Free Republic

President Donald Trump’s resolve is paying off, proving the “Iran is stronger now” crowd to be completely wrong. Oil shipments from the Persian Gulf are now approaching prewar levels, ending the energy blackmail — even as Tehran’s resources dwindle, pushing the regime ever closer to having to abandon its nuclear ambitions. Crucially, the campaign has proved that Iran can’t sustainably stop Gulf shipments — as long as a real leader stands up to its bullying. That’s a huge win for the entire civilized world. Consider the progress: Crude exports from the Gulf fell from 18.3 million barrels a day in...

One of JD Vance's former Senate colleagues is emerging as a leading contender to be his running mate in a potential 2028 presidential campaign. Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt has built a close relationship with Vance and is considered a top candidate for the ticket, Axios reported Tuesday. Vance views Schmitt as 'trustworthy, intelligent, and articulate,' according to the outlet. Schmitt, 51, served as Missouri attorney general before winning his Senate seat in 2022. Vance has not formally announced a 2028 bid. Donald Trump has repeatedly floated Vance and Marco Rubio running together in 2028, but has not said which of...

A Staten Island judge sided with a group of homeowners who had sued the city over its introduction of the tax, dealing a blow to Mayor Zohran Mamdani.A Staten Island judge on Tuesday dealt a major setback to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s push to raise taxes on the wealthy, saying that the city had mishandled the rollout of a tax on high-end second homes and must start over.The judge, Wayne M. Ozzi of State Supreme Court on Staten Island, sided with a group of homeowners who had sued the city. The homeowners had argued that the Mamdani administration’s Department of Finance...

Sal covers the reports of 8 marines wounded in an attack on a "non-US Navy" ship. W*T*H: Did the U.S. Military Turn a Civilian Freighter into an Armed Escort?

Sen. Eric Schmitt’s (R-MO) effort to place former special counsel Jack Smith in Atlanta amid the Fani Willis controversy hit a snag on Tuesday when Smith said the basketball game he remembered attending featured Caitlin Clark in Maryland, not a supposed NBA game in the Peach State. The exchange during the Senate Judiciary Committee’s under-oath hearing revealed Schmitt had apparently confused the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks with the University of Iowa Hawkeyes.

In early March, as President Trump basked in the success of a military intervention in Venezuela, he joined Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in the West Wing for a private celebration. A businessman also attended, and brought along a pile of gold. The president looked approvingly at the 10 Venezuelan gold bars stacked in the Roosevelt Room, across from the Oval Office, White House officials recalled. Aides took photos and joked about keeping the gold. Mr. Trump himself had once blacklisted Venezuelan gold, declaring that it destroyed the environment, poisoned people and financed gangsters and corrupt military officials. But after Mr....

WASHINGTON — Dennis Rodman is worming his way back into the spotlight. The Basketball and WWE Hall of Famer is expected to join President Trump on a midterm campaign trip to the bad boy’s college town later this week — as Trump considers more engagement with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. Rodman, who traveled to North Korea at least five times between 2013 and 2017, is scheduled to take part in a campaign event in Durant, Okla., where he attended Southeastern Oklahoma State University in the mid-1980s, sources say. “After the midterms, Trump wants to refocus again on North...

This is not an easy undertaking. ... The SR-71 program was scrapped decades ago. There are few people alive who remember how the engines were designed and built. And yet, it seems NASA is getting the gang back together: ... Mike Relja, a retiree in his late 70s, received an unexpected job offer from NASA about a month ago. The assignment: Help put a former NASA-operated Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird back in the air after a nearly 27-year hiatus. Relja, an ex-U.S. Air Force and NASA test engineer for the SR-71A, could not believe his ears. David Ash, a former U.S....

A magnitude 4.3 earthquake has struck Washington’s Puget Sound region, with shaking reported in the Seattle area, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and residents. People in the area described a sudden jolt. The earthquake struck at 2:05 p.m. local time on Tuesday, with its epicenter about 3 miles west-northwest of Wauna, Washington, according to the USGS. It occurred at a depth of about 17 miles. The Seattle area faces earthquake risks from faults beneath Puget Sound and the Cascadia subduction zone offshore, where an oceanic tectonic plate pushes beneath North America.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has unveiled a new strategy to combat antisemitism just one week after renewing his call for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be arrested. Mamdani announced the first ever municipal 'Strategy to Combat Antisemitism' Tuesday, describing it as 'a roadmap for how our administration will confront the scourge of antisemitism now and in the future.' The city says the strategy represents a $7.4 million investment and is intended to strengthen prevention, education, security and support for Jewish New Yorkers. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has unveiled a new strategy to combat antisemitism just one week...

