Free Republic

Top officials at the Pentagon are “thinking about” whether the U.S. should acquire equity stakes in leading defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Tuesday. The Cabinet secretary, in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” revealed the Defense Department’s interest in taking those stakes days after the U.S. government acquired 10% of Intel stock in a roughly $9 billion deal. Lutnick was asked if the Trump administration would repeat that move with other companies that do business with the government. “Oh there’s a monstrous discussion about defense,” Lutnick replied. Lockheed, which makes most of its revenue...

Friday on FNC’s “Jesse Watters Primetime,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) dismissed the possibility of the so-called “big, beautiful” spending bill stalling out on Capitol Hill because of Tesla CEO and former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Elon Musk’s critique. “All right, Speaker,” host Jesse Watters said. “Is Elon going to derail the big, beautiful bill?” “Absolutely not,” Johnson replied. “Look, we are feeling the same energy that the President is. He’s leading. He’s delivering on his promises, and we all are. The big, beautiful bill is basically all those campaign speeches reduced to legislation. That’s what it is,...