Free Republic

US lawmakers have urged their government to follow the UK's suit and push harder on those who were close to Jeffrey Epstein, following the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on suspicion of misconduct in public office. "Prince Andrew was just arrested," Congressman Thomas Massie, who co-sponsored the law that compelled the justice department to release the Epstein files, wrote on X. "Now we need JUSTICE in the United States." The King's brother, who was stripped of his titles last year due to his ties with Epstein, has consistently and strenuously denied any wrongdoing. Lawmakers have asked the former prince to come...

Florida Republican Randy Fine has been heavily criticized for an errant social media post that appeared to express his preference for dogs over Muslims. Pundits from both sides of the aisle - from Jake Tapper to Megyn Kelly - rushed to denounce the Sunday X post as Islamophobic. 'If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one,' Fine initially wrote. The comment was slammed as 'disgusting bigotry' by CNN's Tapper, while Huffington Post contributor Yashar Ali described Fine as 'one of the most horrible people in public office' Fine, 51, responded to...

Anti-ICE protesters have descended on the Virginia mansion owned by the Hilton Hotels CEO, accusing the hospitality company of aiding the work of immigration agents by renting rooms to officials. The franchise has faced mounting pressure from far-left activists to sever its ties to President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, with demonstrations storming outside hotels across the nation in recent weeks. On Thursday, protesters took their movement to the $5.2 million mansion owned by the Hilton Hotels CEO Christopher Nassetta in Arlington, Virginia. The group waved banners reading 'HILTON HOUSES ICE' while calling Nassetta out by name and blaring loud music,...

‘ICE Out of Everywhere’ demonstrations, including vigils and marches, follow Friday’s national strike More than 300 demonstrations are expected to take place across all 50 states and Washington DC, today, in what organizers are calling “ICE Out of Everywhere”.Organizers, led by the national grassroots organization 50501, say today’s protests are a response to a series of recent deaths involving federal immigration agents, including the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this month, the homicide of Geraldo Campos in an immigration detention facility in Texas and the shooting of Keith Porter Jr by an off-duty Immigration...

Donald Trump has sparked fresh outrage in the UK after saying Nato troops stayed "a little off the front lines" during the war in Afghanistan. Labour MP Emily Thornberry, the chair of the foreign affairs committee, called it an "absolute insult" to the 457 British service personnel killed in the conflict, while Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: "How dare he question their sacrifice?" Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty, who served in Afghanistan, said it was "sad to see our nation's sacrifice, and that of our Nato partners, held so cheaply". The UK was among several allies to join the...

Volodymyr Zelenskyy dropped a barrage of truth bombs on his European allies about their collective failure to stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin and be respected by his US counterpart, Donald Trump. Invoking the spectacle of Bill Murray's classic comedy, Groundhog Day, at a speech in Davos, the Ukrainian president said the UK and Europe are stuck in a doom loop, repeating rhetoric about what needs to be done - without taking the action required to make things change. This, he said, meant they were left scrambling to respond to world events instead of standing united as a great...

Summary UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer says Donald Trump's remarks about British troops in Afghanistan are "insulting and frankly appalling" "If I had misspoken in that way - or said those words - I would certainly apologise," he says. The US president's comments have sparked outrage among UK veterans and politicians. The UK was among several allies to join the US in Afghanistan from 2001, after it invoked Nato's collective security clause following the 9/11 terror attacks - 457 British service personnel were killed in the conflict Corporal Andy Reid, who served in Afghanistan, tells the BBC Trump's claim is...

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer went after President Trump on Wednesday for reversing position on a deal surrounding the Chagos Islands, suggesting the president did so because of tensions over his plan to acquire Greenland. “I made out my position on Greenland absolutely clear on Monday and a moment ago. President Trump deployed words on Chagos yesterday that were different to his previous words of welcome and support when I met him in the White House,” Starmer said in the House of Commons. “He deployed those words yesterday for the express purpose of putting pressure on me and Britain in...

The prime minister will take to the Downing Street lectern this morning, after another extraordinary weekend of diplomatic turmoil prompted by US President Donald Trump. Sir Keir Starmer knows that people and businesses in the UK will expect him to respond, in front of the cameras, to the prospect of the UK and European allies being hammered by more US tariffs. It is the latest twist in the row over Greenland, the autonomous Danish territory Trump wants to get his hands on. Trump has said he will impose new taxes on eight US allies - Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the...

