Free Republic

The US is engaging in “extreme rightwing tropes” with echoes of the 1930s and threatening “chilling” interference in European democracies, British MPs warned ministers on Thursday. The House of Commons rounded on Donald Trump’s national security strategy, which stated that Europe was facing “civilisational erasure” and vowed to help the continent “correct its current trajectory and promote patriotic European parties”. Matt Western, a Labour MP and chair of parliament’s joint committee on the UK government’s national security strategy, said: “The United States consensus that has led the western world since the second world war appears shattered. “The prospect of United...

Former Trump White House official Marc Short told Politico’s Dasha Burns that the Democratic Party will likely dominate the 2026 midterms. In an appearance on CSPAN’s Ceasefire alongside Democratic strategist Adrienne Elrod, Short said that the Republican Party is already set to endure heavy losses in the upcoming elections. “I think it’s going to be a really steep climb, Dasha,” said Short, in relation to GOP midterm efforts. “The reality is that Americans like divided government. They don’t want one party in control. Each time there’s been one party in control, there’s been a backlash.” The once chief of staff...

A new US National Security Strategy (NSS) has accused Europe of economic, political and cultural deterioration, sending shockwaves through Brussels but delighting the continent's populist parties. The controversial strategy, signed by US President Donald Trump, warns that Europe is on the brink of 'civilisational erasure' due to decades of decline, and condemns its practice of 'censorship' and 'mass migration' that will render the continent 'unrecognisable in 20 years or less'. The report crystallises in stark terms the growing fracture between the EU and its most important ally, the United States, threatening to torpedo a relationship that has defined global politics...

Democrats continued their run of successes in special elections by flipping a state House seat in Georgia Tuesday, according to a projection from the CNN Decision Desk. The Democratic victory, in a district that voted for President Donald Trump by about 12 percentage points last year, comes ahead of next year’s critical midterms, when Georgians will vote in closely watched races for Senate and governor. Eric Gisler, a Democrat who owns a local olive oil store, will defeat Republican Mack “Dutch” Guest in the 121st House District, in the northeastern part of the state, near the college town of Athens....

In the ninth annual joint Pew Research Center and Körber-Stiftung surveys of the United States and German publics, we find profound changes in perceptions of the bilateral relationship. These are the first surveys in this series conducted since Donald Trump began his second term as U.S. president and Friedrich Merz became chancellor of Germany.Key findings:

Donald Trump on Tuesday called Somali immigrants “garbage” and said they should be sent back home in a rant that came as the administration is reportedly increasing immigration enforcement against undocumented Somalis in Minnesota. In a xenophobic rant during a cabinet meeting, Trump went off on Somalis and Ilhan Omar, the congressional representative who is from Somalia and is a US citizen. He said Somalia “stinks” and is “no good for a reason”. “They contribute nothing. I don’t want them in our country, I’ll be honest with you,” he said. He called Omar “garbage” and said “we’re going to go...

Donald Trump’s drive to secure peace in Ukraine must not let Vladimir Putin off the hook for war crimes committed by Russian forces, a top EU official has warned, effectively setting a new red line for a deal. In an interview with POLITICO, Michael McGrath, the European commissioner for justice and democracy, said negotiators must ensure the push for a ceasefire does not result in Russia escaping prosecution. His comments reflect concerns widely held in European capitals that the original American blueprint for a deal included the promise of a “full amnesty for actions committed during the war,” alongside plans...

Whatever happened to Britain, or the UK, or England, or whatever they’re calling it? We can’t even agree on what it’s called. But what happened to England, the England that, if you’re over 50, you grew up learning about, the England that controlled the world, the England that ran the largest empire in human history at the end of the first world war? Britain, which is an island in a pretty inhospitable climate, controlled something like a quarter of the Earth’s surface – and not controlled in the way the United States controls the rest of the world with an...

Republicans are growing increasingly anxious over a once sleepy special election in Tennessee District 7 next month in a district that President Trump comfortably won by 22 points last year. While the congressional race has historically been a GOP shoo-in, Republicans are alarmed by a recent poll and fearful that an upset could see their majority in the House slip to a zero-vote margin. “I’m very concerned about it. Of course, it’s an off-year election. It’s right after Thanksgiving. A lot of the Republicans are out of town. And I worry about them showing up on Election Day,” Rep. Tim...

