Free Republic

President Trump will no longer travel to Kansas or Iowa over the weekend to rally voters ahead of Election Day, instead opting for virtual campaign appearances. A White House official confirmed to The Hill Thursday the in-person Kansas event had been canceled, without providing more details about the decision. Later in the evening, the Republican National Committee (RNC) announced the cancellation of another Trump campaign rally in Iowa. “President Trump will continue connecting directly with Americans nationwide through more than 20 telerallies before Election Day,” the White House official said in a statement. “These events give him the opportunity to...

President Donald Trump proposed making Venezuela a “prosperous 51st state” Tuesday while speaking to supporters in Texas. Trump said: "I want to thank Venezuela, where our relationship has become very, very good, a great one, and billions and billions of dollars are being invested now by the biggest oil companies, many of which come from Texas from all of the world. And jobs are happening in Venezuela that no one thought would have thought possible just one year ago, and we’re bringing out a lot of oil for ourselves. A lot. It will become a prosperous country and who knows,...

President Donald Trump said “certain levels of inflation” can reduce the burden of the national debt “very rapidly,” putting a long-running bond-market concern into unusually direct language. The remarks came in a TIME interview conducted Monday and published Thursday, and were reported by the Wall Street Journal’s Nick Timiraos. Trump also said Federal Reserve interest-rate policy is hurting the economy more than inflation and blamed high rates for making it harder to reduce federal deficits. “Certain levels of inflation will also pay off that debt very rapidly. Very rapidly.” Pressed on how Washington could bring down the debt burden, Trump...

President Donald Trump has personally driven the controversial, taxpayer-funded video ads promoting himself and his administration’s policies, including helping select the imagery and videos used, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. Two Trump advisers familiar with the ads said that they were being created in-house by the White House video team — which is part of the communications team, responsible for the administration’s public messaging. “It’s a great message. I like the message, but it shouldn’t be paid for with taxpayer dollars,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters in the Capitol on Monday. Multiple members of Trump’s...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Thursday criticized President Trump's controversial proposal to pay out $5,000 checks to every U.S. adult if Republicans win the midterms. "What I would say is, if you are getting surplus revenue, you should cut people's tax and return it to the people," DeSantis said during a press conference in Miami on Thursday. "What I don't think you want to do is borrow another trillion-and-a-half dollars and then just try to flood that into the economy, because that will lead to more inflation," DeSantis continued. "That will lead to more debt and more inflation."

President Donald Trump used the Republican Party’s first midterm convention to justify the Iran war rather than trying to put it behind him, as escalating violence and spiking oil prices loomed over the elaborate Trump-centered showcase in Dallas. In a speech billed as an opening argument for the peak campaign season, he defended his record and encouraged supporters to vote as if he were on the ballot. He also debuted a new enticement, promising to reward Republican congressional majorities by giving every American a $5,000 dividend to spend within the country.