Free Republic

President Trump has spent his first year in office treating Joe Biden's presidency as a historical aberration — not just undoing his policies, but casting his entire term as illegitimate. Why it matters: Presidencies usually fade. But in just one year, Biden's has been reduced to a footnote by a successor committed to dismantling every pillar of Washington's old liberal order. 1. Democracy: Biden built his presidency around the idea that American democracy had been assaulted by Trump 1.0 — that Jan. 6 was a defining national trauma requiring accountability and moral clarity. Trump has inverted that premise, pardoning thousands...

The relationship between President Trump and former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene grew so poisonous that the White House told the Secret Service that Greene may have tipped off Code Pink protesters about his surprise visit last fall to a D.C. restaurant she recommended, two sources on Trump's team tell Axios. That episode — which involved a chaotic confrontation between anti-war activists and Trump — embarrassed the president and intensified concerns in the White House about his safety, a year after he narrowly escaped an assassination attempt. Why it matters: Trump aides view the Joe's Seafood debacle as a point of...

Top Minnesota Democrats are condemning President Trump for amplifying false claims about the murder of former House Speaker Melissa Hortman. Driving the news: On Saturday, Trump shared a Truth Social post and video that promotes unsubstantiated conspiracy theories tying Hortman's June 14 slaying to Gov. Tim Walz and alleged fraud in state programs. What they're saying: Walz, who considered Hortman a friend and political ally, blasted the post as "dangerous, depraved behavior from the sitting president of the United States." "In covering for an actual serial killer, he is going to get more innocent people killed," the DFL governor wrote...

For decades, people have fretted about the financial sustainability of America's bedrock retirement income program. Now, Social Security's precarious fiscal state is an issue for the here and now. * How to fix it is set to be a defining political fight of the next several years, with millions of Americans' benefits and the fiscal future of the United States at stake. Why it matters: There is a tug-of-war between the benefits future retirees receive and the taxes that working-age people pay. Something has to give, and surprisingly soon. The big picture: The Social Security retirement fund is set to...

Kellogg Fired Over Leaking 28-Point Plan – Proposal Designed To Trap Putin It seems that Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, got fired over leaking news of the 28-point ‘peace plan’. Let’s follow the traces. On Tuesday the 18th November someone ‘leaked’ to Axios reporter Barak Ravid who then wrote the first story of Trump’s new plan for Ukraine. Scoop: U.S. secretly drafting new plan to end Ukraine war The plan’s 28 points fall into four general buckets, sources tell Axios: peace in Ukraine, security guarantees, security in Europe, and future U.S. relations with Russia and Ukraine. … Trump’s...

Barbara Wien posted flyers exposing White House adviser Stephen Miller’s address and calling for “NO NAZIS.” Drawing on Marc Caputo’s Axios story, Jessica Schwalb reports for the Washington Free Beacon (links omitted): On Sept. 11, a day after conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was killed by a politically motivated assassin, Barbara Wien, a retired 66-year-old American University professor, posted the flyers around Miller’s Arlington neighborhood showing a photo of the Trump adviser in a red circle with a cross through it. They also included a QR code that linked to the Instagram account of Arlington Neighbors United for Humanity, an activist...

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Friday that Democrats would vote to end the government shutdown in exchange for a one-year extension of expiring ACA tax credits, multiple sources told Axios.

Zoom out: For now, MAGA is being held together by Trump's personality. But open disagreement has broken out over who should, and shouldn't, be accepted under its tent. U.S. support for Israel's operations in Gaza inflamed America First diehards and hardened Israel's MAGA allies. The online divisions have raged during the tenuous ceasefire, including tropes over Jews' supposed disproportionate influence in the U.S. A leaked group chat from New York State Young Republicans included racist comments and messages from a Trump administration nominee declaring he had a "Nazi streak." The revelation sparked debates over who — if anyone — should...

Hunter Biden was furious with former President Barack Obama for leading then-President Joe Biden offstage with a guiding hand at a June 2024 fundraiser, according to a new book from ABC News' Jonathan Karl. An excerpt from the book, obtained by Axios, details how the younger Biden believed Obama had disrespected and embarrassed the president. "I almost jumped up on the stage and said, 'Don't ever f--king do that to the president of the United States again — ever," Hunter told Karl in an interview. The incident was one of many that contributed to criticism that Biden was too old...

