Free Republic

Attorney General Pam Bondi's links to Qatar are under scrutiny again following reports that President Donald Trump will be gifted a luxury plane from the Qatari government. Bondi worked as a foreign lobbyist for the nation of Qatar, earning $115,000 a month in the role which she held in 2020 and in the run up to the World Cup in 2022. In this role, she lobbied Congress on behalf of Qatari interests. She also worked in a separate lobbying position for the Washington, D.C.-based firm Ballard Partners, where she also lobbied on behalf of Qatari interests and several conglomerates including...

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals won a federal election Monday, the country’s public broadcaster, the CBC, projected, an extraordinary comeback that was fueled in part by President Donald Trump’s tariff policies and attacks on Canada. Just months ago, Carney’s party was headed for a potentially historic drubbing. It was not yet clear whether the Liberals would rule a minority or majority government as votes continued to be counted. This is the fourth consecutive Liberal government since 2015. Amid the U.S. president’s trade war and threats to annex its northern neighbor, voters flocked to Carney — a political novice,...

So far, American consumers have been shielded from much of the impact. But as the world of international shipping adjusts to his policies, the president is facing a potential reckoning. With the US-China trade war starting to gum up container traffic between the world’s two biggest economies, freight companies are warning of plunging bookings and a surge in “blank sailings” – where ports are skipped or voyages are called off altogether. Earlier this week, America’s most powerful retail executives trooped into the White House to deliver a blunt prognosis: tariffs on Chinese goods risked causing “empty shelves” in two weeks...

President Trump continues to walk back his original tariff assault, and markets are pleased. They rose again Wednesday after Mr. Trump said he won’t fire the Federal Reserve Chairman and is likely to retreat from his highest China tariffs. Is this Mr. Trump’s François Mitterrand moment? Readers of a certain age will recall how the French Socialist President swept into power in 1981 promising a far left agenda of government control over the private economy. The market reaction was brutal. Within a year he had put socialism on pause and by 1983 he had abandoned most of it. He went...

WASHINGTON — Minutes before U.S. fighter jets took off to begin strikes against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen last month, Army Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, who leads U.S. Central Command, used a secure U.S. government system to send detailed information about the operation to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The material Kurilla sent included details about when U.S. fighters would take off and when they would hit their targets — details that could, if they fell into the wrong hands, put the pilots of those fighters in grave danger. But he was doing exactly what he was supposed to: providing Hegseth,...

China is doubling down: China has just announced that they will be pulling back from US private equity investments. Chinese state-backed funds are halting new investments in US PE firms due to government pressure. According to PE executives, funds like China Investment Corporation (CIC) have already begun withdrawing planned commitments. Chinese investors are also avoiding US-linked deals, even when managed by non-US based PE funds. Just 24 hours ago, China warned they would retaliate against countries that cooperate with the US in ways that compromise their interests. It's very clear what's happening here: China is seeking to isolate the US...

From Grok: - Research suggests Colonel Sheyla Baez was suspended as Fort McCoy Commander, but not for refusing to display photos, as claimed. - The U.S. Army states the photo incident was vandalism, not her decision, adding complexity to the situation. - Official statements confirm the suspension is not related to misconduct, leaving the exact reason unclear. Background Colonel Sheyla Baez Ramirez has been a notable figure as the first Hispanic female Garrison Commander at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, taking command in July 2024. Recently, there has been controversy surrounding photos of President Trump, Vice President Vance, and Secretary of Defense...

Controversial MMA fighter Conor McGregor has warned that Irish politicians will 'tarnish' his unlikely bid to become Ireland's next president. McGregor announced his bid to become president last month, though he has now admitted in an interview with conservative American commentator Tucker Carlson that his plan to run for office is unlikely to get off the ground. The UFC champion said there are 'stipulations' for running for presidential office, such as needed to be backed by four county councils or receiving 20 nominations from members of the Oireachtas, Ireland's parliament. 'So you can't just run for president?' the former Fox...

President Donald Trump's goal is to eliminate taxes for people earning less than $150,000 per year, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said. "I know what his goal is — no tax for anybody making under $150,000 a year. That's what I'm working for," Lutnick told CBS News on Wednesday. He said that major tax cuts could be implemented without causing spiraling national debt through tackling overseas tax fraud. Why It Matters The proposal to remove taxes for people earning less than $150,000 per year would impact the vast majority of Americans. In 2022, around 93 percent of Americans aged 15...

