Free Republic

How could anyone object to Trump’s declassification of the files related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy? Americans deserved to know the whole truth, whatever it was, at the time, and the fact that it has been hidden for over sixty years now has only led to a proliferation of conspiracy theories and ever-increasing suspicion of government narratives on any and every subject. Now, suspicion of the government is entirely warranted, as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison would be the first to tell you, and Trump’s decision to release the files is a long-delayed act of transparency. But...

In the recent frenzy of commentary seeking to interpret U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s increasingly adamant comments about territorial expansion to Canada, Greenland, and the Panama Canal, too much of the discussion has focused on matters of secondary importance. These range from assessing whether Trump is merely engaging in a game of showmanship or distraction, to deciphering how those regions’ inhabitants feel about ceding territorial control to the United States, to determining how much it would cost to purchase their acquiescence. From a policy perspective, though, more fundamental matters have gone surprisingly unaddressed, beginning with the question of whether any of...

President Donald Trump's sweeping executive orders have drawn comparisons to Project 2025, a conservative policy blueprint aimed at reshaping the federal government under a Republican administration. Newsweek examines the similarities. Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment via email. Why It Matters Project 2025, a 900-page document spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation, set out plans to expand executive authority, replace civil servants with ideologically aligned appointees, limit abortion rights and impose much tougher restrictions on immigration. Democrats have painted the initiative as a road map for Trump's second term in an attempt to portray him as ideologically extreme. Trump...

In a bold statement that has captured international attention, Greenland's Prime Minister, Múte Egede, declared that the Arctic island territory has no desire to become part of the United States. Amid ongoing discussions about Greenland’s strategic importance and resources, Egede made it clear that despite offers in the past—most notably from President-elect Donald Trump, who expressed interest in purchasing Greenland—the nation's people have no interest in becoming Americans. I reported more on the potential purchase here.During an interview with Fox News this week, Egede said that his country's residents do not “want to be Danes,” Americans, or part of the...

When catastrophe strikes, its victims understandably want to know how and why — but their curiosity often morphs into snap judgments and witch hunts by those with ulterior motives. The horribly destructive wildfires sweeping through Los Angeles County neighborhoods have become fodder for irresponsible, fact-free finger pointing, mostly aimed at Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom. Social media have erupted with vituperative attacks on both figures, alleging that they, either by actions or inactions, allowed the firestorms to destroy thousands of homes and claim dozens of lives. One expertly produced fake video depicts Newson and Bass playing...

Not quite six years ago, wildfire expert Jack Cohen, who lives in Missoula, Mont., visited Pacific Palisades to instruct firefighters and property owners on how to protect homes against wildfires. Three days of training, including a tour of the community, left Cohen hopeful, but the feeling faded when it became clear that his lessons were not going to be fully implemented. This week’s tragedy has left him with a deep sadness. Respected by fire agencies across the country, Cohen and Pyne have found their straight-talk admonitions often disregarded or dismissed. Sensitive to losses and suffering, both said they are motivated...

Trump and his MAGA allies are already targeting the four major pillars of resistance to Trump during his first term. As we prepare for Trump’s second regime — which promises to be far worse than the first — it’s important to do what we can to protect and fortify these four centers of opposition. 1. Universities University faculties are dedicated to finding and exposing the truth — which has often meant calling out Trump’s lies. But Trump has warned that he’ll change the criteria for university accrediting in order to force university faculties into line...... 2. Nonprofits America’s nonprofits have...

When Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) met with key Democrats last month to make her case to help lead a committee that will be critical in countering President-elect Donald Trump, she faced sharp questions from members of her party. As Ocasio-Cortez lobbied the powerful Steering Committee that decides panel assignments, Rep. Linda T. Sánchez (D-California) pressed her on her past decisions to endorse primary challengers against Democratic incumbents. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), one of the incumbents Ocasio-Cortez tried to defeat, followed up by asking why Democrats should elevate her given her previous animosity toward her less-liberal colleagues, according to two...

PRESIDENT-ELECT Donald Trump is reportedly becoming fed up with his new pal Elon Musk with the tech mogul being too "clingy". Musk has spent the past few days going on fiery online tirades against the British government with UK politicians now even said to be urging Trump to ditch the Tesla chief. Billionaire Musk has been Trump's biggest fan over the past few months and even helped propel him into the White House. The pair have been inseparable since the Republicans swept to a landslide election win in November. Musk reportedly joined the future president on an important phone call...

The Caveman Diet, also known as the Paleo Diet, is a weight-loss craze where calorie-counters pick foods they think early humans may have eaten. For most followers, this means a meat-heavy diet. But a new study suggests that if you truly want to eat like a caveman, you should be steering clear of red meat. Contrary to popular belief, researchers from Bar-Ilan University say that early humans were not solely focused on animal protein. Instead, cavemen were mostly vegetarians whose diets featured plant-based foods including acorns, cereals, legumes, and aquatic plants. 'This discovery underscores the importance of plant foods in...

