Free Republic

In his explosive 2025 memoir Dead Center: In Defense of Common Sense, former West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin exposes shocking details about the Biden administration’s relentless campaign to strong-arm him into supporting the multi-trillion-dollar “Build Back Better Act.” Manchin reveals that President Biden and his inner circle waged an aggressive behind-the-scenes pressure campaign, one that left him fearing for his safety and the safety of his family. According to Manchin, his refusal to back the bill, which he viewed as a far-left wishlist crafted by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, made him Public Enemy No. 1 in the eyes of...

President Trump can deploy federal troops to restore order in Portland, Oregon, allowing the deportations to continue. That was the preliminary finding this week by the nation’s most liberal appellate division, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of... The three-judge panel reversed a district court judge who thwarted the military operation at the beginning of the month. Liberal pundits downplay the significance of this order by pointing out that the panel was stacked with two of Mr. Trump’s appointees.Although this is true, they omit an important fact. The jurists were deep-sixing the legal analysis of District Judge Karin J. Immergut, whom...

Though Americans are coming to grips with the impact of artificial intelligence on their lives, there’s still a significant amount of distrust. A 2025 PDK Poll, an annual survey of American attitudes toward the public schools, finds diminishing confidence in AI where it intersects with K-12 education. Over the past year, the poll found declining support for AI in the classroom across a range of areas, from tutoring and standardized test preparation to homework assignments. The sharpest decline involved lesson plans. In 2024, 62 percent of respondents supported teachers using AI to “review and use” in preparing lesson plans. This...

By propagating lies about ‘occupation,’ ‘apartheid’ and ‘genocide,’ he helps promote antisemitism.An Irishman and a Jew walk into a Japanese restaurant. It sounds like a joke setup, but there was nothing funny about this near-terminal event for our longstanding friendship—this vignette of being a Jewish New Yorker in 2025. The stark choice we’d each be making between Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo, divisiveness or unity, loomed throughout. We talked and laughed about travel, cycling and our loved ones. Then he asked: “Isn’t it terrible where we’ve ended up in the Middle East?” I was still elated from the Israeli hostages’...

The president says the sound of bulldozers at the East Wing is “music to my ears.”“You probably hear the beautiful sound of construction to the back,” Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday from a podium overlooking his newly paved “Rose Garden Club” terrace, alongside the new “Presidential Walk of Fame” featuring gold-framed portraits of his predecessors (and an “autopen” for Joe Biden).“You hear that sound?” he said, raising his hand to his ear as if to ­savor the clamor from construction of the new $300 million White House ballroom that began Monday.“Ahhh, that’s music to my ears. I love that sound....

Jay Clayton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and former SEC chair, told CNBC's 'Squawk Box' that "leaders at the bar" and "thought leaders" in the legal world "stayed silent" during the politicized prosecutions of Donald Trump, and have not "scrutinized the Justice Department enough in the prior administration." Joe Kernen asked: "Who deserves to be the subject of a grand jury? Comey, from what you know?" "You can ask, but I'm not going to comment," Clayton joked. "I'm going to back up. What do I think about when I go to work? That people have confidence...

US President Donald Trump has announced an immediate end to all trade negotiations with Canada over an advert critical of the tariffs he has imposed on the nation.The advert, sponsored by the government of Canada's province of Ontario, quoted Trump's predecessor, Ronald Reagan, an icon of US conservatism, saying tariffs "hurt every American".Trump wrote on social media that the advert was "FAKE" and "egregious", adding that trade talks were "HEREBY TERMINATED".His administration has imposed a 35% levy on many Canadian imports, as well as individual tariffs targeting particular industries like car and steel manufacturing. Ontario has been particularly hard-hit by...

GENEVA (Reuters) -The U.N. weather agency plans to cut some posts and is reviewing its priorities as dozens of countries, including the United States, are late with their fees, a spokesperson said on Friday. The World Meteorological Organization, set up in 1951 to coordinate global data for weather forecasts, created a review task force this week during a meeting in Geneva aimed at improving early-warning systems for deadly climate disasters. Outstanding late payments to the WMO amount to around 48 million Swiss francs ($60 million) as of the end of August, a WMO document showed, equivalent to two-thirds of its...

Donald Trump has ordered the world's largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean in a major escalation in his war on narco-terrorists from Venezuela. USS Gerald R. Ford is joining the deployment of US Southern Command, Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said on Friday. The 1,090-ft vessel — which can carry more than 75 warplanes — moves as part of a carrier strike group that includes a cruiser, three destroyers and nine aircraft squadrons. It will 'will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle' the cartels, Parnell said in a statement. The 100,000-ton warship joins...