President-elect Donald Trump urged the US Supreme Court Wednesday to take the extraordinary step of halting his sentencing later this week in his Manhattan “hush money” case. Trump’s lawyers urged the nation’s highest court to step in after a New York appeals court refused to postpone the Friday hearing, at which he is set to face a no-punishment sentence.The attorneys argued that going ahead with the sentencing would unconstitutionally interfere with Trump preparing for his second term. This Court should enter an immediate stay of further proceedings in the New York trial court to prevent grave injustice and harm to...

BREAKING: According to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the State Department spent $4,840,082 on influencers to promote pro-Ukraine, anti-Russian talking points on social media. They additionally paid $15,220 on an "influencers event" and another $22,231 on a "USAID Social Media Influencers Campaign."pic.twitter.com/Vt0DUnE36G— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) December 28, 2024

Elon Musk admitted that the H1-B visas are “broken” and floated a potential fix as he sought to cool a raging civil war within the MAGA base over the immigration program for highly skilled foreign workers. Just a day after vowing to “go to war on this issue” and telling detractors to “F— yourself,” Musk, the world’s richest man, acknowledged some of the criticisms of the program getting abused and argued that the US should make it more costly to hire foreigners. “Easily fixed by raising the minimum salary significantly and adding a yearly cost for maintaining the H1B, making...

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...

“Extraordinary measures” will be needed to keep the US from defaulting on its obligations if the nation’s debt ceiling isn’t raised or suspended by mid-January, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Congress Friday. Yellen, in a letter to House and Senate leaders, noted that the nation’s debt ceiling — the total amount of money the federal government is authorized to borrow to pay for obligations such as Social Security and Medicare benefits — was suspended in June 2023 but will once again be in effect on Jan. 1. ***. “Treasury currently expects to reach the new limit between January 14 and...

Turns out this was a massive clickbait article from Murdoch’s NYP: The reporter didn’t even show Trump Elon’s posts and didn’t correct Trump on the type of visas workers at his clubs use.

President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday trolled Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by promising to cut Canucks’ taxes if they agree to become “our 51st state,’’ while urging them to draft NHL great Wayne Gretzky to lead the country. “I just left Wayne Gretzky, ‘The Great One’ as he is known in Ice Hockey circles,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I said, ‘Wayne, why don’t you run for Prime Minister of Canada, soon to be known as the Governor of Canada – You would win easily, you wouldn’t even have to campaign,’” the president-elect said Trump — who thinks Canada has...

Forgive us if we missed it, but we don’t recall Donald Trump campaigning to invade Panama and retake its famous canal. But there was the President-elect on the weekend, threatening our Central American ally with punishment if it doesn’t meet his demands. “Our Navy and commerce have been treated in a very unfair and injudicious way. The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, highly unfair, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama—I say, very foolishly, by the United States,” Mr. Trump told a crowd in Phoenix. “This complete ripoff of our country will immediately stop.”...

A migrant from Guatemala has been arrested on allegations he lit a sleeping woman on fire inside a Coney Island F train on Sunday morning. Police sources say a civilian identified the suspected killer as he rode on a train at 34th Street in Manhattan. The witness waved down the cops, who later picked the suspect up and detained him. He has not been charged with a crime yet, sources added. The suspect entered the country and was detained by border patrol agents in Arizona in June 2018 Authorities were still working to confirm whether he is in the country...

The House Ethics Committee secretly voted to release the findings of its investigation of sexual misconduct allegations against former Rep. Matt Gaetz, according to a new report. Gaetz (R-Fla.) resigned from Congress on Nov. 13 when President-elect Donald Trump announced him as his pick for attorney general — before Gaetz withdrew eight days later due to Senate Republican concerns about those allegations. The Republican-led Ethics Committee’s secret vote occurred sometime in December, CNN first reported Wednesday, and the document is expected to be released sometime before the end of the month. The panel’s spokespeople did not immediately respond to The...

President-elect Donald Trump said Monday he’d consider pardoning embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Trump was blunt when asked by a reporter during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort if he’d come to Adams’ rescue with a presidential pardon. “I would,” he said. “I think that he was treated pretty unfairly.” The declaration came as Adams battles for his political life and potential freedom against a historic bribery and corruption federal indictment, which he denies. Many in Adams’ camp have seen another Trump presidency as a potential boon for his defense, either through a pardon or a sympathetic...