Free Republic

A slight majority of registered voters describe President Trump as corrupt and dangerous, a recent poll found, while just 14% say he isn't divisive.The big picture: Simply put, polling hasn't been pretty for the president — or for his Iran war, tariffs or other top priorities. Still, with the midterms weeks away, Trump has centered himself, making the election a referendum on his presidency. By the numbers: "Corrupt" (53%) and "dangerous" (51%) led the list of descriptors voters applied to Trump in the Sept. 11-14 The Economist-YouGov poll of 1,461 U.S. registered voters.Those words were followed by "out-of-touch" (47%), "cruel"...

When a political player starts drawing personal insults from President Trump and his people, it is a pretty good sign that his star is on the rise. For Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia, that moment arrived this summer. In July, Mr. Trump dubbed the fresh-faced lawmaker “Pee-wee Herman.” The next month, upset over Mr. Ossoff’s criticism of the president, one aide called Mr. Ossoff a “feminine theater kid” and a “lightweight loser,” and another derided him as “a miserable person” and “the biggest cuck loser in politics,” while deploying a sexually explicit moniker unfit for a family-friendly publication. Mr. Ossoff...

Saudi Arabia will run out of oil stocks for exports if it doesn't restart its major pipeline to the Red Sea within days, leading to a loss of up to 4% of global supply, Saudi oil buyers and traders said. A further decline in Saudi flows will worsen the global supply crunch, which has already pushed global fuel prices to record highs, spurred inflation around the world and sent U.S. bond yields to the highest levels since the 2008 financial crisis. Since drone attacks forced Saudi Arabia to shut its huge east-west oil pipeline on Friday, Riyadh has not given...

Nicotine-pouch salesman and onetime conservative pundit Tucker Carlson has all but endorsed lefty Michigan Senate hopeful Dr. Abdul El-Sayed while defending his controversial comments about 9/11.Carlson, 57, who recently fawned over disgraced Democratic former first son Hunter Biden, last week ripped into El-Sayed’s Republican foe, Mike Rogers, for his track record on national security issues and urged the “good people of Michigan keep this man far away from Washington.” “El-Sayed did not celebrate airplane hijackings or cheerlead Al-Qaeda; he simply said that the U.S. conducting terrorism of its own in response to 9/11 was not exactly an appropriate reaction. He...

The U.S. national average price of diesel on Thursday surpassed $6 a gallon for the first time , according to price tracker GasBuddy, as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s refineries have squeezed supply. Diesel fuels trucks, trains, ships and heavy equipment that keep global supply chains moving. It is also crucial to running farm equipment. The latest surge in fuel costs is adding to inflationary pressures that have already strained consumers and businesses this year, creating a political headache for President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers as they seek to defend thin congressional majorities in...

Stocks dropped Thursday after U.S. oil prices topped $100 a barrel, amid growing fears of higher inflation from a prolonged war in the Middle East. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 315 points, or 0.6%. The S&P 500 fell 0.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.5% too. Higher oil prices continued to weigh on sentiment, as the war between the U.S. and Iran stretched into a seventh month. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures for October jumped above $100 per barrel. Futures for the international benchmark Brent crude for November delivery spiked above $105 a barrel. The jump in oil prices...

President Trump on Wednesday told the crowd at the Republican National Committee’s first midterm convention in Dallas not to boo the absent Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), telling them that “John is working hard.” Trump mentioned Thune’s name after he said Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) “will go down as the greatest Speaker of the House in the history of our country.” He then added that Thune was “here” before asking where he was, prompting boos from the audience.The president added that Senate Republicans will in general have “great, great success.” Thune and Trump have been at odds with each...

Donald Trump revealed a potential uniform for the US Space Force that has people comparing the service's new look to classic science fiction movies. The newest wing of the American military has been mocked in the past for the futuristic nature of their uniforms. However, many were taken aback when Trump posted a new 'Service Dress Uniform' for the force titled 'Next Generation' which directly references the 1997 film Starship Troopers. The design is inspired, according to the photo description, 'by the discipline and functionality of the starship trooper uniform modernized for the guardians of the space domain.' The color...

President Trump is spending Labor Day flooding his Truth Social account with AI-generated images about conquering both the Earth and outer space alike. Trump on Monday posted a map of North America, where both Canada and Mexico are annexed to the United States — and shaded in stars and stripes.He dropped several posts suggesting the state of New Mexico be renamed “New America.” The posts carried various maps bearing the new name. In another, Trump claimed the moon for the United States. The president dropped about 40 posts over a 10-hour period on Sunday before taking it up again on...