The Republican Party's pro-Israel allies are going all-out to unseat Rep. Thomas Massie. He's responded by making those attacks a centerpiece of his campaign. The GOP's mega-donor ranks are filled with backers of Israel, and they're showing they're willing to invest in defeating lawmakers who are critical of Israel. They're also aligning themselves with President Trump, who has singled out Massie (R-Ky.) — a rare congressional Republican Trump critic — for defeat. Massie has vocally criticized Israel's handling of the war in Gaza and voted against providing U.S. aid to Israel. He also skipped Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's July...

Jackie Norris, the chairwoman of the Des Moines Public School Board who once served as chief of staff to Michelle Obama, has pulled out of the race for Iowa's open U.S. Senate seat as recommended by her Republican opponent, Rep. Ashley Hinson. Hinson stressed earlier this month that Norris, a champion of DEI, had "lost all shreds of credibility" over the role she played in the hiring of the Des Moines district's former superintendent, a criminal illegal alien who was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Sept 26. Ian Andre Roberts, a native of Guyana, has a lengthy...

The longer the government stays shut down, the shorter House Republicans' patience seems to be getting with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). Why it matters: Johnson's decision to keep his chamber on an indefinite break in the middle of a government shutdown isn't sitting well with some in his conference — and that could put pressure on the speaker to change course. From frustration over the stalled vote on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files, to questions about whether — as Johnson argues — the chamber really has no business to attend to in Washington, GOP lawmakers are beginning to get antsy....

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) shared a study that showed that left-wing terrorism had reached a “30-year high,” and criticized Democrats for using rhetoric such as “Hitler” or “fascist.” In a post on X, Fetterman included a screenshot of an Axios article titled “Study: Left-wing terrorism climbs to 30-year high.” Fetterman noted that “political violence is always wrong,” and called for everyone to “turn the temperature down.” “Unchecked extreme rhetoric, like labels as Hitler or fascist, will foment more extreme outcomes,” Fetterman said. […] The CSIS “compiled and analyzed a data set of 750 domestic attacks and plots” that had occurred...

President Trump told Axios in an interview Sunday that negotiations over his plan to end the war in Gaza are "at their final stages" and contended a deal could open the way for wider peace in the Middle East. ...

The vast majority of officials and diplomats in the UN General Assembly Hall appeared to walk out as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the stage for his address on Friday.

The Israeli military launched its ground offensive Monday to occupy Gaza City, which the Netanyahu government says is aimed at rooting out Hamas, Israeli officials said.

I investigate the evidence confirming that Tyler Robinson's room mate, who authorities believe was actually his romantic partner, is trans ANDY NGO SEP 13, 2025 I can report that the roommate — and suspected romantic partner — of the man accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk is confirmed as trans. On Friday, Daily Mail first identified the partner as 22-year-old Lance S. Twiggs. Twiggs lived with accused assassin Tyler Robinson in an apartment in St. George, Utah, about four hours from Utah Valley University, where Kirk was murdered. Twiggs’ social media history remains online, and I have reviewed it to confirm...

Democratic Party officials are quietly battling over which state will be the first to vote in the 2028 presidential primary — a fight that's set to break into the open next week, when the officials meet in Minneapolis. * Nevada, New Hampshire, and Michigan are currently the frontrunners to be "the new Iowa," and lead off the 2028 Democratic primary season, according to several people familiar with the Rules and Bylaws committee that will determine the order. Why it matters: The candidate who wins the first state primary gets a boost that can help propel them to the nomination —...

Democrats are tortured by what they should stand for now and heading into the 2028 elections. But a number of current trends suggest a likely answer: their own version of a populist, anti-establishment, MAGA-like makeover.Why it matters: The debate is usually framed as liberal vs. centrist, Rahm versus AOC. But big, fast changes in AI, media habits and general public angst point to a more sweeping shift in ideas and attitude.Four megatrends that are already shaping Democrats' efforts to remake their image and rewrite their agenda:Media: MSM is fading in its mesmerizing hold over liberals. At the same time, the...

VIDEORemember when the liberals were rejoicing in early Spring when they were oh so sure that President Trump's tariffs would cause high inflation, tank the economy, and bring a downfall of the Trumpocalypse? Well, much to their great disappointment, that Hopium scenario did not play out especially as inflation continued to fall. However, they haven't given up. Jim VandeHei, the CEO of Axios, has inhaled another strong dose of Hopium and is now predicting a big rise in inflation resulting in the downfall of MAGA. And when this latest round of Hopium does not pan out, I am sure VandeHei...