Free Republic

She’s new on the job as White House Press Secretary but Stephanie Grisham has already created headlines of her own. Reporters on the scene of President Trump’s meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un claimed that Grisham was bruised up during a confrontation with North Korean guards. Grisham suffered bruises when a scuffle broke out Sunday between North Korean security guards and members of the media trying to get close to President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as they shook hands at the Demilitarized Zone, the Associated Press reported.The new press secretary was reportedly pushing back...

The Trump administration is placing more restrictions on Russia's oil, gas and banking sectors by further restricting Russian access to U.S. payment systems, according to four people familiar with the plans. The Treasury Department on Wednesday let lapse a 60-day exemption put in place by the Biden administration in January that allowed specific energy transactions involving sanctioned Russian banks to continue. By letting the waiver lapse, the banks may no longer access U.S. payment systems to conduct major energy transactions. The Russian financial institutions that had been exempt from sanctions included Vnesheconombank, Bank Financial Corporation Otkritie, Sovcombank, Sberbank, VTB Bank,...

Vivek Ramaswamy, President-elect Donald Trump's choice to co-lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with entrepreneur Elon Musk, is expected to soon step away from the task force, CBS News has learned. Ramaswamy intends to announce a campaign for Ohio governor as soon as the end of January, multiple sources confirmed to CBS News. Ramaswamy, 39, had no comment. People close to Musk have privately undercut Ramaswamy for weeks, frustrated with his lack of participation in the heavy lifting, according to sources familiar with the internal dynamics. There has been friction between the incoming rank and file DOGE staff and...

When JD Vance, his wife Usha and their three young children move into the Naval Observatory residence on Jan. 20, it will be their first time inside the white Queen Anne-style mansion that has been home to vice presidents since the 1970s. Vice President Kamala Harris has not extended an invitation for a formal sit-down or tour, multiple Democratic and Republican sources told CBS News. In November, Usha Vance, via intermediaries, reached out to staff for the home's current occupants, Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, seeking details including what they would need to childproof it. Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel...

President Biden continued to receive friendly coverage from the press on Sunday when reporters caught him on a tarmac in Delaware to inquire about what he was giving up for Lent, resulting in another conversation about ice cream. A reporter shouted, "Mr. President what are you giving up for Lent?" "I gave up all sweets for Lent, you have no idea how hard it is for me," Biden said as reporters chuckled "What’s the first sweet you’re looking forward to having?" the reporter asked in a follow-up question. "Ice cream," he said.

President Trump interviewed the wife of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, for the top job at the World Bank, according to a report. Heidi Cruz met with Trump this week in the Oval Office about the post, but the president is going to select another candidate for the position, Bloomberg's Jennifer Jacobs reported Wednesday.

I’m pretty sure that Iowa Congressman Steve King thought that his detractors would give it a rest for a while after he defeated his Democrat opponent by 24 points earlier this month.  Yet once again headlines like, “Stay away from Steve King,” have been published this week.  This time it’s not the liberals who are ranting and raving about King, its nameless “Republican insiders” and a conservative blogger from the Washington Post. On Tuesday, King announced that he is partnering with Citizens United to put on a 2016 presidential forum in Des Moines on January 24th called the Iowa Freedom...