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Two children who are accused of beating a 5-year-old girl began their trial Monday morning, more than a year after the girl’s mother found her injured in a field. “I literally saw the worst thing ever,” Antavia Kennibrew, the girl’s mother, said in an interview with 19 News in 2025. The trial for the girl, now 11, started Monday in the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court. Prosecution painting a disturbing picture of the attack. “The girl’s clothes were taken off. She was strangled with her own shirt, the 5-year-old.” said the prosecution The 9-year-old boy took a...

The visit is part of a domestic travel push ahead of the midterm elections as the administration looks to promote its economic strategy, focusing heavily on deregulation, tax reductions, and trade policies.

A Florida mother was arrested after allegedly leaving her four young children — including a 2-month-old infant and a 2-year-old — home alone as she took a three-night cruise to the Bahamas, visibly shocking the judge hearing the case. “Who leaves four little kids alone to go on a cruise?” Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mindy Glazer incredulously asked Nathalie Belizaire, 29, as she appeared in court with her lawyer by video call Tuesday. “The poor kids were home alone!” she exclaimed, Local 10 reports. Belizaire was charged with four counts of child neglect after she flitted off for a three-night cruise...

New rules also ease path for wealthy donors to contribute stock while avoiding capital-gains taxesThe Treasury Department will automatically enroll tens of millions of children in the government’s new Trump Accounts as soon as this week, replacing the previous structure that required parents or guardians to sign up, the agency said in rules published Tuesday. The shift to automatic enrollment will ensure much broader access to the child investment accounts, creating them for more than 60 million additional children under age 18, according to the Treasury Department. The shift to auto enrollment means that big contributions from wealthy donors to...

🚨 BREAKING — HUGE SCOTUS WIN: The US Supreme Court just ruled in favor of President Trump RESTARTING swift deportations of illegal aliens to third countries for now, 6-3 Those are countries where the illegal is NOT from to make the process faster and get them out. The 3 liberals dissented, of course. MASS DEPORTATIONS WIN AGAIN 🔥 HUGE blow to activist judges and leftist pro-illegal alien groups who tried holding up this policy in court! The court says that oral arguments for this will be held later this year.

A backlash has forced the disgraced, far-left BBC to remove an article that declared “bare nails” racist. That’s “bare nails,” as in fingernails, as in women choosing to not have their fingernails colored with nail polish. That’s now considered racist, y’all. Why? Because when the market for racism is as starved as it is for actual racism, the market is filled with crap like this… “Nail art’s historical and creative roots are linked back to black, Latino, and Asian communities and the suggestion that bare nails are now a sign of high status could stigmatise bold manicures,” wrote the BCC....

The US Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled 6-3 in favor of President Trump and temporarily allowed the administration to deport illegal aliens to third party countries. The high court issued the decision in an unsigned order. The three liberal justices dissented. This is the second time that the Supreme Court has sided with the Trump DOJ in third-county removals. The Supreme Court will hear arguments on the case this December. NBC News reported: The Supreme Court on Tuesday, for a second time, removed obstacles to the Trump administration deporting certain immigrants to “third countries” to which they have no previous...

It's that time of the year again where we start watching all the new petitions being filed before the Supreme Court as we track them through the briefing and conference schedule. Washington Gun Law President, William Kirk, discusses the 57 firearms cases that were scheduled for conference just yesterday so that you can get a flavor of what's before the court already. From the usual suspects that we see every year, to some very nuanced and creative arguments, this year's docket so far is packed with important cases. Today, we start highlighting some of the matters we should probably start...

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a slate of legislation Tuesday aimed at strengthening the state’s oversight of federal immigration enforcement in California. Among the new laws are: A ban on law enforcement agencies using electroshock gloves A 25% tax on private detention facilities Limiting immigration authorities’ use of flash-bang grenades during raids Prohibiting Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers who have committed “serious misconduct” from becoming state workers or police officers Expanded health, safety, and oversight requirements for civil detention facilities operating in California. The ban on shock gloves will take effect next year and remain in place until 2030. It comes...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday removed obstacles to the Trump administration deporting certain immigrants to “third countries” to which they have no previous connection. The justices, with the court’s three liberals dissenting, granted an emergency request filed by the government seeking to block an appeals court ruling that said the current process is unlawful because the affected people are not given a proper chance to raise concerns about safety risks in violation of federal immigration law. In the brief unsigned order, the court also said it would hear oral arguments in December and issue a definitive ruling on...