Free Republic

A feud between Donald Trump and Elon Musk exploded into public view again, as the US president took to Truth Social to attack the billionaire entrepreneur, telling him to “head back home to South Africa” and accusing him of surviving on government handouts. The outburst followed a string of fiery posts by Musk on X (formerly Twitter), in which he condemned Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill, known among critics as the "big beautiful bill." Musk, who has clashed with Trump in recent weeks, accused politicians who backed the legislation of hypocrisy and pledged to help unseat them. “Those who...

President Trump threatened to unleash Elon Musk’s brainchild, DOGE, against him to investigate his company’s government subsidies — warning his former ally that he may have “to close up shop and head back home to South Africa.” “Elon Musk knew, long before he so strongly Endorsed me for President, that I was strongly against the EV Mandate,” the president posted on Truth Social early Tuesday. “It is ridiculous, and was always a major part of my campaign. Electric cars are fine, but not everyone should be forced to own one.” The commander-in-chief then warned the SpaceX CEO that if his...

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday that the U.S. central bank would have eased monetary policy by now if not for President Donald Trump’s tariff plan. When asked during a panel if the Fed would have lowered rates again this year had Trump not announced his controversial plan to impose higher levies on imported goods earlier this year, Powell said, “I think that’s right.” “In effect, we went on hold when we saw the size of the tariffs and essentially all inflation forecasts for the United States went up materially as a consequence of the tariffs,” Powell said at...

Billionaire Elon Musk has intensified his criticism of Donald Trump’s controversial $3.3 trillion spending bill, vowing that if the legislation passes Congress then he would immediately launch a new political party. US President Donald Trump’s widely anticipated ‘big, beautiful bill' is currently making its way through the US Senate which will bolster tax benefits for businesses and higher income households while threatening health insurance for millions of Americans. The bill, which is more than 900 pages long passed a significant hurdle on the weekend and passed a procedural vote advancing in the Senate largely along party lines with all but...

…So it has been maddening to see people claim that Mamdani’s win was a victory for antisemitism…I can certainly understand why Jews who see anti-Zionism and antisemitism as synonymous find Mamdani’s rise alarming. There’s no question that he sympathizes with the Palestinians over the Israelis. New York’s past mayors — even the left-leaning Bill de Blasio — supported Israel reflexively. After the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for the arrest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on war crimes charges, Cuomo joined his defense team. Mamdani, by contrast, has said he’d enforce the warrant if Netanyahu ever comes...

The Democrats’ internal party divisions appear to be deepening after radical gun control activist David Hogg was voted out of his leadership role at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) last month. However, many younger Democrats are now calling Hogg’s departure a step in the right direction for a party in search of identity. As Slay News reported, the DNC voted to remove Hogg as vice chair in May and called for new elections. The move came after Hogg reportedly planned to spend millions backing progressive primary challengers against what he viewed as “ineffective” incumbents in Congress. The decision has stirred...

Independence From Meat Day is observed all across the world on July 4. As you might have noticed, more and more people across the world are choosing vegetarian and vegan lifestyles. This is because both lifestyles promise increased health benefits by limiting meat from our diets. There are a few moral and environmental implications of these lifestyles too. Even if you do not want to give up eating meat, you could observe Independence From Meat Day as an opportunity to enjoy a different kind of diet. Give your palate a do-over and find out what life is like for vegans...

As America’s largest trading partners race toward deals, they are increasingly worried about being hit with future tariffs on their critical industries.Governments around the globe are racing to negotiate trade deals with the United States in order to forestall President Trump’s punishing tariffs, which could kick in on July 9. But the discussions have been slowed because Mr. Trump has threatened to impose more tariffs even if those deals are in place. Mr. Trump announced what he refers to as “reciprocal tariffs” on April 8, which he said were in response to other countries' unfair trading practices. But he agreed...

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, a Republican from Nebraska, announced Monday he will not seek reelection next year amid an increasingly polarized political climate.Bacon, 61, said at a news conference at Omaha’s airport that he would not seek a sixth term representing Nebraska’s second district with its so-called blue dot that includes many progressive voters around Omaha.Bacon has had to navigate an ever-thinning line between staying in his party’s and President Donald Trump’s good graces without alienating his increasingly Democratic district. He said he is proud of his bipartisan approach in the face of bitter partisanship in...

For reporters, it's hardly unusual to call sources on the phone to learn details or get quotes that will enliven their stories. Sometimes people will talk, sometimes they won't. But the president of the United States? In an almost unfathomable level of access, reporters who call President Donald Trump on his personal cell phone often get an answer — and an interview — from the leader of the free world on the spot. There's evidence that this is happening more frequently. Paradoxically, it's the same president who popularized the term “fake news” and has battled against the press for years...