President Trump called the US-Iran conflict "small potatoes," comparing the six-month long conflict to the Vietnam War. The commander-in-chief pushed back at a reporter who criticized his downplaying of the Iran war, telling her she "wouldn't be standing here very long" because the Islamic Republic would've used a nuclear weapon.

On a day that our nation genuinely mourns the loss of a cross-party generational pillar, Dolly Parton, I think back to my younger years and the more righteous culture. She was known for kindness and humility. I can think of only one more that was like her. I was taken from my father at a young age, through a feminist no fault divorce filled with false allegations. As a young man growing up lonely for fatherly love and advice, I found a large portion of what I needed by watching Little House on the Prairie, and specifically Charles Ingalls, played...

“It’s not just a convention. This is to rally the troops,” Denton County GOP Chair Melinda Preston said. The president is insisting on giving Democrats exactly what they want: keeping the attention on him. That is certainly the likely upshot of the first-ever GOP midterm convention being held in Dallas Without an energized MAGA base, Republicans won’t even be in the vicinity of victory.

The U.S. national debt has surpassed $40 trillion for the first time, marking a historic milestone in a borrowing buildup that has accumulated over generations, through wars, recessions, tax changes and the expansion of major federal benefit programs under presidents of both parties.The Treasury Department reported that total public debt outstanding reached about $40.047 trillion Tuesday, according to The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. The number is striking, but the more significant measure for economists is debt held by the public — money the federal government owes to investors and other entities outside the federal government. That...

President Trump suffered a pair of losses in Florida’s primaries and another in Wyoming on Tuesday as three of his endorsed candidates were defeated in key primaries, showing the limits of his influence with sagging approval numbers. Embattled Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) lost his chance at renomination against former TV reporter Ryan Elijah, who appears on track to win by double digits. Mills has been among the president’s strongest supporters in Congress since he was first elected in 2022, but he has faced mounting controversy amid a House Ethics Committee probe into his conduct. The committee has for months been...

President Donald Trump proclaimed on Tuesday that talks with Iran were not happening, a direct contradiction to his own son-in-law and top negotiator Jared Kushner, who said a day earlier that the negotiations were ongoing. “There are no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled, with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the president posted to Truth Social on Tuesday. “The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect. The Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” But Trump’s post may have been news to Kushner,...

Starting last fall, the Department of Homeland Security spent $464 million on a no-bid contract to buy 10 used airplanes from a firm in Northern Virginia. That was an enormous price tag, but the department said it had no time to consider other offers. The planes were needed urgently for deportation flights. But since then, the department has barely used this new fleet — for deportations, or anything else. The department’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has long outsourced its deportation flights by chartering planes from private companies. It also uses military and Coast Guard aircraft. In a written statement,...

Fox News anchor Bret Baier undercut President Donald Trump’s baseless claim that the U.S. “totally” controls the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which 20% of the world’s oil flows. On Tuesday, Trump spoke with reporters and addressed the strait, which Iran effectively closed after the U.S. and Israel launched the current war on the country in February. But somehow, the president insisted the U.S. has it all under control. “We totally control the Strait of Hormuz,” he said, reality be damned. “We have control over it. Nobody else. Only us. Our navy is unbelievable, and things are going...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly rejected President Donald Trump’s 15-point Gaza peace plan on Sunday, declaring that Israeli forces will not withdraw from the territory until Hamas has been “genuinely” disarmed. “Israel rejects the 15-point document,” Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting, dealing another setback to the U.S.-backed effort to end the war in Gaza. כל עוד אני ראש ממשלה, לא תקום מדינה פלסטינית – לא בעזה ולא ביו"ש. לא פת״חסטאן ולא חמאסטאן. pic.twitter.com/C1W8BIjckQ — Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) August 10, 2026 The Israeli military “will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed and will...

President Trump signaled on Sunday that he's prepared to allow economic pressure on Iran to mount — as opposed to ordering a new military offensive — even as the country continues to defy the U.S. Why it matters: Only a week ago, Trump was on the verge of ordering a return to major combat operations. But in an interview with Axios, he did not make any new military threats. Trump also didn't express any anger or frustration about the fact that Iran has been holding up an announcement on a deal with Oman to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. On...

Reading FR then flicking to Twitter/X is sometimes like night and day. There's a lot of dissent there among those I happen to follow (NOT Lefitsts or anything like that) regarding: Israel, Iran War, foreign policy and the Administration generally. A lot of hot topics that get discussed here all the time and former Representatives or officials are leading the charge: MTG, Kent, Tucker Carlson and Massie the most prominent with many large accounts echoing them. It's clear to me this is more than just a few rebels who have no influence or standing in fact MTG says in one...