Donald Trump’s attempt to bully his Nato allies into handing over Greenland by imposing tariffs is, even by his standards, a step too far. The President is used to getting what he wants — to use his own words, “the soft way or the hard way”. And with one eye on his historical legacy, Mr Trump seems determined to purchase or annex the Arctic island, even if in the process he unleashes a trade war and destroys the Atlantic alliance. Nothing can justify this exercise of raw power. The US already has a base in Greenland and could, if it...

Denmark and the US are stuck in a 'fundamental disagreement' over Greenland after leaders from both countries met for talks in Washington earlier today. Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said the meeting with vice president JD Vance and secretary of state Marco Rubio was 'frank but also constructive' but admitted work was needed to 'find a common way forward'. 'The discussions focused on how to ensure the long-term security in Greenland, and here our perspectives continue to differ,' Mr Rasmussen told reporters after joining Greenland's foreign minister, Vivian Motzfeldt, for the talks. 'I must say the president has made...

The FBI executed a search warrant on the home of a Washington Post reporter as part of an investigation into the leaking of government secrets. The reporter, Hannah Natanson, was at her home in Virginia when federal agents descended on her home on Wednesday morning, the Washington Post said. The outlet said Natanson was raided as part of a probe into a government contractor accused of illegally retaining classified government materials, and she had her home and devices searched.

Sir Keir Starmer is expected to accept an offer to sit on Donald Trump's new 'Board of Peace' to run Gaza following October's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. As part of his 20-point peace plan for the Middle East, Mr Trump has proposed a new international transitional body to oversee the redevelopment of Gaza. The US President will head and chair the Board of Peace alongside other world leaders, with Sir Keir reportedly poised to take up an offer to A senior British official told The Times the group's first meeting is expected to happen next week during the...

Donald Trump has ordered his special forces commanders to draw up a plan for the invasion of Greenland - but is being resisted by senior military figures, The Mail on Sunday has learned. Sources say that the policy 'hawks' around the US President, led by political adviser Stephen Miller, have been so emboldened by the success of the operation to capture Venezuela's leader Nicolas Maduro that they want to move quickly to seize the island before Russia or China makes a move. British diplomats believe that Trump is also motivated by a desire to distract American voters from the performance...

The summer of 2028 is expected to be brutal for the Secret Service. President Donald Trump will still be in office - and because he's term-limited - there will be nominees that need to be protected from both the Democratic and Republican parties. Their running mates and families will also receive security details. Additionally, for the first time since 1996, the United States will host the Summer Olympics, taking place in Los Angeles. These demands come as the agency has been under scrutiny over two assassination attempts on President Donald Trump's life, and the threats continue, as a hammer-wielding maniac...

Elon Musk's much heralded chainsaw couldn't make the cut. Despite the Trump administration's efforts to slash government spending through the Department of Government Efficiency, federal expenditures actually increased in fiscal year 2025. A new investigative report from the New York Times released this week showcased that many of the contracts cut by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, led by tech billionaire Musk for the start of Trump's term, were already winding down, or were not on track to reach their maximum spending allotment. The findings were stark: Of the top 13 contract cancellations in DOGE's database all 13...

Trump’s uncharacteristically wooden address to the nation revealed a panicked president

The ammunition boxes stacked on the stage opened up to reveal figurines of angels and an infant Jesus lying in his manger. Six actors sang plaintive carols, accompanied by readings of the brooding poetry of Kharkiv writer Serhiy Zhadan. The audience sat, transfixed by the almost unbearable intensity of the spectacle. The nativity play, performed on a recent evening at Kharkiv’s puppet theatre, was a reminder that conflict has seeped into the fabric of almost everything in Ukrainian life over the past four years. “We can’t just put on comedies and escape from reality,” said Oksana Dmitrieva, the nativity play’s...

Donald Trump’s Department of Justice on Friday released more than 300,000 pages of photos and evidence connected to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The vast trove includes images showing the disgraced financier and his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell socializing with high-profile figures, including former president Bill Clinton and Michael Jackson. One photograph appears to show Clinton in a swimming pool alongside Maxwell and several unidentified, partially clothed women. Clinton broke his silence on Friday to turn the tables on Trump, releasing a statement that declared: 'The White House hasn’t been hiding these files for months only to dump them late...

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is driving a major overhaul to pivot the US military away from Europe and the Middle East and refocus operations on the Western Hemisphere, sources indicate to the Washington Post. Top Pentagon leadership are finalizing a plan that would dramatically downgrade America's military presence in traditional theaters while consolidating power closer to home – marking a fundamental shift in US strategic priorities. The proposal would reduce US Central Command, US Africa Command and US European Command to subordinate status under a new umbrella organization called US International Command – stripping these Middle Eastern and European-focused...