Free Republic

This is Donald Trump’s world—we’re all just living in it. The disruptor-in-chief was the biggest factor shaping global affairs in 2025, and that will be the case for as long as he remains in the White House. His norm-shattering approach has caused turmoil in some areas (as in trade) but has also delivered diplomatic results (as in Gaza) and forced necessary change (as with European defence spending). As the Trumpnado spins on in 2026, here are ten trends and themes to watch in the coming year. 1. America’s 250th.Expect to hear wildly diverging accounts of America’s past, present and future,...

Wall Street’s AI-driven rally just got another vote of confidence. UBS (UBS) set its S&P 500 (^GSPC) forecast to 7,500 by the end of 2026 in a note on Monday, citing strong corporate earnings and gains in a resilient technology sector. According to the bank’s just-published global economics and markets outlook, UBS forecasts S&P 500 earnings growth of 14.4% year over year in 2026. About half of those gains are expected to come from the technology sector — a sign that the "Magnificent Seven" will keep powering overall corporate profits, even as other sectors play catch-up. The firm described the...

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Nov. 7 proposed a new plan to end the record-breaking federal government shutdown, ahead of another possible vote on a Republican-backed bill to reopen the government. Schumer said on the Senate floor that his proposal would continue expiring premium tax credits under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, for a year, giving lawmakers time to work out a longer solution.They are slated to expire at the end of this year. Open enrollment for Obamacare, when prospective customers first got a look at potential new costs, began on Nov. 1. “That’s not a negotiation....

Pennsylvania voters have rejected a Republican effort to remove three Democrats from the state Supreme Court. The stakes of Tuesday’s election were high: Had Pennsylvanians voted to remove the justices, the court would have gone from a seven-member Democratic majority to a four-member group with a complete ideological split. The three justices’ vacant seats would not have been filled until another election at the end of 2027. Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court regularly holds these kinds of votes for its justices. The justices are first selected in partisan elections, but at the end of their 10-year terms, voters then decide whether to...

Tuesday night’s elections might have liberals popping the champagne, but the whole “Trump repudiation” narrative is way off the mark. Sure, Democrats swept big races in heavily blue states and cities — Virginia, New Jersey, New York City — and grabbed wins that the media is hyping as a Republican bloodbath. Abigail Spanberger snagged Virginia’s governorship, Mikie Sherrill took New Jersey’s, Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic socialist, won the New York City mayor’s office, and Jay Jones, who’s been openly wishing death on political foes, secured Virginia’s attorney general spot. The headlines scream doom for the GOP heading into the 2026...

Conservative podcast host Ben Shapiro argues Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a serious contender in the race for the White House, following Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani's victory in the New York City mayoral race.

It may be an off-year election, but Tuesday’s races across the country have been keeping Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Joe Gruters busy. The Sarasota Republican has traveled the country ahead of races in several states. He appeared on Fox News on Election Day to discuss close contests for Governor in New Jersey and Virginia. “Listen, we’ve been on the ground in both Virginia and New Jersey for the last seven months preparing for these last couple of days in terms of our get-out-the-vote efforts, in terms of election integrity, in terms of recruiting numerous attorneys on the ground, numerous...

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The Center Square Voters' Voice Poll, conducted by Noble Predictive Insights, surveyed 2,565 registered voters from Oct. 2-6, 2025, via opt-in online panel and text-to-web cell phone messages. The poll found that 15% of registered voters cited price increases and inflation as their top issues, followed by government corruption (13%), the economy/jobs (11%), health care (9%), illegal immigration (8%), and crime/violence (7%). "Name anything that's getting less expensive," pollster Mike Noble told The Center Square. "Literally everything is going up from insurance premiums to you name it. More and more is coming out of pocket." Noble said polls across the...

Maine’s two-term Democratic Gov. Janet Mills will run for the U.S. Senate seat held by veteran Republican Sen. Susan Collins next year, two people familiar with Mills’ plans said on Friday. The development sets up a potential showdown between the parties’ best-known figures in a state where Democrats see a chance to gain a seat in their uphill quest for the Senate majority. Mills is tentatively expected to announce her candidacy on Tuesday, according to the people, who insisted on anonymity to discuss plans they were not authorized to share publicly. Mills was the top choice of national Democrats who...

