Free Republic

Elon Musk has warned "if the massive deficit spending continues," there will be no money for Social Security, health care or defense, as he continues opposition to President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill." The tech billionaire and former head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) made the comment about Trump's spending package on his Truth Social website in the early hours of June 4. Newsweek contacted Musk for comment via the SpaceX and Tesla press offices outside of regular office hours on Wednesday. Why It Matters The House narrowly passed Trump's budget package on May 22 in a 215-214...

Nebraska Republican Mike Flood was heckled at a town hall event he hosted on Tuesday in Columbus, with a section of the crowd at one point chanting "tax the rich" at the House representative. Newsweek contacted Flood for comment on Wednesday outside of regular office hours via telephone and voicemail message. Why It Matters Flood is the latest in a succession of Republican politicians to receive a rough reception at town hall meetings across the U.S. since President Donald Trump's inauguration, with House Speaker Mike Johnson advising his GOP colleagues to stop hosting the in-person events earlier this month. Criticism...

Earlier this month Stake 'n Shake announced it plans to use "100 percent beef tallow," or animal fat, for cooking its fries rather than vegetable oil. Vegetable oil has been sharply criticized on health grounds including by President Donald Trump's secretary of health nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The move has raised questions over whether other fast-food companies such as McDonald's could adopt similar policies, with one nutrition expert telling Newsweek such a move could "might resonate" with the restaurant chain's history. Newsweek contacted the McDonald's press office for comment via email. Why It Matters Kennedy, who Trump wants to...

Secession movements have dotted the American landscape for a long time. While the Confederacy was the only secession movement that had any traction, most of these movements were quixotic at best and laughable at worst. There’s a new secession effort on the horizon, and just like the Confederates of the mid-19th century, Democrats are behind it. Newsweek reports that California’s secretary of state has given the green light to a secession movement to gather signatures for a petition to put California’s secession from the U.S. on the ballot in 2028.The reason for this movement is exactly what you would expect.“Calexit,...

The Kremlin has appointed Lieutenant General Andrei Ivanayev as commander of the Vostok Battalion group of forces, which is leading the assault in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, according to state affiliated media. The popular Ukrainian military Telegram channel Country Politics, which has more than 290,000 followers, reported Ivanayev's appointment on Friday suggesting it was tied to a visit by Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov to the region. Over the past year, Russian forces have made grueling but steady advances in the Donbas, which President Putin formally annexed as part of Russia in September 2022 though his troops only partially control...

Vice President Kamala Harris has suffered a triple blow after two recently released surveys put her behind Donald Trump in the key swing state of Pennsylvania, while a third showed her trailing the Republican presidential candidate at the national level. Polls of likely voters in Pennsylvania conducted by Cygnal and Emerson College both gave Trump a 1 point lead in the battleground state, which comes with 19 Electoral College votes. Separately, a Napolitan News Service survey gave the former president a 1 point advantage nationally.

Footage of President Joe Biden seeming to have difficulty getting into his vehicle after leaving Air Force One on Wednesday and appearing to need help has gone viral on social media. The incident took place after Biden said he would be "isolating as I recover" after confirming he had tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday afternoon. He earlier canceled a planned appearance at the UnidosUS Annual Conference in Las Vegas. Concern over the age, frailty and mental agility of 81-year-old Biden surged following his first presidential debate with Donald Trump on June 27, during which he appeared at times to...

An online fundraiser set up by Faith Rittenhouse, the sister of Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse, has seen a surge in donations over the past 24 hours after being widely reported in the media. Faith said she is seeking $3,000 to prevent her and her mother Wendy from getting evicted, which she linked to her "brother's unwillingness to provide or contribute to our family." Kyle Rittenhouse shot two men dead, and seriously injured another, after rioting broke out following a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on August 25, 2020, when he was aged just 17. He was subsequently found...

Senior Democrats are suggesting that a discharge petition could be introduced to bring a $95-billion overseas aid bill to a vote in the House of Representatives if Speaker Mike Johnson refuses to introduce it. On Tuesday the bill passed the Senate in a 70-29 vote, but it must also be approved by the House before President Joe Biden can sign it into law. Johnson has refused to say he would bring the bill to the floor of the House, potentially halting its passage. On Monday he criticized the legislation, which would provide an additional $60 billion of military aid for...

Vladimir Putin joked about Tucker Carlson being rejected by the CIA after he finished college during his interview with the conservative polemist—his first with a western journalist since ordering the full invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The interview was released on Carlson's website and X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday and covered Russian history, the war in Ukraine, NATO, imprisoned American journalist Evan Gershkovich and his relationships with Joe Biden and Donald Trump. During the conversation Putin discussed the 2014 Ukrainian Maidan revolution, which led to the ousting of then pro-Moscow Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, which he claimed took place...

The analysis said that Russia is on track to suffer 500,000 killed and wounded by the beginning of 2025, a figure dwarfing Russian losses in any other conflict since World War II. Russian troops have spent the past couple of months trying to seize the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka, situated in Donetsk Oblast, though they have made only limited gains... On Friday, the Russians launched one of the biggest aerial assaults on Ukrainian cities since the war began in February 2022, with at least 39 people killed by 120 missiles and 36 drones, according to Kyiv. On Saturday, 10...

No admission in former President Richard Nixon's Watergate tapes was "as clearly illegal" as that of Donald Trump in audio first published by CNN where the latter describes having "highly confidential" papers in his possession, a leading historian of the period has said. The audio, in which Trump appeared to admit some of the documents in his possession hadn't been declassified, was published on Monday. In response, a Trump campaign spokesperson said the former president had been "speaking rhetorically and also quite humorously," and hadn't committed any wrongdoing. Earlier this month, Trump was charged with 37 counts related to his...

The Ukrainian government has hit back at Tucker Carlson after the former Fox News host said a "fair person would conclude" Kyiv blew up the Nova Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine, which collapsed on Tuesday causing widespread flooding. Ukraine's Centre for Strategic Communication and Information Security (CSCIS), a government agency, hit back at Carlson in a Twitter thread on Thursday. The body posted a screenshot from Carlson's former Fox News show, edited to include a photo of Vladimir Putin and the strapline "agent of Putin." They added the clown face emoji, then said: "Tucker Carlson, a TV presenter who was...

More than 140,000 people signed a petition opposing Vladimir Putin's announcement of a partial mobilization in Russia. The Russian-language petition against conscription, titled 'Against partial and total mobilization,' was created on Change.org petition site by a user with pseudonym 'Soft Power.' It says: "On September 21, 2022, Vladimir Putin announced the start of partial mobilization throughout Russia. Only those citizens who are in the reserve and, above all, those who served in ranks of the armed forces, have certain military specialties, will be subject to conscription for military service. "We, the citizens of Russia, women and men, oppose general and...

Russia could struggle to resupply its troops in a key part of occupied Ukraine after Kyiv forces hit two bridges used to transport supplies, according to the British Ministry of Defence. Both the Antonivsky road bridge and Kherson rail bridge over the Dnipro River have been heavily damaged, and are "likely unusable for heavy military vehicles" according to U.K. intelligence. The two bridges connect Russian forces in the occupied -city of Kherson, on the north-west bank of the Dnipro, with the main Russian controlled area to the south-east. -snip- The latest U.K. update, released on August 13, details the logistical...