Free Republic

Two container ships near the strait of Hormuz have ⁠sunk after being struck by missiles, amid the sharpest rise in Iranian attacks on shipping since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran. The increase in attacks suggests Iran is trying to fully close the strategic waterway in an attempt to frustrate Donald Trump’s efforts to bring down fuel prices before the US midterm elections on 3 November. The Trump administration has been attempting to deflect attention from the economic impact of the war on Iran by blaming Ukraine’s attacks on Russian refineries for increased fuel prices.

As President Donald Trump and his administration have ratcheted up pressure on Ukraine to stop striking Russian refineries, citing harm to American consumers, they have remained silent on recent Russian strikes on US businesses in Ukraine. Russia has escalated its attacks on facilities tied to American corporations – and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine writ large – over the past several months. According to Andy Hunder, the President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, Russian missiles and drones have damaged facilities belonging to some of America’s most notable brands, including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, McDonalds and Oreo. Although Russia has tried...

This video by Rich Lowry of National Review discusses ongoing controversies surrounding Congresswoman Ilhan Omar's immigration history and family background. The discussion is prompted by reports of a federal investigation involving the Department of Justice and Homeland Security Investigations at her home. Key topics discussed include: Father's Background (2:13 - 5:28): Lowry challenges the description of Omar's father solely as an educator, referencing reports of his alleged military service as a colonel in Somalia under the regime of Siad Barre. Citizenship and Age (5:28 - 7:09): The video explores allegations regarding Omar's age at the time she gained U.S. citizenship,...

Diesel futures traded sharply higher Tuesday, as doubts mounted about the likely impacts of the Trump administration’s latest efforts to push prices down. U.S. diesel futures were up 5% by midday to their highest level in weeks. In Europe, diesel futures rose by about 3.8%, while gas futures spiked to levels not seen all year. A move higher in futures markets typically signals that prices will climb in the coming days. Already, the average nationwide price of diesel is up 70% since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. The cost of unleaded gas has risen by more...

A ship has been struck in the Strait of Hormuz nearly every day this month, according to the International Maritime Organization. Between Oct. 1 and Tuesday, nine ships – mostly crude oil tankers – were struck in the Strait of Hormuz or off the coast of Oman, according to the IMO. Two additional ships were hit since, with one struck on Wednesday and another struck on Friday, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations. Wednesday’s attack was on an unnamed tanker off the coast of Madinat ash Shamal, Qatar, in the Persian Gulf. Friday’s attack was on an unnamed...

President Trump will travel to the Philippines next month for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit before heading on to China, according to the White House. Trump will participate in the summit in Manila on Nov. 16 before going to China for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, which will take place from Nov. 17-19, the White House said. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been inviting Trump to visit his country for some time, a US official said. Trump’s last official trip to the Philippines took place in 2017 when he attended the ASEAN summit. Last year,...

President Donald Trump’s Friday announcement that Russia will supply diesel fuel to the global market marked an apparent pivot from recent efforts to pressure Moscow to end the Ukraine war by targeting Russian energy exports. Trump claimed the move, unveiled with less than a month left in an affordability-focused midterm election, would swiftly bring down record-high diesel prices. But commentators and critics were quick to highlight contradictions between the new policy and prior efforts by the U.S. to clamp down on Russian oil sales. Those efforts most recently included the enactment of the Lindsey Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act...

Trump says he has struck a deal with Putin for Russia to sell 4.8 million tons of diesel fuel to the U.S. and global markets

Hamas is generating as much as $5 million a day from goods entering Gaza while rebuilding tunnels, accumulating weapons, and planning possible attacks on Israeli troops, including attempts to kidnap soldiers, according to separate Israeli television reports this week citing security officials. Neomi Neumann, a former head of research at Israel’s Shin Bet security agency, told the Kan public broadcaster on Thursday that Hamas continues to exercise effective control over Gaza’s population through a decentralized system of taxation, aid distribution, and covert enforcement. Neumann, now an adjunct fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, estimated that Hamas earns...

President Trump claimed that his administration is “having productive discussions” and vowed to hold off on resuming attacks against the Islamic Republic before the midterm elections. “We are having productive discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the president wrote on Truth Social Thursday. “[W]hile Iran is in very bad condition, both Economically and Militarily and while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, with Oil flowing in Record Numbers of Barrels through the Hormuz Strait,” he added, “we will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the Midterm Elections.” The president has long been rumored...