State Rep. Steve Toth (R-Conroe) officially launched his primary challenge to incumbent Congressman Dan Crenshaw (R-TX-02) to a cheering crowd of several hundred supporters at a church in The Woodlands… …Toth, who has served in the Texas House since 2019, highlighted accomplishments in the Texas Legislature, including his 2021 bill to ban teaching of critical race theory in schools and the 2023 ban on gender modification procedures for children. Continuing to hit Crenshaw on his record, Toth criticized the incumbent over financial support for Ukraine and “siding with every single Democrat in Congress to prioritize foreign wars over our border.”...

“Doors win wars” is more than just a slogan. It’s a proven fact. In Pennsylvania, our Citizens Alliance team executed the largest Republican ballot-chasing program in the country, knocking on more than 510,000 doors in 2024. The public goal was for Donald Trump to capture 33% of the mail-in vote. He earned 34.5% — and with it, Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes. That effort helped re-elect Trump as president. Now we’re bringing that same fight to New Jersey. With mail-in ballots already hitting mailboxes in the governor’s race, the “New Jersey Chase” has officially begun. The mission is simple: flip New...

Leading pro-life organization Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and Women Speak Out PAC announced a $4.5 million investment on Wednesday into Georgia’s 2026 U.S. Senate race to unseat Democrat incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA). The funds will go toward a field effort to reach one million voters by election day and will include digital advertising, voter contact mail, and a “robust” early vote campaign as the race progresses, the organization said in a press release. SBA Pro-Life America gave Ossoff an “F” rating on its national pro-life scorecard. “If Senator Ossoff thinks he can hide from his record of voting...

Seen from the sky, the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility in California’s Mojave Desert resembles a futuristic dream. Viewed from the bottom line, however, Ivanpah is anything but. The solar power plant, which features three 459-foot towers and thousands of computer-controlled mirrors known as heliostats, cost some $2.2 billion to build. Construction began in 2010 and was completed in 2014. Now, it’s set to close in 2026 after failing to efficiently generate solar energy. In 2011, the US Department of Energy under former President Barack Obama issued $1.6 billion in three federal loan guarantees for the project and the Secretary of...

I have repeatedly stated -- in this forum and elsewhere — that Republicans must not gloat over their rare and recent victory in the 2024 elections. The incumbent party typically loses numerous House and Senate seats in mid-term elections. Moreover, things can change fast. Unforeseen circumstances routinely arise. (See COVID-19.) Arrogance can turn many voters off. The mainstream media is 100.0% in the tank for Democrats, as is the education establishment and other institutions. The Deep State is ever lurking. And Democrats cheat … whenever and wherever they can. That is why they are so rabidly against the concept of...

Former two-term Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is running for the Senate in battleground North Carolina. Cooper announced his candidacy on Monday morning in the open-seat race to succeed Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who announced late last month that he wouldn’t run for re-election in the 2026 midterm elections. "I have thought on it and prayed about it, and I have decided: I am running to be the next U.S. Senator from North Carolina," Cooper said in a social media post. Cooper's campaign launch is seen as a major coup for the Democratic Party, as he was the party's top recruit...

Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville predicted Democrats would pick up 40 seats in the 2026 midterms after the GOP-led House of Representatives passed President Donald Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" this week.

Donald Trump has never been one to shy away from a fight, but this time, he’s done more than just rattle the Democrats—he’s practically handed Republicans the keys to a midterm landslide in 2026. The playbook was simple, the execution flawless, and the results devastating for the opposition.

A group backed by Democratic mega donor George Soros is pouring money into Texas ahead of next year’s midterms in hopes of flipping the red state blue. The Texas Majority PAC and the Texas Democratic Party launched an eight-figure campaign dubbed “Blue Texas” on Monday aimed at electing Democrats up and down the ballot in the Lone Star State next year. Later this month, the effort will hold kickoff rallies in Harris, Dallas, Travis, Bexar, Tarrant, Denton, Collin, Brazoria, Williamson, Hidalgo, Cameron, and El Paso Counties. Next month, Blue Texas will launch the “Turn Texas Blue” tour, which will make...

Alexander Soros, the son of the 94-year-old Democratic megadonor with the same last name, has laid out his plan to defeat Trumpism. Back in 2023, George Soros shocked the world by handing control of his $25 billion empire to Alexander, who goes by Alex. That's because he is the second youngest of the family and wasn't previously thought to be a natural successor to his dad. Alex was also made the chair of Open Society Foundations, the nonprofit through which Soros has donated billions to Democrats and other progressive causes throughout the years. At that time, the elder Soros said...