Free Republic

WASHINGTON — The estimated price tag for the war in Iran so far has jumped to $29 billion, up from the $25 billion figure given at the end of April, a senior Pentagon official revealed Tuesday. Jules Hurst, acting under secretary of Defense who serves as the de facto chief financial officer at the Pentagon, told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense that the higher amount came from a further crunching of the numbers. “The Joint Staff team, with the comptroller team are constantly looking at that estimate, and so now we think it’s closer to [$]29 [billion],” Hurst said....

LMFAO!! Trump just went off on a reporter! "You're a STUPID person, and you happen to be!" REPORTER: "You promised to bring inflation down. It's now at its highest level in three years. Are your policies not working? What's happening?" TRUMP: "If you go back to just before the war, for the last three months, inflation was at 1.7%. Now, we had a choice. Let these LUNATICS have a nuclear weapon. If you want to do that, then you're a STUPID person, and you happen to be!"

Yes, the United States effectively inherited the existing institution of slavery in the territory acquired through the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 from France (which had briefly reacquired it from Spain in 1800). The U.S. did not introduce slavery there as a new practice; it was already well-established under prior colonial rule, and the transfer preserved the property rights of slaveholders. Historical Context of Slavery in the Louisiana Territory * French origins: France introduced chattel slavery to the Louisiana colony starting in the early 1700s, importing enslaved Africans (beginning around 1710) to support plantation agriculture, alongside some raids on Native American...

I’m a consistently boring person. Since my high school years, my politics, my principles, ideology and values have been the same. I’m a traditional liberal, civil libertarian, and civil rights advocate. I support equality, meritocracy, freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and intellectual diversity. I have not changed. But the world around me has changed dramatically, requiring me to switch from being a Democrat critical of the Democrats to becoming a Republican. Even as recently as 10 years ago I couldn’t have imagine myself uttering the words “I am a Republican.” But recent events have pushed me away from the...

… In this country, guns are symbols of freedom. The right to bear arms is enshrined in the Second Amendment of the Constitution. For many, this right is more than historical; it is existential. It guarantees self-defense, deters tyranny, preserves sovereignty over government, and empowers citizens to resist oppression. This is why the U.S. has an estimated 120 firearms for every 100 people—meaning there are more guns than people in this country. The tension between freedom and safety sits at the heart of our next live debate, which we’re putting on with support from the Foundation for Individual Rights and...

Edmund Fitton-Brown @EFittonBrown Oh dear. Iskandar323 picked the wrong jurisdiction in which to become one of the world’s leading pro-Hamas propagandists. The #UAE takes a dim view of foreigners who abuse their hospitality by supporting terrorist groups. It would be a pity if the Emiratis learned his identity. Quote WikiBias @WikiBias · Mar 23 Investigations have revealed that Iskandar323, the recently banned editor, who worked to rewrite Jewish history and whitewash the Iranian regime and Hamas, is an English journalist based in the United Arab Emirates. Our eyes are wide open for all others. More to come.

What if the real revolution in the Middle East isn’t happening on the battlefield but in the battle for narrative and identity? This fascinating conversation reveals a powerful lesson: that Israel’s greatest opportunity right now may not be military, but cultural. Viewers will discover how decades of misinformation and ideological manipulation, especially driven by Iran, have distorted reality, and why reclaiming the story could change everything. By the end, you’ll see that the future of the Middle East might hinge not just on power, but on who finally tells their story and who listens. Transcript link for exhibition below.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced today (Sunday) a dramatic escalation in the confrontation with Iran, declaring a full naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. The move comes just hours after reports of the unsuccessful conclusion of a round of talks between the American and Iranian delegations in Pakistan, and after the White House made clear it would not tolerate illegal transit fees being collected in the strait’s international waters. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: "Iran promised to open the Strait of Hormuz, and they knowingly failed to do so. This caused anxiety, dislocation, and pain to many...

Turkey’s president has threatened to invade Israel over its continued bombardment of Lebanon.Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, of being “blinded by blood and hate” and said there was “no reason” not to attack.The speech came after Turkish prosecutors filed indictments against 35 top Israeli officials, including Mr Netanyahu, seeking a total of more than 4,500 years in prison.

Rep. Eric Swalwell denied allegations of rape and sexual assault in a social media post that was filmed Friday at the Beverly Hills mansion of his eccentric billionaire benefactor, The Post has learned. Multiple sources confirmed that the video Swalwell recorded of his full-throated denial was taken from a room inside the 9,700-square-foot home of Stephen Cloobeck, who’s also been shacking up with an alleged honeytrapper accused of burglarizing the home of rich, older men in Los Angeles. “A lot has been said about me today through anonymous allegations, and I thought it was important that you see and hear...

