Free Republic

Moments ago, at my direction, the United States Central Command executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the History of the Middle East, and totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran’s crown jewel, Kharg Island. Our Weapons are the most powerful and sophisticated that the World has ever known but, for reasons of decency, I have chosen NOT to wipe out the Oil Infrastructure on the Island. However, should Iran, or anyone else, do anything to interfere with the Free and Safe Passage of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider this decision. During my...

Our Sages tell us that we must always anticipate possibilities of what might happen and look for solutions. Iran - with a GDP smaller than the state of Texas - has pressed pause on the global economy. The Strait of Hormuz, barely 21 miles wide, carries 20 percent of the world's oil supply every single day. And right now, it is closed. The conventional response - to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, broker a ceasefire, rush the tankers through - is available. It is also a missed opportunity of historic proportions. There is another path in which the story of...

https://x.com/USBPChief/status/2031050259032326558 Chief Michael W. Banks @USBPChief Illegal smuggling routes along the Rio Grande historically used by criminal cartel organizations are being destroyed. This is modern border security, and we are just getting started! @USCG@JointTFSBMarch 9, 2026

Dear friends and family, It’s been exactly a week since the war against Iran began. I am sure a lot of you want to know how we (we personally and we Israel) are doing and how we are experiencing this. First some hard statistics. Iran launched close to 600 missiles and over 1500 suicide drones to attack Israel and 12 other countries, including a European country (Cyprus), Turkey and even Azerbaijan. Of these, roughly 200 targeted Israel. Almost all of them were intercepted, but there were 3 direct hits. Two missiles hit apartment buildings and one was a direct hit...

Eight months before the crucial midterm elections, the administration of President Donald Trump is battling high living costs. The strike against Iran threatens to undo the first successes achieved in the struggle against inflation via falling energy prices. Ludwig Erhard understood the formula for sustained political success. The equation was as simple as it was powerful: stable money circulating in free markets coordinates the millions of individual decisions made by households, businesses, and credit institutions -- day after day -- in the most efficient manner. Stable money requires a lean state. Public debt, meanwhile, is widely regarded as the primary...

President Trump revealed Monday that he will confer with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about when to end the military campaign against Iran, suggesting the decision would be “mutual” between the US and its Middle Eastern ally. “I think it’s mutual… a little bit,” Trump told The Times of Israel in a phone interview, adding that he and Netanyahu have “been talking.” “I’ll make a decision at the right time, but everything’s going to be taken into account,” the president added. Trump previously suggested that the war against Iran could last approximately four weeks, but other members of his administration...

Iran has threatened to attack any oil tanker passing through the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world’s oil transits. US oil futures rose 18% to about $108 a barrel, their highest level since July 19, 2022. Brent futures, the global benchmark, increased 16%, near $108 a barrel. Surging oil prices have weighed heavily on stocks in recent days, as traders fear that a prolonged spike in fuel prices could lead to another spike in inflation and hurt the economy. Dow futures dropped more than 800 points, or 1.7%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures fell 1.6%. Triggered by...

Senior officials from United States and Israel have recently discussed an unprecedented scenario: deploying special forces on Iranian soil to physically secure the stockpile of enriched uranium accumulated by Iran. This was reported Sunday morning by Axios, citing two U.S. administration officials and sources familiar with the details of the plan. At the center of the proposed complex operation are about 450 kilograms of uranium enriched to a level of 60 percent. According to intelligence assessments, this is a critical quantity that could be rapidly enriched to the military-grade level of 90 percent-enough to produce no fewer than 11 nuclear...

War Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday outlined what he described as a "clear" three-part mission against Iran, insisting the conflict "is not endless" and sharply rejecting comparisons to past U.S. wars in the Middle East. Speaking during the first Pentagon briefing since U.S.-Israeli strikes began over the weekend, Hegseth said Operation Epic Fury has a narrowly defined objective: destroy Iran’s offensive missile capabilities, cripple its navy and prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

March 2 (Reuters) - The Trump administration plans ​to drop its ‌appeals defending executive orders that sanctioned ​four major ​U.S. law firms, the ⁠Wall Street ​Journal reported on ​Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. The U.S. ​Justice Department ​is expected to abandon ‌appeals ⁠to trial-court rulings against the actions targeting Jenner & ​Block, ​WilmerHale, ⁠Perkins Coie and Susman ​Godfrey, the report ​said.

