Free Republic

In what could prove to be a pivotal election year for the Republicans, with the midterms holding much influence, President Donald Trump arguably needs the support of his own party now more than ever. Especially as he is facing loud calls for impeachment from the Democratic Party on account of his Venezuela operation... Yet there is currently a split forming, as some prominent Republican lawmakers are publicly disagreeing with Trump regarding his renewed annexation threats against Greenland in the wake of the Venezuela intervention. In a series of inflammatory remarks labeled as “utterly unacceptable” by Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen,...

... Mr. Romney’s lead idea is to eliminate the income limit on the Social Security payroll tax. He imagines that a huge 12.4% hike to the marginal rate on an essential cohort of the striving will have a “relatively small impact on economic growth.” Moreover, this whopping increase in social-insurance premiums wouldn’t come with better coverage. Mr. Romney would largely sever the link between Social Security contributions and benefits. We think these changes are poor policy—and we also note that they aren’t taxes on the rich but on salarymen. Mr. Romney dismisses the doomed-from-the-get-go DOGE effort to end the deficit...

President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order suspending U.S. support for 66 organizations, agencies and commissions, including those affiliated with the United Nations, as the country further retreats from global cooperation.The targets are primarily U.N.-related groups that focus on climate, labor and other issues that the Trump administration has criticized for catering to “woke” initiatives.The decision to withdraw comes as ongoing U.S. military efforts and threats have rattled allies and adversaries alike, including the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and indications of U.S. intention to take over Greenland.On Wednesday morning, the Trump administration seized two Venezuela-linked sanctioned...

Kyle Rittenhouse - who shot three people during unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin - offered to travel to Minnesota amid unrest after ICE fatally shot a woman. 'After thinking about it, should I travel across the state line to Minnesota?', Rittenhouse asked in a tweet to his 76,000 followers on X. Five years ago, a 17-year-old Rittenhouse decided to travel from his home in Illinois to Kenosha during Black Lives Matter protests that followed the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Rittenhouse was armed with an AR-15-style rifle at a riot in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he shot three people and killed two....

Leaders of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private agency that has steered federal funding to PBS, NPR and hundreds of public television and radio stations across the country, voted Monday to dissolve the organization that was created in 1967. CPB had been winding down since Congress acted last summer to defund its operations at the encouragement of President Donald Trump. Its board of directors chose Monday to shutter CPB completely instead of keeping it in existence as a shell. “CPB’s final act would be to protect the integrity of the public media system and the democratic values by dissolving,...

As the U.S. military escalates its posture around Venezuela—with naval deployments in the Caribbean, B-52 overflights, lethal strikes on alleged drug boats, and confirmed CIA covert operations—advocates of regime change are reviving a dangerous analogy. Many have pointed to the United States’ 1989 invasion of Panama and toppling of dictator Manuel Noriega as proof that swift, surgical operations can get the job done. In private conversations with several current and former U.S. officials, they have nodded toward this parallel. Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who just last month was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, has appealed to the United...

A politically charged YouTube video thrust a group of Somali-owned day cares in Minnesota into an uncomfortable spotlight this week, accusing the owners of defrauding the state and unleashing a torrent of threats against them. A lawyer who represents one of the operators of Minnesota Best Childcare Center in Minneapolis, which was featured in the 43-minute video, said his Somali clients have received hundreds of death threats since the video went viral late late last week. “Everybody is very scared right now of being targeted,” attorney Jason Steck said Dec. 31. “Nobody wants to stick their head up. Nobody wants...

Gen Z right-wing influencers like Nick Fuentes have suggested they may not support Vice President JD Vance if he becomes the Republican presidential nominee in 2028 and have praised California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat. Why It Matters The 2028 election is years away, but talk about who could run for higher office has already begun. Vance is viewed as the frontrunner on the Republican side. The Democratic primary is likely to be more competitive if current polling stands, and Newsom is viewed as a leading candidate. He has cast himself as a staunch rival of the Trump administration. The...

A $6,000 deduction is now law for some older Americans who receive Social Security benefits, a centerpiece of a major new bill signed by President Donald Trump. Promoted as historic relief, the reality is more complex, less generous, and comes with a significant long-term price tag that could undermine the very system it purports to help.

Although there is much to lament in the unconstitutional and illegal policies of the Trump administration, not enough has been said about its lack of compassion and basic human decency. How does it change us as a nation to witness countless acts of cruelty by our government? How does it change how we talk in our society to see a president refer to other nations as “shithole” countries or to tell a female reporter, “quiet, piggy”?