LONDON (AP) — Fresh from pouring his money and energies into helping Donald Trump win reelection, Elon Musk has trained his sights on Europe, setting off alarm bells among politicians across the continent. The Tesla and SpaceX chief executive has endorsed the far-right Alternative for Germany, demanded the release of jailed U.K. anti-Islam extremist Tommy Robinson and called British Prime Minister Keir Starmer an evil tyrant who should be in prison. Many European politicians have been left concerned by the attention. Musk’s feed on his social network X is dotted with abusive language — labeling politicians “stupid cretin” and “sniveling...

California farmers could soon enjoy bumper crops thanks to President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to lift water restrictions. But who will pick them if he follows through on his deportation threats? The country’s largest agricultural constituency backed Trump in November, bucking California’s deep-blue electorate over his campaign promises to “open the faucet” and deliver more water to the state’s parched, conservative-leaning Central Valley. But now it’s reckoning with an uncomfortable contradiction: Trump also campaigned on mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, who make up at least half of the state’s agricultural workforce. That’s left California’s agricultural barons, who employ the most farm...

President-elect Trump told The Post Saturday he supports immigration visas for highly skilled workers, appearing to side with Elon Musk in the roiling intra-MAGA debate on the issue. “I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them,” Trump said by phone, referring to the H-1B program, which permits companies to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations. “I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program,” added Trump, who restricted access to foreign worker visas in...

Throughout the 2024 election cycle, reproductive rights were an electoral vulnerability for Donald Trump. Though popular with the Republican base, his appointment of antiabortion judges gave serious pause to many key voting blocs, including undecided young men. In pursuit of these voters, Trump’s strategy wasn’t demagoguery but comedy. Trump’s October appearance on comedian Andrew Schulz’s podcast, “Flagrant,” demonstrated his approach to the touchy issue. Schulz playfully invoked Trump’s youngest son, who’s a student at New York University – “Barron is 18. He’s unleashed in New York City. Are you sure you want to reverse Roe vs. Wade now?” After a...

Presidents don’t ordinarily pick the director of Voice of America, an international news broadcaster funded by the US government. But President-elect Donald Trump says he wants his ally Kari Lake to take over VOA. Trump’s Wednesday night social media post – in which he said, “I am pleased to announce that Kari Lake will serve as our next Director of the Voice of America” – presages many future fights over VOA, which became an ideological battleground during Trump’s first term in office. Some journalists at VOA are highly concerned about that idea that Lake, a longtime local TV anchor turned...

When you look at the breadth of President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, it’s impossible to pin Democratic losses on just one or two things. This is not a situation where the outcome would have been different if President Biden had done X or Vice President Kamala Harris had done Y. In fact, had both Biden and Harris done everything “right,” Trump likely still would have won. The culprit for the Democratic Party’s sweeping losses is bigger than any one particular candidate. In 2016, I left the Republican Party and became a Democrat. In many ways, I feel as if the GOP...

The Saturday edition of The Weekend devoted a segment to the Dems' intraparty squabble over House committee positions, and in particular to AOC's attempt to supplant Gerry Connolly as the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee. The co-hosts and guests all expressed support for AOC. Former Obama HUD Secretary Julian Castro: "I think it's inevitable, though, after an election where you had voters send a strong message, that Democrats need to adjust their message. And they need, I think, more of a fighting spirit, and a focus like I think AOC and others have had. So I'm hopeful that...

Representative Robert Garcia (D-CA) claimed Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that President-elect Donald Trump’s immigration policies were “out of step” with what “most Americans” want. Co-host Willie Geist said, “Let’s start at the end with birthright citizenship, President-elect Trump says he will get rid of it the day he gets into office. What’s your reaction?” Garcia said, “Look, I think all these new ideas that Trump is coming out with and his proclamations over the weekend, besides being unconstitutional are quite un-American and shameful. I’m an immigrant myself. I came in this country part of the time, I was not...

WASHINGTON — Foreign leaders have lined up to speak with him. He has rattled Mexico and Canada with threats of steep tariffs and warned there would be “hell to pay” for militants in Gaza unless they release the hostages by the time he’s sworn in.That won't happen for another 45 days, but Donald Trump, the president-in-waiting, isn't shying away from acting like the president-in-reality.Trump can't sign a bill or issue an executive order yet, but he is crowding out Joe Biden as the sitting president winds down his term and steadily recedes from public view. In two foreign trips since...

For more than four decades before Donald Trump assumed the presidency, the FBI director was a position above politics. A new president might choose a political ally as attorney general, but the FBI director was different. An FBI director appointed by Richard Nixon also served under Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. Carter’s choice remained on the job deep into Reagan’s second term, when Reagan moved him to head the CIA. Reagan’s FBI appointee served through the George H. W. Bush presidency and into the Bill Clinton administration. Clinton fired the inherited official—the first time a president ever fired an...