Free Republic

President Trump’s feud with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) is showing no signs of abating as the president seeks to oust the GOP congressman for his history of regularly breaking with the administration. Massie recently opposed the administration by denouncing its strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and refusing to support the president’s legislative agenda, leading Trump’s political operation to launch a targeted campaign against Massie. On Friday, a Trump-aligned super PAC, led by the president’s co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita, rolled out its first ad as part of a $1 million ad buy targeting Massie. The 30-second ad — titled “What happened...

What happens when a reporter gets caught spreading disinformation in the form of the biggest fake news of the 2020 presidential campaign? Why, promote them up the media food chain from a Politico reporter to a national security correspondent at CNN. Such was the reward for Natasha Bertrand for her role in "fortifying" the 2020 election against Donald Trump by hyping the disinformation campaign by 51 intelligence officials who incorrectly claimed that the highly damaging (to the Joe Biden campaign) information on Hunter Biden's laptop was really the result of Russian disinformation.So instead of eternally bearing the Scarlett Letter "D"...

CNN is the latest to suffer from the utter humiliation of prophesying Armageddon-level economic catastrophe as a result of President Donald Trump’s military strikes on Iran, only to have their predictions collapse faster than Biden on the steps of Air Force One. CNN writer Auzinea Bacon was adamant June 22 that “America’s economy” would face “a new war shock: Surging oil prices,” after Trump's historic B-2 bomber attack to devastate Iran’s nuclear capabilities. “The American economy faces the unwelcome prospect of reignited inflation after the United States launched strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran,” Bacon screeched. “High oil and...

Speaking with Rachel Maddow on Saturday night, MSNBC's Ayman Mohyeldin repeatedly suggested that Benjamin Netanyahu "dog-walked" President Trump into attacking Iran.Mohyeldin's dehumanizing claim was that Trump might have been unaware of Israel's intent to attack Iran, and that Netanyahu knew: "That at some point the political pressure domestically among Republicans, supporters of Israel and their base [the Joos!], are going to put this pressure on the president to get involved on behalf of Israel. Mohyeldin also suggested that Netanyahu was "running circles" around Trump. Shades of Ilhan Omar accusing Israel of "hypnotizing" the world. Those sly Jews, with their infernal...

As daily life becomes a struggle, Iranian authorities are tightening their grip, blacking out the internet and erecting more checkpoints.DUBAI — A week of Israeli strikes has upended the lives of Iranians, battering vital infrastructure like fuel depots, airports and public buildings, and shaking the population’s confidence that it could remain insulated from conflicts in the wider Middle East. Now, with President Donald Trump warning that U.S. forces could enter the fray if Iran doesn’t make significant concessions in nuclear negotiations, Iranians fear that another deadlier, even more destructive phase of the conflict could loom. “People are terrified. They don’t...

SummarySupreme leader's military advisers killed by strikesRaises risk of strategic miscalculations, sources sayKhamenei's son said to be increasingly central figureDUBAI/LONDON, June 17 (Reuters) - Iran's 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cuts an increasingly lonely figure.Khamenei has seen his main military and security advisers killed by Israeli air strikes, leaving major holes in his inner circle and raising the risk of strategic errors, according to five people familiar with his decision-making process.One of those sources, who regularly attends meetings with Khamenei, described the risk of miscalculation to Iran on issues of defence and internal stability as "extremely dangerous". Several senior...

The prospect of U.S. involvement in an increasingly volatile conflict between Israel and Iran has cleaved clear divisions within the MAGA movement – a rarity over the course of President Trump’s decade-long political career. Top Trump allies have pleaded their case in recent weeks directly to the president and on social media for why the U.S. should fully avoid engaging in any dispute between Iran and Israel. On another side, other Trump allies are arguing it is in the president’s interest to take a more aggressive posture toward Iran. Some have suggested the schism could fracture the president’s coalition. Sources...

CNN - When the Trump Justice Department took the extraordinary step of arresting a local judge seven weeks ago, plenty feared what it could portend. Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan’s case will play out in the weeks and months to come – she’s pleaded not guilty to obstructing the arrest of an undocumented immigrant – but arresting judges and public officials isn’t something to undertake lightly. Critics warned of the chilling effect it could lead to and the precedent it would set. Virtually nothing in the past seven weeks will have tempered those fears. The fervor to arrest public officials who...

Even with the high-profile arrests of suspects by masked immigration agents and the plane loads of migrants swiftly ferried out of the U.S., President Trump was falling short of the number of daily deportations carried out by the Biden administration in its final year. So in late May, Stephen Miller, a top White House aide and the architect of the president’s immigration agenda, addressed a meeting at the headquarters of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE. The message was clear: The president, who promised to deport millions of immigrants living in the country illegally, wasn’t pleased. The agency had...

