Free Republic

Disapproval of President Donald Trump’s handling of Iran hit a record high in July. A majority of voters oppose U.S. military action, and nearly two thirds think the conflict will last at least a year. The latest Fox News survey finds 56% oppose U.S. military action against Iran, including 40% who "strongly" oppose. More Democrats oppose the war (84%) than Republicans support it (76%). Voters increasingly expect a long-term commitment. Today, 64% think the war will last a year or more, up 13 percentage points since May. *** There is also doubt the conflict will produce an agreement. About half...

On Wednesday, the Pentagon reported on its casualties website that a total of 18 American service members had been killed during the war in Iran.By Thursday, the Defense Department had lowered that number, reporting that 14 American troops had been killed in the war.Three military officials said that one reason behind the change was that the Trump administration decided to remove four service members killed this past weekend from the list — three in Jordan and one in northern Iraq — because their deaths occurred after President Trump declared a cease-fire in the war in April.The officials described sensitive internal...

The rapid pace at which the U.S. is expending some of its most advanced air-defense interceptors and precision-guided weapons in the Middle East is a point of great tension inside the Trump administration as President Trump's war with Iran ratchets up again, according to U.S. military and intelligence officials familiar with internal assessments. And it's raising broader concerns about America's readiness for a potential conflict in the Indo-Pacific. The dwindling stockpiles of defensive interceptors and long-range missiles have become a pressure point for top military and civilian leaders who are weighing the demands of the war with Iran against maintaining...

Russia’s air defenses shot down 571 Ukrainian drones overnight on July 24 over 15 regions of Russia, occupied Crimea, and the Sea of Azov and Black Sea, the Defense Ministry reported. Ukraine’s attack was one of the largest of the year, according to the Russian state news agency TASS. TASS put the year’s biggest strike at June 26, when the Defense Ministry reported destroying 660 drones overnight. The total number of Ukrainian drones that targeted Russia on June 26 and July 24 remains unknown. The Defense Ministry only reports how many it shoots down. For the fourth time this week,...

Iran has managed to rebuild a significant amount of infrastructure destroyed during its war with the US and Israel in recent months, ranging from bridges to missile bases, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The report, based on a review of satellite imagery, suggested that the speed at which Tehran is restoring its damaged capabilities is the reason why it is continuing to hold its own against the US after hostilities renewed earlier this month over disputes relating to the Strait of Hormuz. One set of satellite images showed that an access road leading to an Iranian missile base...

Russia's state oil and gas revenue, which accounts for around a fifth ​of total budget income, is seen rising ‌by 60% in July from the same month a year ago thanks to the increase in ​global oil prices, Reuters calculations showed ​on Thursday. A steep rise from profit-based tax ⁠proceeds on oil production for the second ​quarter has also contributed to the overall year-on-year ​revenue rise. Russia, the world's third-largest oil producer and exporter after the United States and Saudi Arabia, relies ​heavily on oil and gas sales, which ​help finance its military campaign in Ukraine. Oil and gas tax...

Any damage inflicted by Iran on ships in the Strait of Hormuz will be paid for by Iranian money that the U.S. holds, President Donald Trump said on Thursday in a Truth Social post. The comment follows after the U.S. has pounded Iran for about 12 days straight. Iran and the U.S. tore up a memorandum of understanding that sought peace after Iran repeatedly fired upon ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. “Please let this statement serve to represent, until further notice, that from this point forth, any and all damages done to Ships, Cargo, or anything related thereto, will...

Texas Congressman Brandon Gill is a rising superstar in the Republican Party.You might have caught him dressing down the Smithsonian director with instant-classics like asking if politeness is a form of “white supremacy.”Things that are “white supremacist,” according to the left:Being polite.Being on time.Being objective.We let this insanity go unanswered for years. That ends now. pic.twitter.com/LpXtZAE2NP— Congressman Brandon Gill (@RepBrandonGill) July 23, 2026Unlike a lot of other GOP politicians, however, Gill isn’t just going to toss a few scraps of red meat our way while ignoring it’s actually his job to solve problems.Congress is not political theater and you guys...

Under Governor Abigail Spanberger, Virginia has become a hotbed of illegal alien crimeWASHINGTON – The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the following statement after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested an illegal alien who has been charged with murder and aggravated sexual battery in the death of a 2-year-old girl in Virginia.According to local reporting, the child’s mother took her to the Goochland County Sheriff’s Office on July 4. Deputies began life-saving measures to save the child, who was then taken to a local hospital, where she later died.The Louisa County Sheriff’s Department arrested Raul Genesis...

TAMPA, Fla. — U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces successfully completed the 13th straight night of strikes against Iran, July 23, at 9 p.m. ET. CENTCOM targeted Iranian military command centers, drone storage facilities, communication networks, coastal surveillance sites, and maritime capabilities to further diminish the threat Iran poses to civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. The international waterway remains open for transit despite recent attacks from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Commercial vessels continue to freely navigate the strait with U.S. military support. More than 50,000 U.S. service members are currently operating across the Middle East.

