Free Republic

President Donald Trump received a hero’s welcome at the Army-Navy football game at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Saturday, where he tossed the coin to decide the kickoff. Those in attendance greeted Trump with a host of cheers during his introduction ahead of the toss. Head referee Tim Rich thanked Trump for his “leadership and… continued support of our servicemembers and our veterans,” adding, “It’s an honor to have you here today.” Trump responded that it was a “great honor” to attend.

Without a doubt, the Chinese central bank (PBoC) is still the leading single entity that is driving up the gold price to record highs, year-to-date by more than 55 percent. In the third quarter of 2025, the PBoC’s gold purchases (reported and unreported) accounted for 118 tonnes, up 39% MoM and 55% YoY, according to my long-time methodology1 (now copied by Goldman Sachs, Bloomberg, MarketWatch, The Washington Post, TIME magazine, Financial Times, Financiele Dagblad, and El País, to name a few). Chart 1. Reported central bank gold buying versus estimates by the World Gold Council on central bank gold buying...

Two U.S. soldiers and an American civilian interpreter were killed during an attack Saturday near the city of Palmyra, Syria, according to the Pentagon. Three additional U.S. soldiers were wounded in the assault, the Pentagon added. President Trump in a social-media post called it “an ISIS attack against the U.S., and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria.” He warned “there will be very serious retaliation,” adding that Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former al Qaeda and Islamist rebel commander, “is extremely angry and disturbed by this attack.”

In the 1980s, the U.S. negotiated the exile of world leaders like Haiti’s Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier to France and Ferdinand Marcos from the Philippines to Hawaii.Now, President Donald Trump wants Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro out of power. Maduro’s “days are numbered,” Trump told Politico in an interview released on Dec. 9. His Administration considers Maduro the head of a government-sponsored cocaine smuggling syndicate. Since September, he’s blown up 22 alleged drug boats off Venezuela’s coastline, parked a carrier strike group in the Caribbean, and flown F/A-18 attack jets near Venezuela’s border. On Wednesday, the U.S. seized an oil tanker...

The US is engaging in “extreme rightwing tropes” with echoes of the 1930s and threatening “chilling” interference in European democracies, British MPs warned ministers on Thursday. The House of Commons rounded on Donald Trump’s national security strategy, which stated that Europe was facing “civilisational erasure” and vowed to help the continent “correct its current trajectory and promote patriotic European parties”. Matt Western, a Labour MP and chair of parliament’s joint committee on the UK government’s national security strategy, said: “The United States consensus that has led the western world since the second world war appears shattered. “The prospect of United...

This week, the lingering allegations over the marital history of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) took an ominous step when Border Tsar Tom Homan publicly acknowledged that the government is looking into the matter.Rep. Omar has long denied that she married her brother to gain his entry into the United States, but the allegation has continued to rage on the Internet and among her critics.The question is whether this is a substantive case of fraud or defamation.Homan stated that he was investigating whether Omar committed immigration fraud, but also noted that the statute of limitations has been an issue.In his...

The Trump Education Department has been focusing on identifying student loan fraud and they have a lot to show for their efforts. They just announced that they have uncovered more than a billion dollars in fraud. Trump’s Education Secretary, Linda McMahon, may be the last cabinet official of her kind if Trump has his way. Like many Republicans going all the way back to Ronald Reagan, Trump wants to do away with the department completely. McMahon and Trump have successfully done away with a number of horrible Bide-era policies on student loans and financial aid, which has helped them to...

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit targeting a proposed Muslim-focused residential community in North Texas, accusing developers of an "illegal development scheme" that violated state securities laws. The 21-page complaint, filed Dec. 5 in Collin County, names the East Plano Islamic Center (EPIC), its affiliate Community Capital Partners (CCP), and several leaders involved with the targeted development, once known as EPIC City and now called The Meadow. Spanning over 400 acres in Collin and Hunt counties, plans for The Meadow include over 1,000 homes, a K-12 faith-based school, a mosque, elderly and assisted living facilities, apartments, clinics,...

Trump’s tariffs and immigration raids are driving the latest farm crisis. White farmers have stood by him year after year—and still do. On Monday, Donald Trump announced that his administration will give farmers a $12 billion bailout—a tacit admission that his trade policies suck. Farmers have spent much of the last year complaining about rising production costs, falling crop prices and the loss of multiple markets due to Trump’s tariffs and the trade wars they have launched. All in all, farmers are projected to lose roughly $44 billion in profits this year, in large part because of Trump administration policies....

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration diverted more than $35 million in taxpayer funds — an amount far greater than previously known — as part of a brazen agenda last year to defeat two ballot amendments he staunchly opposed, a Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times investigation has found. Much of the state money was intended to assist needy Floridians, including children. Instead, it paid for political consultants, lawyers and thousands of advertisements that helped DeSantis and his supporters win at the ballot box. The ads purchased with the diverted money blanketed TV, social media and radio stations in the weeks before the election....