The Pentagon on Friday night released a long-awaited strategy that prioritizes the U.S. homeland and Western Hemisphere — a stunning reversal from previous administrations that aligns with President Donald Trump’s military strikes in Venezuela and efforts to acquire Greenland. The National Defense Strategy — a dramatic shift from even the first Trump administration — no longer focuses primarily on countering China. Instead, it blames past administrations for ignoring American interests and jeopardizing the U.S. military’s access to the Panama Canal and Greenland. The strategy calls for attention to the “practical interests” of the U.S. public and an abandonment of “grandiose...

It’s hard to be optimistic about the future of Gaza. The cease-fire agreement brokered by the Trump administration is holding, but Israel continues to occupy more than half of the territory, and its forces have killed more than 350 Palestinians since the truce was reached on Oct. 10. Hamas, meanwhile, is resurging in Gaza—replacing key commanders killed in the two-year war with Israel; executing its Palestinian opponents; and hiding weapons and fighters in its tunnel system, more than half of which remains intact. So, where does that leave Palestinians and Israelis? And what does it mean for the rest of...

Israel has taken the controversial decision to recognise the breakaway state of Somaliland as an independent nation, sparking condemnation from many other countries. China is the latest to condemn the decision, with its foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian telling reporters: "No country should encourage or support other countries' internal separatist forces for its own selfish interests." China outlined its position ahead of the UN Security Council holding an emergency session to discuss Israel's decision. Israel on Friday became the first country in the world to acknowledge Somaliland as a standalone republic, more than 30 years after the region declared independence...

Members of the MAGA faithful gathered here Thursday to kick off Turning Point USA’s America Fest, the largest meeting for the organization since its founder, Charlie Kirk, was shot to death on a Utah college campus in September. Despite that somber backdrop, the event quickly devolved into a spectacle of MAGA infighting.

Former US Vice President Dick Cheney “just loved Israel,” recalls Michael Oren, past Israeli ambassador to Washington. Oren was in the room as an Israeli reservist in the 1991 Gulf War when Cheney, then defense secretary, and his counterpart Moshe Arens met to discuss the response to Iraqi Scud missile attacks on Israeli cities. He was the Israeli notetaker, as Cheney sought to convince Israel not to respond. “The Israeli government was telling the administration that we couldn’t wait anymore, that the paratroopers were out on the runway ready to go to western Iraq,” says Oren. Cheney feared that the...

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.

A shocking poll shows that two years after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre that murdered more than 1,200 Israelis, a majority of Palestinians still say the terror group was right to launch the attack — and, equally disturbing, an overwhelming 86 percent deny that Hamas committed the well-documented atrocities against civilians. According to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR), 53 percent of Palestinians say Hamas’s decision to launch the October 7 assault was correct; support is strongest in the West Bank at 59 percent, while 44 percent in the Gaza Strip back the attack — a...

Speaker Mike Johnson said Thursday he doesn’t believe a bipartisan effort to force a House vote compelling the release of Jeffrey Epstein-related documents will succeed. Asked about the discharge petition led by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Johnson said he doubted they would convince enough Republicans to sign on. “I don’t expect he will,” Johnson said when asked about Massie’s chances of success. .. White House officials are running an intense pressure campaign to keep Republicans from joining the discharge effort. Trump aides have made calls to GOP members who have co-sponsored the Massie-Khanna measure, pressuring those...

Hey Republicans, it’s time to get out the shovels and dig a very deep hole. Then bury forever the stench and false innuendo coming from the Jeffrey Epstein case. Especially now that the dead monster’s cohort, Ghislaine Maxwell, has told the Justice Department that she never once saw President Trump “acting inappropriately in any way” and that he “was never inappropriate with anybody” despite a long association with Epstein. Those should be the final words of the sordid saga and give the GOP the confidence to stop runnin’ scared on the subject and drop its foolish obsession with the case....

President Donald Trump said he will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Monday afternoon to discuss an agreement "which would end the war" between Russia and Ukraine.