Key Points * Danish foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said he is “deeply upset” over Trump’s appointment of a U.S. special envoy to Greenland. * Trump has repeatedly said that the U.S. needs the resource-rich Greenland for security reasons. * Danish Prime Minister Mette Fredriksen said: “Greenland belong to Greenlanders, and the U.S. should not take over Greenland.” ************************************************************************************ Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said Monday he will summon the U.S. ambassador to Denmark for a conversation about President Donald Trump’s appointment of a special envoy to Greenland. “I’m deeply upset about the appointment and the statement, which I...

John Stossel interviews James Lindsay, famous for fighting wokeness on the left. Lindsay is vigorously investigating wokeness on the right, mostly but not limited to those following the ideas of Nick Fuentes. ---- A new section of the right is foolishly bashing liberty … and even embracing Marxist ideas. That's why some call them the "woke right."

Florida gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds denounced the wing of his party he claims is threatening to “co-opt the conservative movement” during a speech at a Miami-Dade GOP fundraiser this week, after an anti-immigration candidate started teasing a primary run against him in Florida’s gubernatorial race. “Since the assassination of Charlie Kirk, there is this strain going on on the right — they’re calling it the ‘woke right,’” U.S. Rep. Donalds said Tuesday. “There’s some strain going on that’s now saying, ‘Not just no illegal immigration, but no legal immigration.’” His comments during the annual Miami Dade GOP Lincoln Day Dinner...

Donald Trump announced on Friday that he will nominate right-wing lesbian Fox News contributor Tammy Bruce as the spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, a role that doesn’t require Senate confirmation. In a January 3 Truth Social post, Trump described Bruce as “a highly respected political analyst” who “after being a liberal activist in the 1990s, saw the lies and fraud of the Radical Left, and quickly became one of the strongest Conservative voices on Radio and Television.”

As his presidential campaign sputtered, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., could sound like a candidate unstuck in time. In June, he spent days responding to a dismissive comment from Barack Obama questioning his commitment to racial justice, saying America was a “land of opportunity, not a land of oppression.” In September, he rolled out an “empower parents” plan by explaining that children “need the ABCs, not CRT.” Wherever he campaigned, he invoked his race and biography as the ultimate rebuke to race-obsessed progressives fixated on a “culture of grievance” instead of personal achievement: “My life disproves their lie.” Republican primary voters,...

On April 3, after Bud Light named trans TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney a spokesperson, Kid Rock responded with a video showing him firing an automatic rifle at a stack of Bud Light beer cases. Country star Travis Tritt announced that he was dropping the beer from his tours, and several conservative social media personalities launched a boycott of the brand. In Tennessee, the state legislature recently banned drag queen shows but, after the Covenant Baptist School shooting, expelled two Black legislators for protesting gun violence with demonstrators. And last month, the Republican Party of Texas censured GOP Representative Tony Gonzalez,...

Claudio Neves Valente, the suspect in the Brown and MIT shootings, had flashes of temper; former classmates describe him as confrontational and socially awkward Twenty-five years ago, two promising physicists graduated from a prestigious science university in Lisbon. On Monday, one gunned the other down at his home outside Boston after firing on a classroom of Brown University undergrads, authorities say. Claudio Neves Valente, the suspected shooter, once had a bright future. He graduated at the top of his college class, ahead of classmate Nuno Loureiro. But by the time Neves Valente confronted Loureiro at his Brookline, Mass., apartment building...

"Mic-drop" truth bomb. Israeli Ambassador Claps back at NBC Host: "Quoting Gaza Health Ministry is Like Quoting MS-13's Welfare Stats" | WATCH. An on-air clash goes viral as Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter slams NBC’s Kristen Welker for citing Gaza casualty figures, igniting a fierce debate over media bias, wartime propaganda, and the battle to control the narrative. Welker referenced the ministry's reported death toll while grilling Leiter on civilian casualties during Israel's operations in Gaza and Lebanon. Leiter fired back: "Kristen, you just quoted the Gaza Health Ministry. That’s like quoting MS-13 Social Welfare Ministry." The analogy, equating the ministry...

Summary Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) ended her campaign for New York governor on December 20, 2025, weeks after launching it on November 7, despite leading in polls. She also announced she will not seek re-election to her House seat, which expires in January 2027. Sources close to Stefanik attributed the withdrawal to President Trump's refusal to fully endorse her, instead remaining neutral in the GOP primary against Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a longtime friend of Trump. Trump described both candidates as "fantastic people," hosted each separately at the White House, and expressed discomfort with their competition. New York Republican...

Fans of Charlie Kirk have been posing for selfies at what appears to be a recreation of the Utah Valley University site where the conservative activist was murdered. The tent and photo setup is at AmFest, the annual youth conference for the organization Kirk founded, Turning Point USA. More than 30,000 attendees gathered for the hectic opening night of the four-day event. Liberal network MS Now was reporting from the event in Phoenix when they noticed some young people paying an unconventional tribute to Kirk, who was murdered by an assassin's bullet while debating on September 10. 'You can see...