In a state like Texas with stringent voting checks, over 2,700 illegal immigrants slipping through the cracks and onto the voter rolls highlights an issue that is much worse in states with lax laws. The dual revelations that an illegal alien school administrator from Iowa made it onto the voter rolls in Maryland and that over 2,700 noncitizens escaped strict voter ID checks to qualify to vote in Texas are creating new momentum for creating a nationwide citizenship check system for elections."Many folks that come into my office will tell me, and anyone who will listen, this is the biggest...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered an aircraft carrier strike group currently stationed in Europe to the Caribbean region amid a massive buildup of US military forces in the region. The Gerald R. Ford strike group and its associated air wing are being sent to “dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations and counter narco-terrorism,” Pentagon Press Secretary Sean Parnell said in a statement posted on X. The Ford group docked near the harbor of Split, Croatia on October 21. That would leave the ships more than 5,000 miles from the Caribbean, meaning it would take days for the group to be in...

White House Chair of the National Economic Council (NEC), Kevin Hassett, walked out to the press pool to discuss the latest excellent inflation figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics today {BLS REPORT HERE}. However, the insufferable press pool wanted to talk about other things. I’ll get to the BLS data below – with a gold nugget just for you, don’t share it. But first, NEC Director Hassett also let something slip in his responsive comments that most will miss.When asked about Trump’s decision to terminate all trade negotiations with Canada, Hasset noted the discussions were frustrating and “the Canadians...

We have created a demoralized right, perpetually apologizing for existing while the left advances unimpeded.Historically, the American left has operated under an unspoken rule: “no enemies to the left.” This principle, intended to preserve internal unity in the face of political threats, discourages public criticism of even the movement’s most radical elements so long as they advance the left’s overarching goals of acquiring and maintaining political power, winning elections, and discrediting conservatives and Christians in the cultural sphere.This strategy is visible in the Democratic Party’s response to any scandal that affects their side.When leaked text messages revealed that Virginia attorney...

This is what an insurrection looks like.At a meeting with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Rep. Robert Garcia announced that the House Democrats on the Oversight Committee would be launching a ‘Master ICE tracker’. This follows the previous removal of ICE trackers by Apple and Facebook after the apps and sites tracking activity by immigration law enforcement personnel led to multiple violent confrontations with illegal alien activists, ugly acts of violence and at least one death so far. These confrontations are not just the work of random extremists, but of a leftist activist base supported by top Democrats and the...

Police have launched a manhunt after an asylum seeker who sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl was mistakenly released from prison. Ethiopian national Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, who arrived in the UK on a small boat, was jailed for 12 months over the attack in Epping, Essex, last month. Prison sources said Kebatu was meant to be sent to an immigration detention centre ahead of a planned deportation. An investigation has been launched by the Prison Service and an officer has been removed from discharging duties while it takes place. Kebatu's arrest sparked protests outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, where he...

The Trump administration plans to funnel a $130 million donation from an anonymous ally of President Donald Trump toward paying military service members during the government shutdown, the Defense Department confirmed on Friday. “The donation was made on the condition that it be used to offset the cost of Service members’ salaries and benefits,” chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement to CNN, adding that the money was accepted under the department’s “general gift acceptance authority.” The move marks a striking departure from government procedure for funding the military, which traditionally relies on public funds appropriated by Congress....

ACA was a costly illusion.The focus of the current government shutdown circus has increasingly narrowed to Democrat demands to undo proposed reductions in very large, supposedly temporary, Covid-era Obamacare (Affordable Care Act) subsidy boosts. A major part of their public push is the claim that they are trying to save citizens money, though what they are actually demanding is that we shift the burden to future generations via increased federal debt, backed by the threat of demonizing Republicans as heartless for taking away any benefits. They emphasize the need to maintain the “great deal” the ACA offered.The problem with their...

While Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Michigan Economic Development Corporation contends it’s “not the outcome we hoped for,” residents in Mecosta County are celebrating its decision to nix $715 million in taxpayer-funded incentives for Gotion. MEDC officials on Thursday notified lawmakers that the company with strong ties to the Chinese Communist Party is in breach of its economic development contract, which was negotiated in secret by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration and select lawmakers just three years ago. “It’s about damn time,” Marjorie Steele, founder of the Economic Development Responsibility Alliance that opposed Gotion’s planned $2.4 billion EV battery plant, told Bridge Michigan....

President Donald Trump pulled the trigger on sanctions that European Union leaders and American neocons have long urged him to impose on Russia. An analyst for the Ron Paul Institute said this makes it “Trump’s war now.”The new round of sanctions are part of a one-two economic punch to Russia’s major source of revenue — energy. The EU also leveled sanctions. Making matters worse for the Russians are the British Storm Shadow cruise missile that hit a Russian rocket fuel plant earlier this week, indicating a recent upgrade in Ukrainian military capabilities and permissions for their use.The United States had...

The Winston Marshall sits down with Dr. Andrew Bostom, scholar of Islamic history and author of The Legacy of Jihad and The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism, for a sweeping conversation about the true history of jihad and the rise of Islamic antisemitism. Bostom explains how the origins of jihad trace back to Muhammad’s early campaigns in Medina, where religious mission turned to imperial conquest. Drawing from original Islamic sources — he reveals how violence, slavery, and subjugation became sacralised through theology, shaping centuries of conquest from Persia and India to the Middle East and North Africa. They explore the massacres...