as The Daily Wire first reported in December.The president spoke with the press on Wednesday at the Kennedy Center after announcing the recipients of the annual Kennedy Center Honors. Asked by The Daily Wire about reports that parts of the border wall will be returned to the federal government, Trump promised: “We are taking that wall back.”The president pointed to the Biden administration’s efforts to...

BAKER COUNTY, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that the Baker County Correctional Institution will become Florida’s second immigration detention facility, replacing plans for Camp Blanding. The decision to use a portion of the empty Baker County facility, which was vacated in 2021, was driven by cost considerations and existing infrastructure, allowing the state to operationalize the facility within two weeks at a cost of $6 million, DeSantis said. “We have what we want at Alligator Alcatraz,” said DeSantis, emphasizing the demand for additional detention capacity. The Baker County Correctional Institution will have the capacity to house over 1,300...

A man was arrested and charged with felony assault after throwing a Subway sandwich at a federal agent on the streets of Washington, D.C., earlier this week. Attorney General Pam Bondi revealed on Thursday that the man worked for the Department of Justice.A video recorded by a bystander showed 37-year-old Sean Charles Dunn confronting federal agents who were dispatched under President Donald Trump’s order to federalize the D.C. police department and address the capital’s violent crime. In the video, Dunn shouts at the federal agents, calling them “fascists” and yelling, “F*** you!”Dunn began to walk away with his Subway sandwich,...

"People shouldn’t come to Washington to get rich, they should come to serve the American people," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is calling for a single-stock trading ban in Congress.“I am going to start pushing for a single-stock trading ban, because it is the credibility of the House and the Senate, that you look at some of these eye-popping returns – whether it is Rep. Pelosi, Senator Wyden – every hedge fund would be jealous of them. And the American people deserve better than this,” Bessent told Bloomberg TV on Wednesday.Nancy Pelosi, of California, and...

‘These types of smears are directly contributing to our officers facing a 1000% increase in assaults against them,’ said DHS’s McLaughlin. Americans’ trust in corporate media has plummeted to its lowest level in more than five decades, according to Gallup polling. That trust gap should come as no surprise when reading the propaganda press’s hyperbolic coverage of the Trump administration’s immigration law enforcement policies. Department of Homeland Security officials say reporting on Alligator Alcatraz, the new Florida Everglades-based holding facility for illegal aliens facing deportation, has been drenched in “lies” and “baseless allegations.” “Nearly every single day, my office responds...

The man charged for throwing a Subway sandwich at a federal agent in DC worked for the DOJ as a lawyer and has been promptly fired. A man in a salmon-colored t-shirt was caught on video throwing a sandwich at a federal officer in DC earlier this week after President Trump deployed the National Guard to patrol the streets. The sandwich thrower was identified as 37-year-old Sean Charles Dunn, a DOJ trial attorney. “If you touch any law enforcement officer, we will come after you. I just learned that this defendant worked at the Department of Justice — NO LONGER....

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appears with Maria Bartiromo to discuss the upcoming summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump.Bessent notes the backseat demands from EU leaders with their position on the Trump negotiation strategy has worn thin amid their hypocrisy. “It’s time to put up or shut up,” Bessent says, when talking about how the EU is still facilitating the economic purchases of Russian energy products, while simultaneously demanding Trump do this and that. WATCH: I am cautiously optimistic for a positive outcome from this summit.DETAILS ON THE SUMMIT BELOW♦ Date: Friday August 15, 2025♦ Venue:...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A press conference to update the media on the department's ongoing efforts to rein in crime following President Donald Trump's threat to federalize the city was briefly interrupted today by a loud noise, leading DC Police Chief Pamela Smith to ask journalists what was causing it. The incident occurred as Smith was briefing reporters on her department's task of cleaning up the city's streets amid an increase in violent crime, with a loud wailing sound that seemed to emanate from several passing vehicles, much to the consternation of the police chief. "What is that black and white...

Lots of misinformation is being spread about President Donald Trump’s decision to federalize law enforcement in Washington, D.C. Much of it is the usual Trump Derangement Syndrome: “fascist” tendencies toward “authoritarianism” at the expense of “black and brown” people because of DJT’s “racism” and desire to bury the Epstein scandal. There’s no “emergency” justifying the takeover. The “solution” is to do what Democrats failed to do for decades: Make DC the 51st state so it need not undergo such “humiliation.” Where to start? My point of departure is political. Washington is the “federal city.” The Constitution is explicit. Congress has...

At South Carolina GOP rally, Graham defends Israel against genocide claims, praises Trump’s steadfast support since Oct. 7 attack and warns US abandonment of ally would bring moral and spiritual consequences Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham delivered an emphatic defense of Israel on Wednesday night during a South Carolina Republican Party rally, telling the party’s evangelical supporters that the U.S. must continue to stand firmly with its Middle East ally. Speaking late in the evening, Graham described Israel as “in a fight for their lives,” surrounded by enemies who “would kill them all if they could.” He sharply criticized accusations of...

Scopes: Same Debate, Different World This year marks the 100th anniversary of the 1925 Scopes “Monkey” Trial, in which an ACLU-led attempt to overturn a Tennessee law banning the teaching of evolution in schools turned into a nationally broadcasted showdown between creationism and Darwinism. Understandably, the Scopes trial is often viewed through the lens of current debates surrounding evolution, creationism, and intelligent design. But the “past is a foreign country,” and it’s often a mistake to try to fit history into the mold of the present. Historian Edward B. Davis’s new critical anthology Protestant Modernist Pamphlets: Science and Religion in...

Economic turmoil as elections loom.Bolivia’s economy is on the brink of collapse. The country is experiencing its highest inflation in 38 years: in June alone, prices rose by 5.2%, which is not only three times higher than Argentina’s inflation, but also equivalent to what Peru records in two or three years. Bolivia is also facing a shortage of US dollars and a wave of protests and road blockades, which exacerbates another problem: the lack of goods. From medicines and chicken to cooking oil and gasoline, Bolivians struggle to find basic products, and when they do, they pay exorbitant prices.This is...

Peter Szijjarto said that EU leaders would like Hungary to have "a government that serves their interests"BUDAPEST, August 14. /TASS/. European Union leaders, along with Ukraine, seeking a change of government in Hungary, are openly supporting the political opposition in the country, hoping for its victory in the 2026 parliamentary election, Peter Szijjarto, Hungary’s minister of foreign affairs and trade, said, commenting on a report from the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) saying that Brussels and Kiev want Prime Minister Viktor Orban ousted from his position. EU leaders would like Hungary to have "a government that serves their interests, refrain...