Representative Delia Ramirez, an Illinois Democrat, demanded on Thursday that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem either resign or face impeachment. The congresswoman requested that House Judiciary chairman Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, and Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, carry out an investigation into Noem’s leadership of DHS, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the agencies spearheading the Trump administration’s mass deportation policy. “Under Secretary Kristi Noem’s leadership, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has done irreversible harm to our constituents, trampling the rights of all people and disregarding...

President Donald Trump was sued on Friday by preservationists asking a federal court to halt his White House ballroom project until it goes through multiple independent reviews and wins approval from Congress. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is asking the U.S. District Court to block Trump's White House ballroom project, which already has involved razing the East Wing, until it goes through comprehensive design reviews, environmental assessments, public comments and congressional debate and ratification.

The FDA is drawing up plans to put a 'black box' warning on Covid vaccines, the agency's most serious warning over potential side effects, reports suggest. The move was revealed to CNN by two people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. A black box warning, which appears at the top of prescribing information, is placed on drugs or vaccines to highlight major risks such as serious side effects or restrictions. Sources did not specify what the warning would contain, or whether it would apply to only...

After the 2024 humiliation, the left is back. It could hurt the party in 2026. Kim Strassel speaks with law professor Jonathan Turley about why the charges were dismissed against James Comey and Letitia James and how Donald Trump is separately using the legal system to the executive branch’s benefit. What could get in the way of a coming 2026 Democratic wave, given history and the current public mood? Nothing but the Democratic Party itself, which is sitting placidly by as the progressives who lost them last year’s election mobilize to take over even more of the party. Bernie Sanders...

The phrase “Woke Right” arrived almost overnight... James Lindsay traces the history of “woke” as a mindset rather than a policy list. For him, “woke” is a way of seeing the world through a single lens of power and grievance. It falsely elevates politics to a pseudo-theology—that of a cosmic struggle between oppressors and oppressed. It is inspired by resentment, which inevitably fosters online mobs, practices cancel culture, and treats ideological opponents as heretics who must be hunted down rather than debated. Lindsay argues that a similar pattern has emerged on parts of the Right. He points to Groypers and...

The nearly two dozen Indiana Republicans who voted against the president’s redistricting plan Thursday are in political jeopardy as Trump allies rally together to take them out. Republicans’ bid to redraw district lines ahead of the 2026 midterms failed after 21 state senators broke with their party and voted with the Democrats to strike the effort down 19-31. Trump claimed on Thursday that he “wasn’t working on it very hard” on the plan, though some have reported the president was making last minute calls to whip votes in favor of the new map. Major GOP organizations like Turning Point USA...

Laken Riley, Rachel Morin, Iryna Zarutska, Jocelyn Nungaray, Ruby Garcia, and Kayla Hamilton. They are just some of the American women who have been murdered in this country in the last few years. All of their deaths, arguably, could have been avoided if Democrats prioritized protecting citizens instead of illegal immigrants. Despite their tragic deaths, you’d be hard-pressed to find any Democrat who expressed as much sympathy, empathy, and concern for their lives as they have about suspected Venezuelan cartel drug traffickers in the Caribbean Sea

Former Trump White House official Marc Short told Politico’s Dasha Burns that the Democratic Party will likely dominate the 2026 midterms. In an appearance on CSPAN’s Ceasefire alongside Democratic strategist Adrienne Elrod, Short said that the Republican Party is already set to endure heavy losses in the upcoming elections. “I think it’s going to be a really steep climb, Dasha,” said Short, in relation to GOP midterm efforts. “The reality is that Americans like divided government. They don’t want one party in control. Each time there’s been one party in control, there’s been a backlash.” The once chief of staff...

My guest today is Andrew Kolvet, who was Kirk’s close confidant. Since the assassination, he’s taken on many of Kirk’s responsibilities, including hosting “The Charlie Kirk Show.” Andrew Kolvet: …“Now, Charlie’s mission was to say: Hey, before us are two roads. You can either go grievance politics, socialism, free stuff populism, Mangione-ism, Mamdani-ism, or you can go MAGA.“ …“I think this is the through line for Israel — is you do not have to support Israel to belong to the team, at least in a traditional historical sense…I’m an American. I’m born in this country. My kids are going to...

They decked the halls — and each other. A ritzy Nantucket Christmas celebration erupted into mayhem as men decked out in “Ralph Lauren and Burberry” traded blows just moments after Santa Claus made his appearance, according to shocking footage. The wild brawl broke out on Federal Street Saturday afternoon during the Massachusetts island’s 51st Annual Christmas Stroll, where hundreds had gathered to visit local businesses in one of America’s priciest small towns, the Nantucket Current reported. In dramatic video shared with the outlet, about a dozen men — ranging in age from 20s to 60s — were seen arguing and...