Free Republic

In a sharp criticism of NATO’s European members that has become increasingly common in the Trump administration, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has issued a stark warning, urging the alliance’s member states to dramatically increase their defense budgets or risk undermining the credibility of the entire organization.“NATO is only as strong as the commitments of its members,” Rubio told The Free Press in an interview. “If the US is carrying the lion’s share, with European nations as mere junior partners, that’s not a true alliance—it’s a dependency.”Rubio’s comments come amid rising frustration in Washington over NATO’s continued reliance on...

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is continuing his push against President Donald Trump's tariffs, with legislation he is co-sponsoring against them to come before the Senate next week. Paul says lawmakers should be in control of tariffs, rather than Trump, through the use of a national-emergency law. The discussion will come less than a month after Paul was one of the only two chamber Republicans to vote against his party's budget, which is seen as a key part of the president's tax cuts, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. "I don't have any bad feelings towards the president, but this is...

Donald Trump will let Vladimir Putin keep almost all the territory he has seized from Ukraine under the terms of a proposed peace deal. The condition is part of a seven-point plan to end the war that leaves Ukraine with no clear US security guarantee. It was due to be discussed in London on Wednesday, when US officials would hear Kyiv’s reaction, though the talks were downgraded when US secretary of state Marco Rubio pulled out. Foreign ministers from the UK, France, Germany and Ukraine withdrew in an apparent response. Discussions were instead scheduled to take place between senior officials...

US Vice President JD Vance warned Wednesday that Moscow and Kyiv must strike a deal or Washington will end its efforts to reach a ceasefire. 'We've issued a very explicit proposal to both the Russians and the Ukrainians, and it's time for them to either say yes, or for the United States to walk away from this process,' Vance told reporters in India, where he is on a four-day visit. -snip- 'It's now time, I think, to take, if not the final step, one of the final steps, which is, at a broad level, the party saying we're going to...

Well, the end of the war in Ukraine could be very near—and for the first time since this whole expensive nightmare started, there’s an actual adult in the room. And that’s because President Trump is back in the White House. The truth is, Ukraine has always been one of the most corrupt countries in the world—and their leader is leading the pack. OCCRP: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his partners in comedy production owned a network of offshore companies related to their business based in the British Virgin Islands, Cyprus, and Belize. Zelensky’s current chief aide, Serhiy Shefir, as well...

The U.S. expects Ukraine's response Wednesday to a peace framework that includes U.S. recognition of Crimea as part of Russia and unofficial recognition of Russian control of nearly all areas occupied since the 2022 invasion, sources with direct knowledge of the proposal tell Axios. -snip- What Russia gets under Trump's proposal "De jure" U.S. recognition of Russian control in Crimea. "De-facto recognition" of the Russia's occupation of nearly all of Luhansk oblast and the occupied portions of Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. A promise that Ukraine will not become a member of NATO. The text notes that Ukraine could become part...

Two teenage girls from Germany were detained, arrested, and deported at an airport in Hawaii after immigration officials said it was suspicious they had not booked a hotel room. Backpackers Charlotte Pohl, 19, and Maria Lepere, 18, arrived in Honolulu from Auckland while undergoing a round-the-world trip. The duo planned to spend five weeks in Hawaii before moving onto California and Costa Rica for the next legs of their journey. But despite having ESTA travel authorization, immigration officials accused them of attempting to enter the U.S. to work illegally, and they were placed in handcuffs and taken to a nearby...

Grok: Yes, it is true that Klaus Schwab, the founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF), is under investigation by the organization following allegations of financial and ethical misconduct, announced shortly after his resignation as chairman on April 21, 2025. Multiple sources, including Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, and Yahoo Finance, report that the WEF launched a probe into Schwab on April 22, 2025, prompted by a whistleblower letter. The letter, sent anonymously to the WEF's board, raised concerns about governance and workplace culture, specifically alleging that the Schwab family improperly mixed personal affairs with the forum's resources without adequate...

China has warned countries against striking a broader economic deal with the United States at its expense, ratcheting up its rhetoric in a spiraling trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. The Asian country respects all parties resolving economic and trade differences with the United States through consultation on an equal footing, but it will firmly oppose any party striking a deal at China’s expense, its Commerce Ministry said. Chinese officials “will take countermeasures in a resolute and reciprocal manner” if any country sought such deals, a ministry spokesperson said, addressing a news report that the Trump Administration was...

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...