Rep. Eric Swalwell’s political career is collapsing at a shocking speed. Within 24 hours, the Bay Area congressman went from Democratic frontrunner for California governor to facing pressure to not only end his campaign but resign from Congress — while now being the subject of a criminal sexual assault investigation into allegations by a former staffer she was raped while drunk at an April 2024 charity gala. Three other women have made claims about sexual misconduct ranging from inappropriate messages or unwanted contact. The women have claimed they have documented visits to the hospital and contemporaneous messages with friends and...

A massive wave of hostile suicide drones has breached the national airspace of Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, targeting vital facilities and US military bases across the region. A major escalation has erupted in the Gulf as air defense systems in Kuwait and Dubai were forced into action to intercept a large scale wave of hostile suicide drones. Multiple vital facilities and US military bases have reportedly come under heavy attack, with massive explosions being heard throughout the United Arab Emirates. This sudden surge in violence suggests a significant expansion of the regional war, as national airspaces were breached...

Megyn Kelly on "Piers Morgan Uncensored" discussed the damage sustained by the Trump political coalition, the global economy, and U.S. allies, after 40 days at war with Iran. “The question is now not, who has Trump lost. The question is who remains," she said about the MAGA coalition. "He’s underwater with men, including young men and young people. The young person coalition that Charlie Kirk delivered to the president is gone. They’ve abandoned Donald Trump." "These battles in the Middle East have been fought now for 20-plus years, and we continue to learn the same lesson over and over. It’s...

Fox News host Mark Levin argued for the White House to deploy "specialized" U.S. ground troops in Iran to secure Tehran's enriched uranium stockpiles, shortly after President Donald Trump urged members of the public to tune into his show late Saturday. The U.S. has sent thousands of elite soldiers and Marines to the Middle East in recent days, widely seen as a sign the White House could greenlight select ground operatio1s on Iranian soil and escalate the conflict with Tehran. Trump has not yet approved ground operations in Iran, according to U.S. media reports. "Why would we need troops on...

Everywhere you look in American politics, you’ll see two things. First are polls, predictions, and posturing around the concept that MAGA is finished, the Democrats are ascendant, and the midterm elections will be an absolute wipeout. And second are concrete examples showing that the Democrat Party is a collection of unmitigated angry, malignant clowns. I’m going to trust that I don’t have to take the reader through the endless litany of examples of the first contention. You’ve surely seen enough of that. Rather, I’ll focus on the second. And then take some time to relate it to the first. And...

Vice President JD Vance says the war with Iran will continue “for a little while longer” until the US and Israel can “neuter” the Islamic Republic. “The president’s going to keep at it for a little while longer to ensure that once we leave, we don’t have to do this again for a very, very long time,” Vance told podcaster Benny Johnson. “This country is threatening us in all these ways. They’re still trying to build a nuclear weapon. We need to neuter them for a very, very long time, and that’s the purpose. Vance said the goal of the...

One of the most persistent and dangerous lies circulating in today’s political discourse is the claim that any American confrontation with Iran-especially under President Donald Trump-is somehow a war “for Israel." It is a falsehood repeated so often that it has begun to calcify into conventional wisdom, echoed by media figures and political commentators who should know better, and some who simply don’t care whether it is true. Let’s say it plainly: this is not Israel’s war. It never was. It is America’s war-forced upon it by nearly half a century of Iranian aggression, bloodshed, hostage-taking, and ideological hatred directed...

*** The promise from President Donald Trump was clear: expose it, clean it up, and drain the swamp. Now more than a year into Trump’s second term, many voters are beginning to ask a simple question: Where are the results? ***Approval ratings for FBI Director Kash Patel are slipping. Only 40 percent of likely voters view Patel favorably. Even more striking, just 32 percent believe he is performing better than previous FBI directors, while 37 percent think he is doing worse.[Rasmussen Reports] *** During the campaign, Trump promised unprecedented transparency on a series of long-running controversies that many Americans believe...

Israel launched a major attack on an Iranian gas field this week, prompting retaliation by Iran against Gulf States, a threat to global energy supplies and a surge in fuel prices. President Trump first insisted the United States “knew nothing about” the strike, then later backtracked and said he warned Israel against attacking the complex. His attempt to distance his administration from the strike underscored the diverging aims of the United States and Israel as their war against Iran grinds on. As a superpower with global responsibilities, the United States cares deeply about global energy supplies and the safety of...

Republican strategist Karl Rove on Wednesday argued President Trump will not lose any voters over the war against Iran. “Much of the criticism of Operation Epic Fury comes from the likes of the Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes, the Israel-obsessed podcasters Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly, and the conspiracist Candace Owens. Do voters who identify themselves as MAGA Republicans share their opinions? Do they feel betrayed by the president?” Rove wrote in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal. “The answer is an unequivocal no, according to a survey from the Vandenberg Coalition, a nonpartisan group committed to the idea that...