Free Republic

President Donald Trump appeared to give nonchalant confirmation of the first US land strike in Venezuela during a radio interview last week that received little attention. The president said that the Christmas Eve strike was on a facility 'where the ship comes from' – seemingly referencing the origination location of the alleged drug vessels that the US military has been targeting in the Caribbean and Atlantic over the last three months. Speaking to radio host and billionaire John Catsimatidis on WABC, Trump made the bombshell suggestion that US forces have already started conducting land operations in Venezuela. 'I don't know...

Elon Musk's much heralded chainsaw couldn't make the cut. Despite the Trump administration's efforts to slash government spending through the Department of Government Efficiency, federal expenditures actually increased in fiscal year 2025. A new investigative report from the New York Times released this week showcased that many of the contracts cut by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, led by tech billionaire Musk for the start of Trump's term, were already winding down, or were not on track to reach their maximum spending allotment. The findings were stark: Of the top 13 contract cancellations in DOGE's database all 13...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is preparing to dash to Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate for an urgent meeting, just days after declaring in a Christmas message that he hoped Vladimir Putin would perish. It comes as the Russian dictator suffered a humiliating Christmas Day defeat after Ukrainian forces took back full control of a city the Kremlin had claimed two months ago. Ukrainian media reports suggest the high-stakes meeting with Trump could take place as soon as December 28, if final arrangements are agreed. The Kyiv leader confirmed that preparations are underway after receiving an update from his chief negotiator, Rustem...

Kash Patel is at the center of another embarrassing fiasco after the FBI released a person of interest detained over the mass shooting at Brown University. The FBI had wrongfully detained a 24-year-old Army sniper whose name and photo was leaked to the press by cops, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha admitted on Sunday. A gunman opened fire during a review session for an introductory economics final exam at around 4pm on Saturday. He killed two students including Ella Cook, 19, vice president of the Ivy League school's Republican club, and injured nine others. Forty-eight hours later, the FBI...

The man arrested in connection to the deadly shooting at Brown University drove from Wisconsin to Rhode Island with a laser-equipped firearm, according to law enforcement. Aged in his 20s, the unidentified gunman killed two Ivy League students and injured several more before FBI agents snared him at the Hampton Inn hotel in Coventry. Sources told CNN he drove from Wisconsin to Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island - a journey which would have taken around 17 hours. The person of interest also had two guns in his possession at the hotel and one of them had laser sight, sources...

Trump officials have been accused of bigotry after the portrait of former President Joe Biden's transgender assistant secretary for health was altered to reflect her birth name. Admiral Rachel Levine's portrait has hung in a hallway of the Humphrey Building in Washington DC - the Department of Health and Human Services's headquarters - since she became the first trans woman to win Senate confirmation in 2021. Following the 68-year-old's four years of service under the Biden administration, her name was reverted to Richard Levine, the name she was given at birth. Levine's dead name - a trans person's original name...

The Trump administration blamed Biden for failing to catch the Jan 6 pipe bomb suspect - with Dan Bongino even alluding to a 'massive cover up.' 'There is a massive cover-up, because the person who planted those pipe bombs—they don’t want you to know who it was, because it’s either a connected anti-Trump insider, or this was an inside job,' Bongino said in 2024. 'Those bombs were planted there. This was a setup. I have zero doubt.'

Donald Trump's latest power play may be derailed by a member of his own political party in a vote planned to take place over 500 miles away from Washington, DC. Indiana State Senator Michael Bohacek, a Republican from the Hoosier State, has pledged to vote against a draft congressional map that would see two Democratic seats eliminated because of the president's inflammatory rhetoric. The proposed map comes as part of a redistricting effort aimed at keeping a GOP majority in Washington, DC, after the 2026 midterm elections. As midterm elections typically result in the president's political party losing seats, Trump...

President Donald Trump shared a social media post claiming Afghans would 'chop off your head' and 'assume you were a witch' if you showed them a Nespresso machine. Robert O'Neill, the Navy Seal veteran who claimed to have killed Osama bin Laden, shared a post on X appearing to oppose the immigration of people from Afghanistan to the United States. 'If you've never been to Afghanistan, you wouldn't understand,' O'Neill wrote. 'If you showed these people a Nespresso machine and gave them a free coffee, they would assume you were a witch and chop off your head... But let's bring...

FBI Director Kash Patel abruptly tossed out an agent in training on Wednesday for previously showing off a gay pride flag on his desk, according to a report. The trainee had displayed the emblem while serving in a field office in California last year during President Joe Biden's administration. Patel sent the trainee a signed letter dated October 1, claiming he had presented an improper 'political' message in the workplace while assigned in Golden State. The termination letter cited Donald Trump's constitutional power to fire bureaucrats serving in the executive branch. 'After reviewing the facts and circumstances and considering your...

Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth were accused of 'condescending and insulting' America's top generals and admirals at a highly anticipated summit on Tuesday. The president and Secretary of War hosted hundreds of military chiefs at Marine Corps Base Quantico on Tuesday, for a meeting they hoped would inspire the nation and revolutionize America's fighting force. But ex-Pentagon chiefs warned that the political speeches, which meandered through various topics from fat soldiers to Joe Biden's autopen, risked alienating the top brass. A former national security official told the Daily Mail that he found it 'incredibly condescending ... and a highly inappropriate...

Actor Charlie Sheen has revealed he still questions the official narrative around the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. The Two And A Half Men actor, 60, joined Tucker Carlson, 56, on his show on Friday to promote his new book, The Book of Sheen. While there, the Hollywood star revealed he didn't believe the official story of 9/11. 'There's something about that that's weird,' Sheen told Tucker. 'We're just going to focus on two things, just two things, and if you can explain those, I will submit to the official story.' Sheen takes issue with the stories...

The United States is planning military strikes in Venezuela against drug cartels in the coming weeks. Donald Trump is yet to approve the actions which are in response to President Nicolas Maduro, whom the U.S. sees as illegitimate, not doing enough to stop illegal drugs from getting out of Venezuela. It would largely consist of drone strikes against leaders and members of gangs, as well as drug labs, NBC News reports. They follow a recent lethal strike on a vessel allegedly affiliated with a terrorist organization 'trafficking illicit narcotics'. The attack killed 'three male narcoterrorists' took place in the US...

Tensions are boiling inside the Department of Justice regarding President Donald Trump's appointment of an inexperienced prosecutor to handle explosive cases against his political enemies – including James Comey and Letitia James. Interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan for the Eastern District of Virginia forged ahead with convening a grand jury against former FBI Director James Comey, despite having little to no support from Attorney General Pam Bondi's team. Other reports suggest that the DOJ didn't want to go after Comey yet because they were more focused on landing charges for disgraced former Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton, whose home...

The incident was likely the result of a 'blatant' Russian sabotage operation, Bulgarian authorities told the European Commission. Read More Yvette Cooper warns Britain is 'ready to act' after Trump backs Nato shooting down Russian planes article image 'We can indeed confirm that there was GPS jamming, but the plane landed safely in Bulgaria,' European Commission spokeswoman Arianna Podesta said. 'We have received information from the Bulgarian authorities that they suspect that this was due to blatant interference by Russia.' 'The whole airport area GPS went dark,' an official brief on the incident told the Financial Times. Russia is feared...

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has admitted that Germany has been 'living beyond its means for years' with experts now warning that the country could face ruin without economic reforms. The conservative German leader has caused uproar after declaring that the country could no longer afford the cost of its pensions system, which has soared to more than 31 per cent of GDP - one of the highest levels in Europe. Merz also warned of a 'profound epochal break' and the need for 'painful' austerity measures to guarantee that young Germans would have any future prospects. Economic adviser Marcel Fratzscher, who also...

Fears are mounting that an ancient Biblical event where countless Christians disappear from Earth is just hours away. Believers on social media platforms like TikTok have reached the point of hysteria over this prophecy, expressing their excitement for the end of days and even offering tips on how to handle being lifted into the sky to meet their maker. The phenomenon, dubbed RaptureTok, has exploded in recent weeks after faith leaders started pushing the idea that the Rapture will begin on September 23, marking the Second Coming of Jesus and Judgment Day for non-believers. Although the Bible never set a...

Barack and Michelle Obama have put on a rare show of unity by jetting off on a lavish getaway together - after months of swirling speculation about their marriage. The couple seemed to put the ongoing divorce rumors to rest as they soaked up the sun in Portofino, Italy, aboard their pal Steven Spielberg's $250 million superyacht over the weekend. The pair notably arrived separate from one another, however, with photographers catching a solo Michelle, 61, getting onto the luxurious, 357-foot boat via a tender ahead of her husband. She donned some baggy jeans, a matching denim button-down top, with...

Jimmy Kimmel is working with ABC's parent company Disney to bring his late-night show back after it was indefinitely suspended due to his monologue about Charlie Kirk, according to insiders.Three sources with knowledge of the conversations told Variety that compromises are in the works for Jimmy Kimmel Live! to return to television.Sinclair, the media corporation that owns multiple ABC affiliate stations, previously called on the host to apologize and donate to Kirk's organization, Turning Point USA. Another major station owner, Nexstar, also announced it would pull the show from their stations following comments from Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr,...

A security expert has claimed Russia 'could well be' behind a cyber attack that crippled operations at several major European airports today. Hackers targeted check-in and boarding systems operator Collins Aerospace on Friday night, sparking major disruption, flight delays and cancellations at transport hubs across the continent. The company is 'experiencing a technical issue which may cause delays for departing passengers' as a result of the attack, which crippled online check-in systems at Heathrow, Berlin and Brussels. One expert told the Daily Mail that Russia could be behind the hack, adding: 'The timing of the attack, coming just hours after...