President Donald Trump asked Chinese leader Xi Jinping if he would like to buy American weapons during the communist politician’s three day trip to the States last week, according to U.S. Ambassador to China David Purdue. The ambassador shared the surprising news during an interview on Fox News Sunday with anchor Shannon Bream. “President Trump continues to say, ‘Hey, we sell arms to other people around the world.’ He actually asked President Xi if he would like to buy some, at one point,” Purdue said. The comment came as he defended Trump’s relationship with Taiwan, with Purdue arguing Trump has...

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 22 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Washington and Tehran were moving toward a settlement, while a senior Iranian official said Tehran could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within days if the US eased military pressure and lifted its blockade on Iranian ports.Trump's remarks came just hours after ‌he repeated a threat at the UN General Assembly to annihilate Iran if it failed to strike a deal.Speaking after a meeting with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham at the United Nations ‌in New York, Trump said: "They want to talk to us. They have been...

President Donald Trump revealed a major decision he is considering regarding the conflict with Iran during his Sept. 22 address to the U.N. General Assembly. In his speech, Trump reiterated his administration’s position that Iran cannot be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon and outlined how the U.S. military has targeted Iran’s navy, missile capabilities, and nuclear development. “But now I have a big decision to make: Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even...

President Donald Trump told Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst that “very big things are going to be happening in the not-so-distant future” on Iran and that “my question is, if and when do I blow the entire nation up?” In a Sunday morning appearance on Fox & Friends Weekend Yingst reported he had just spoken with Trump and conveyed the substance of his conversation with the audience. “He tells Fox News he’s in a ‘deciding mode’ and that ‘very big things are going to be happening in the not-so-distant future,'” Yingst said. “The president described the current choices...

The Iran and Ukraine wars have exposed the world’s reliance on the Middle East and Russia for diesel Persian Gulf states and Russia have invested tens of billions of dollars in refineries over the past decade to grab a bigger share of the global diesel market. Now, war in both regions has sent exports plunging, squeezing supplies of a fuel that powers much of the global economy. Diesel prices are soaring—they eclipsed $6 a gallon in the U.S. for the first time last week and have kept climbing, hitting $6.45 on Friday. The surge has rattled governments and markets around...

New photos obtained exclusively by CBS News reveal for the first time the widespread damage and destruction of buildings and vehicles at multiple U.S. positions across the Middle East, as a result of Iranian missile and drone attacks. The Defense Department's inspector general this week released a fresh report on the war in Iran that revealed "equipment losses" worth up to $3.7 billion — including nearly 60 aircraft. In a first-of-its-kind mandatory report to Congress, the inspector general added that U.S. Central Command reported Iranian strikes at U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan.

The contractor that renovated the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has told the Trump administration that errors in its own work and flaws in the repair plan, not vandalism, caused the pool’s new blue liner to peel and break loose, according to government documents. President Trump has repeatedly blamed vandals wielding knives or box cutters for damage to the pool’s “American flag blue” liner, even after the Justice Department dropped charges that it had brought against people accused of vandalizing the national landmark. But the documents, which have not previously been reported, make clear that the contractor, Atlantic Industrial Coatings, found...

Prices increases remained stubbornly high in August with little relief in sight for weary American consumers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that consumer prices rose by 0.4 percent in August month over month, leaving the annual CPI inflation rate at 3.4 percent, flat with the 3.4 percent figure in June. 'Apart from the hot core inflation, today’s data doesn’t even cover the most recent oil price spike above $100,' Nic Puckrin, markets expert and former Goldman Sachs analyst, told the Daily Mail. The August inflation numbers are the last impactful data report to come out before the Federal...

President Trump pledged a $5,000 payout to U.S. adults on Wednesday, but only if Republicans hold onto their majority in Congress come November. “Here is my promise: if the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them … because of our tremendous strength and success economically, I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000,” he said at the GOP’s midterm convention in Dallas, Texas. The legality of this disbursal is unclear. There are about 270 million adults in the U.S. Trump told attendees Wednesday that...

President Donald Trump pledged Wednesday to send every American adult $5,000 if Republicans retain control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections, an extraordinary gambit to reverse his party’s sagging fortunes in November. The dubious promise would likely cost more than $1 trillion and require congressional approval, and would further exacerbate the country’s nearly $1.8 trillion annual budget deficit and concerns about inflation. “If the Republicans win, you win with us and you get $5,000,” Trump said during the GOP’s midterm convention in Dallas. “It will be called the Trump Dividend.”