Dozens of protests and rallies opposing ICE raids and government immigration policies were held across the country on Monday, with more planned for the rest of the week, after a weekend of protests and unrest in Los Angeles. Since Sunday, the anti-ICE movement has spread across California and beyond, with events held from New York to Texas. Activists plan more events on Tuesday, with events due in New York, Chicago, Dallas, and Atlanta. A series of so-called "No Kings" nationwide demonstrations are planned for Saturday. Some 56 people were arrested in L.A. over the weekend as some 700 marines and...

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- California union leader David Huerta has been released from federal custody on a $50,000 bond. Huerta was arrested Friday while protesting immigration raids in Los Angeles. He's the president of SEIU California, a powerful labor union. His arrest has become a rallying cry for union members nationwide and Democratic politicians who have called for his release. His release Monday came as marchers were moving through downtown after a rally by the SEIU. Hundreds if not thousands of people have gathered for a rally at Gloria Molina Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles, where civil rights and...

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, in an interview Sunday morning, spoke out forcefully against violence, but also called the federal government’s response “unneccessary.” She called the administration’s actions “posturing” and “completely disruptive to a city that has already gone through so much.” She also condemned violence, saying people who engaged in it or vandalism should be “arrested and held accountable to the full extent of the law.” “The protest that happened last night in L.A. was relatively minor,” she added, and “to say that the city is out of control, I don’t know what city they are talking about.” Demonstrations...

Legal experts questioned the president’s response to unrest in Los Angeles, saying the military personnel involved will face strict limitations under the law.President Donald Trump’s order to deploy 2,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles is unprecedented, relying on an unorthodox use of a law aimed at quelling serious domestic unrest or an attack on the United States by a foreign power, some legal experts said Sunday.Trump invoked a section of the Armed Forces Act that allows the president to bypass a governor’s authority over the National Guard and call those troops into federal service when he considers it...

ABC News’ senior national correspondent Terry Moran went off on a late-night screed against top White House adviser Stephen Miller along with President on social media — drawing scathing backlash from the Trump administration. Moran, who landed an interview with the president in April, blasted Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy, as a man “richly endowed with the capacity for hatred.”z “The thing about Stephen Miller is not that he is the brains behind Trumpism. Yes, he is one of the people who conceptualizes the impulses of the Trumpist movement and translates them into policy. But...

The bromance between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump seems to be over. And now Musk is flirting with the idea of new party that could represent "the 80% in the middle," he posted on X. But who would join Musk-led party? And, can a third party actually succeed? Republicans, Democrats and Independents like Musk as much — or as little — as they like Trump. In April, before the feud between the president and the world’s richest person began, approval ratings for Trump and Musk were very similar, according to multiple polls. For instance, an April poll by the...

Ukraine is increasingly worried about securing more U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems, as stockpiles sent during the Biden administration are drying up and the new administration is resistant to sending more, according to six Ukrainian and Western officials. While Russia bombards Ukraine with drones and cruise missiles, it is the ballistic missiles that are the most feared, and they can be reliably countered only by Patriot missiles. Ballistic missiles travel several miles per second, and they obliterated half of Ukraine’s power capacity in strikes on power plants. Their speed and size, plus the fact that they are difficult to intercept,...

Elon Musk posted a poll on X on Thursday asking followers whether they support the idea of a new political party to take on the Republicans and Democrats. Why it matters: The richest man in the world is publicly feuding with the most powerful man in America, whom he spent record-setting sums to elect. We're about to find out what Musk is prepared to do about it. Driving the news: Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday that he was "disappointed in Elon" for coming out against his "Big Beautiful Bill." Trump speculated it was because the bill...

LEOPOLD, Ind. — On the ceiling of Abbie Brockman’s middle school English classroom in Perry County, the fluorescent lights are covered with images of a bright blue sky, a few clouds floating by.Outside, the real sky isn’t always blue. Sometimes it’s hazy, with pollution drifting from coal-fired power plants in this part of southwest Indiana. Knowing exactly how much, and what it may be doing to the people who live there, is why Brockman got involved with a local environmental organization that’s installing air and water quality monitors in her community.“Industry and government is very, very, very powerful. It’s more...

I have a lot of Democratic friends who are extremely disappointed with their party leaders. They tell me that the Democratic Party is currently rudderless, weak, passive, lacking a compelling message. I try to be polite, but I want to tell them: “The problem is not the party leaders. The problem is you. You don’t understand how big a shift we’re in the middle of. You think the Democrats can solve their problems with a new message and a new leader. But the Democrats’ challenge is that they have to adapt to a new historical era. That’s not something done...

Stephen Colbert mercilessly mocked the breakdown in relations between Elon Musk and Donald Trump, even poking fun at the billionaire’s alleged drug habit. On Wednesday night’s Late Show, the host gleefully skewered the once-close bond between the president and the Tesla CEO, which appears to have collapsed in a cloud of disdain towards Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” “There is now trouble brewing between the president and former first buddy Elon Musk,” Colbert announced. “No, no, I’m starting to worry that two narcissistic megalomaniacs with a total inability to see value in other humans might have a hard time making friends.”...