Wind and solar companies were already bracing for Congress to end federal subsidies. But the Senate bill goes even further and penalizes those industries.Senate Republicans have quietly inserted provisions in President Trump’s domestic policy bill that would not only end federal support for wind and solar energy but would impose an entirely new tax on future projects, a move that industry groups say could devastate the renewable power industry.The tax provision, tucked inside the 940-page bill that the Senate made public just after midnight on Friday, stunned observers.“This is how you kill an industry,” said Bob Keefe, executive director of...

Mandonna “Donna” Kashanian lived in the United States for 47 years, married a U.S. citizen and raised their daughter. She was gardening in the yard of her New Orleans home when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers handcuffed and took her away, her family said. Kashanian arrived in 1978 on a student visa and applied for asylum, fearing retaliation for her father’s support of the U.S.-backed shah. She lost her bid, but she was allowied to remain with her husband and child if she checked in regularly with immigration officials, her husband and daughter said. She complied, once checking in...

Tel Aviv — The head of the United Nations agency supporting Palestinian refugees has condemned a controversial U.S. and Israeli-backed humanitarian organization operating in Gaza, calling it "an abomination" and "a death trap costing more lives than it saves." The statement from Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general for UNRWA, criticizing the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) came as the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health said 79 people had been killed in the Palestinian territory over the previous 24 hours, 51 of whom it said had died near GHF sites. "There is no food. The people have starved to death, and nobody gives...

The New York City mayoral Democrat primary race results have shaken the political world.Candidate Zohran Mamdani, described as a Marxist Muslim, was five months ago languishing in also-ran territory at one percent in the polls. A most recent poll then showed him, to pundits’ surprise, beating erstwhile-front-runner (a whole week ago) Andrew Cuomo after the eighth round of ranked-choice calculations. But it was wrong.Mamdani won the first-round tally by more than seven points and will assuredly be the Democrat nominee.How did this happen? There are many reasons, but the overriding one is something overlooked, something indispensable, something that is a...

The court tied the hands of judges at a time when Congress has been cowed and internal executive branch constraints have been steamrolled.The Supreme Court ruling barring judges from swiftly blocking government actions, even when they may be illegal, is yet another way that checks on executive authority have eroded as President Trump pushes to amass more power.The decision on Friday, by a vote of 6 to 3, will allow Mr. Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship to take effect in some parts of the country — even though every court that has looked at the directive has...

Emboldened by Friday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling, the president said his administration will flex its authority on issues ranging from immigration to higher education.An emboldened Trump administration plans to aggressively challenge blocks on the president’s top priorities, a White House official said, following a major Supreme Court ruling that limits the power of federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions.Government attorneys will press judges to pare back the dozens of sweeping rulings thwarting the president’s agenda “as soon as possible,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations.Priorities for the administration include injunctions related to...

California’s fight to rein in President Trump’s deployment of troops to Los Angeles hinges on a 19th century law with a a blood-soaked origin and a name that seems pulled from a Spaghetti Western. In a pivotal ruling this week, Senior U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer ordered the federal government to hand over evidence to state authorities seeking to prove that the actions of troops in Southern California violate the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which forbids soldiers from enforcing civilian laws. “How President Trump has used and is using the federalized National Guard and the Marines since deploying...

Canada has dramatically hiked duties on American steel imports after Donald Trump shut down trade talks. The country imposed an import quota late Friday and if it is exceeded, certain US metal will face a new 50 percent surcharge. Canada's Finance Minister, François-Philippe Champagne, said the government was acting to protect domestic industry from 'unjust US tariffs,' NBC News reported. The response came hours after Trump posted on Truth Social about how Canada is a 'very difficult country to trade with.' His reason for suspending trade negotiations came down to a tax Canada is set to impose on major tech...

Vladimir Putin has announced plans to scale back military spending after Kremlin officials warned that Russia is “on the brink of recession”. The Russian leader said he would reduce defence spending “next year and the year after, over the next three-year period” at an economic summit of five post-Soviet states in Minsk on Friday. Responding to Nato’s plans to raise defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP, Putin said the alliance’s members would spend on “purchases from the USA and on supporting their military-industrial complex”. “So who is preparing for some kind of aggressive actions? Us or them?” he...

Musk’s mission, and why America’s budget crisis can’t be fixed.When Donald Trump vowed to tackle excessive federal spending, few expected Elon Musk, the world’s most prominent entrepreneur, to lead the charge. Yet, in a move that reflected Trump’s unconventional style, Musk was appointed head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), tasked with dismantling the bloated federal bureaucracy.DOGE launched ambitiously, aiming to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget, eliminate inefficiencies, and overhaul vast parts of the public sector. However, just months into the experiment, the initiative has faltered. DOGE now finds itself politically isolated, legally tangled, and...