USAID funding cuts have had a devastating impact on Irish aid agencies working in developing countries, according to documents seen by RTÉ News. The documents also reveal the cloud of uncertainty that has overshadowed Irish non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the days and weeks following US President Donald Trump’s executive order to freeze and terminate foreign aid funding. […] Hundreds of redundancies have been reported across the Irish aid agency sector and development projects in countries such as Sierra Leone, Somalia and Syria have been significantly affected. GOAL and Concern were the largest recipients of US government funding, with annual income...

American Senator Chris Van Hollen said Thursday he had met with a Salvadoran man wrongfully deported to his home country by the Trump administration, in a case that has sparked outrage in the United States. Van Hollen had earlier said he had been denied access to the prison where Washington has paid President Nayib Bukele millions to lock up nearly 300 migrants it says are criminals and gang members -- including 29-year-old Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Tariffs of up to 45 per cent on Chinese-made electric cars imported into the European Union may be replaced with a new ‘minimum pricing’ system after previously stalled discussions between the two trading partners were re-started. A ‘minimum pricing’ arrangement – also referred to as ‘price floors’ or ‘price undertakings’ – between the European Union (EU) and China would see tariffs abolished and set minimum prices agreed upon. According to Reuters, European trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic has said any new policy would have to be as effective as tariffs, given the approach has previously only been applied on ‘homogenous commodities’....

The European Central Bank has cut interest rates for the seventh time in a year, looking to prop up an already struggling economy that will take a large hit from US tariffs. The bank announced a cut of one-quarter of a percentage point, which brings its benchmark deposit rate down from 2.5% to 2.25%. The move will immediately benefit tracker mortgage customers and put downward pressure on other rates. The ECB has been lowering borrowing costs as post-pandemic price pressures retreat and recent trade-related turmoil on global markets is adding to the case for further policy easing. […] While US...

Jerusalem (AFP) – Israel said Wednesday it would keep blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, where a relentless military offensive has turned the Palestinian territory into a "mass grave", a medical charity reported. Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday Israel would continue preventing aid from entering the besieged territory of 2.4 million people. "Israel's policy is clear: no humanitarian aid will enter Gaza, and blocking this aid is one of the main pressure levers preventing Hamas from using it as a tool with the population," Katz said in a statement. "No one is currently planning to allow any humanitarian...

The EU needs to strive for progress in building its own defense capability and improving its competitiveness, Ursula von der Leyen saidBERLIN, April 15. /TASS/. European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen has asserted that a renewal of the European Union is needed so it can actively participate in the shaping of a new world order. "We need another, new European Union that is ready to go out into the big wide world and to play a very active role in shaping this new world order that is coming," she said in an interview with Die Zeit. That said,...

Donald Trump has said Volodymyr Zelensky shares the blame with Russian President Vladimir Putin for "millions of people dead" in the Ukraine war. "When you start a war you got to know you can win," he said, also blaming former US President Joe Biden for the conflict. "Millions of people dead because of three people," Trump said on Monday. "Let's say Putin number one, let's say Biden who had no idea what the hell he was doing, number two, and Zelensky." It is estimated that hundreds of thousands, but not "millions", of people have been killed or injured on all...

Not since Herbert Hoover signed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff has a president chosen to disregard a larger body of informed opinion than President Trump did when he instituted his protectionist trade policy. Based on a series of verifiably false grievances—wages haven’t grown in 50 years, manufacturing has been hollowed out by imports, countries with trade surpluses are “ripping us off”—Mr. Trump used constitutionally questionable powers to abrogate congressionally approved trade agreements and undermine the world’s trading system. Markets convulsed in anticipation of the massive wealth annihilation that would accompany the shredding of global supply chains and a transition to a more...

From the end of April, the 500-year-old Royal Mail will be controlled by a Czech billionaire who co-owns a football club and is a major investor in a British supermarket - so, why would he want this ailing institution? "A pair of scissors, one empty teapot and some hot water, please." The slightly baffled staff at Claridge's scrambled to comply with Daniel Kretinsky's breakfast order as he sanitised and moisturised his hands. The upscale hotel has been serving tea to the global elite for decades but Mr Kretinsky brought along his own packet of Chinese green tea, which he snipped...

The European Commission is issuing burner phones to officials traveling to the United States amid fears of espionage in Trump’s America. It’s the kind of security measure typically saved for trips to China or the Ukraine, where the fear of IT surveillance is high. But three European Commissioners will test out burner phones and basic laptops at International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in Washington next week, sources told the Financial Times. The move from the European Commission, the primary executive arm of the European Union, marks a new era of American-European relations, which have all but dissipated since...