Far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was among thousands who gathered at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site Israel’s far-right minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, joined thousands of Jewish extremists who stormed Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site on Thursday. Escorted by armed police, they prayed, waved the Israeli flag and sang the national anthem in a provocative display of political power. Under a fragile, decades-old agreement known as the status quo, non-Muslim prayer is banned at the site, known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif compound and to Jews as the Temple Mount. Ben-Gvir has eroded the agreement in recent years through a...

The Trump administration is ratcheting up tariffs on 60 countries that have failed to ban imports made from forced labor, as 10% global duties are set to expire Friday. Senior administration officials said Thursday that countries that have begun implementing a forced labor prohibition will be hit with 10% duties, while those that haven’t will receive an import tax of 12.5% — with the levies taking effect at 12:01 a.m. on July 24. “The United States has had a forced labor import ban for nearly a century, and rigorously enforces it; it’s well past time for our trading partners to...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., came under fire after claiming the House-passed National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) would "merge parts of our military with the Israel Defense Forces," drawing accusations that she distorted what the legislation actually does. The fight centers on Section 219 of the House-passed National Defense Authorization Act, a provision that calls for deeper U.S.-Israel defense integration through expanded cooperation on military technology, supply chains, research, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and joint exercises. On Wednesday, the House passed its version of the FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act in a 219-206 vote, leaving Section 219 intact. But ahead of the...

Congress on Thursday split on advancing a pair of war powers resolutions aimed at forcing President Donald Trump to abandon his war with Iran, as the conflict escalates into a deadly new phase and oil tops $100 a barrel. The moves were the first vote since Trump informed Congress that he restarted the war with Iran following the breakdown of peace negotiations. The conflict’s revival after weeks of a shaky ceasefire comes just months before the U.S. midterm elections. It threatens to scramble the majority Republicans’ plan to maintain their razor-thin majorities. The Senate on Thursday voted 47-49 to kill...

Half of President Donald Trump’s MAGA base thought the Iran war was worth its economic costs in May. Now, just a little more than a third do.That precipitous, 13-point drop in just two months, according to a new POLITICO Poll, reveals how the president’s most die-hard supporters are starting to agree with the majority of Americans who have long opposed the U.S.’ involvement in the war. ............... The White House is “at a maximum level of frustration right now, and I was told by very senior people that the president is now fully aware that the only way to the...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who has voted repeatedly for resolutions to withdraw U.S. troops from the military conflict with Iran, told reporters Wednesday that the United States is “worse off” than it was before President Trump launched the war in late February. “I think the Iran war has not been a success. I’ve been opposed to the Iran war from the beginning. I think by any objective measure we’re worse off than we were before the war,” Paul said on Capitol Hill. “If you look at the militarization of the Strait of Hormuz, that’s never happened before,” he said. “There’s...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Iran on Wednesday of flying members of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps into Yemen, saying Tehran’s actions helped ignite a renewed confrontation between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels. "They decided to send direct flights from Tehran into Yemen, carrying IRGC elements and others into the country," Rubio told reporters. "And the Saudis responded to it." Rubio did not identify the flights, specify how many IRGC personnel were allegedly transported or provide evidence supporting the allegation. He made the remarks while attending an annual gathering of Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers...

Iranian drone attacks on CIA facilities in the Gulf have prompted U.S. intelligence analysts to investigate whether Russia assisted by providing targeting information or ​advanced drone technology, said four people familiar with U.S. intelligence. These people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss national security matters, said U.S. intelligence officials have ‌not yet reached firm conclusions about the possible Russian involvement in the attacks on CIA facilities. But they cited the strikes' effectiveness and apparent precision, as well as Russia's broader technical support for Iran, as possible evidence. Reuters and other media have reported — and U.S. officials have...

President Donald Trump has placed a new condition on a nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia a day after formally approving it, saying the country now must join the Abraham Accords. Trump wrote in a post on social media Thursday that the deal, which has already been signed, “will be approved,” but added, that it “is totally subject to Saudi Arabia joining the very respected and successful Abraham Accords.” The president also emphasized in the post that there would be “no enrichment” even though the agreement could lead to the country enriching its own fuel for civilian reactors. The deal has...

The top US and Russian diplomats met in a new push to find an end to Moscow's more-than-four-year-old war on Ukraine, but both sides signaled no new breakthroughs or cause for optimism. The July 23 meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov came with US-efforts to broker a peace deal frozen as the Trump administration shifts focus to the Iran war, and the Kremlin shows no sign of softening its maximalist war demands. Following their meeting, which lasted just 35 minutes, Rubio described the talks as "good" and "frank" but said fresh proposals...