The New York Times produced a detailed, data-driven report on President Trump showing signs of aging. The president, 79, responded by calling the female reporter who co-wrote the story “ugly.” Trump’s post to Truth Social on Wednesday came less than two weeks after he said “quiet, piggy” to another female reporter, which drew attention to his gendered insults and general brusqueness. The Times’ story analyzed Trump’s public schedules this year and those during his first term in office. Americans see Trump “less than they used to,” The Times found. He “has fewer public events on his schedule and is traveling...

Donald Trump was caught making an eyebrow-raising joke about the Syrian president's marital status at the White House this week. But the US President immediately lowered the tone by giving Sharaa a spritz of $249-a-bottle Trump Cologne before jokingly asking him how many wives he has. In an exchange captured on video, Trump said: 'This is men's fragrance,' as he sprayed some of the scent on Sharaa's beard while the Syrian leader smiled nervously. 'It's the best fragrance,' the 79-year-old said, adding that a second bottle of the perfume was for Sharaa's wife. 'How many wives? One?' Trump asked, as...

Joey Barton has been found guilty of posting grossly offensive messages on social media. Barton was found guilty by a jury at Liverpool Crown Court of six counts of sending a grossly offensive electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety. During his trial at Liverpool Crown Court, the ex-Manchester City and Newcastle midfielder, 43, said he believed he was the victim of a "political prosecution" and denied his aim was "to get clicks and promote himself". But the jury decided Barton, who also played for England in 2007, had "crossed the line between free speech and a crime"...

Fox News host Laura Ingraham urged Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) and other Senate Republicans to eliminate the filibuster, lest the GOP “get wiped out” in the next year’s midterm elections. The federal government has been shut down since Oct. 1, after the Senate could not agree on a bill to keep the government funded beyond September. While the GOP controls the chamber 53-47, 60 votes are necessary to invoke cloture to break filibusters and advance legislation. In exchange for the requisite votes, Democrats are demanding that Republicans agree to extend healthcare premium subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, which are...

We have met the enemy of civilization, and it’s women. Not individual women, mind you. Because any given individual woman can possess masculine characteristics. And certainly not homemakers — those are the women who are doing the job they’ve done for millenniums, taking care of the family. No, the challenge to civilization is presented, in the view of Helen Andrews, a writer and editor who served as a senior editor at The American Conservative, by the women who are entering the workplace in such great numbers that they now make up large portions or majorities of their professions. In that...

California Governor Gavin Newsom holds an early edge over Vice President JD Vance among young male voters for the 2028 presidency, according to new polling from a Republican-affiliated firm. The latest League of American Workers/TIPP survey, conducted October 22-28, shows that among young men, 38 percent would vote for Newsom compared to 33 percent for Vance.

President Donald Trump's use of sweeping tariffs faced sharp questioning at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, in a case with major implications for the president's agenda and the global economy. A majority of justices, including several conservatives, expressed doubts about the White House's justification of the import duties, which the president has said are necessary to restore America's manufacturing base and fix its trade imbalance. The measures are being challenged by a number of small businesses and a group of states, which contend that the president has overstepped his authority in imposing the levies, which are in effect a tax....

California voters approved new congressional district boundaries Tuesday, delivering a victory for Democrats in the state-by-state redistricting battle that will help determine which party wins control of the U.S. House in 2026 and, with it, the power to thwart or advance President Donald Trump’s agenda. The approval of Proposition 50 gives Democrats a shot at winning as many as five additional seats, just enough to blunt Texas Republicans’ move to redraw their own maps to pick up five GOP seats at Trump’s urging. Texas’ move and California’s response have kicked off a flurry of redistricting efforts around the country, with...

Top Republicans on Monday seized on House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ endorsement of Zohran Mamdani for mayor of New York, casting the self-described democratic socialist as the new face of the Democratic Party ahead of next year’s midterm elections. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., called Jeffries’ endorsement a “seismic shift in politics.” “We saw our clearest sign yet that this radical insurgent movement in the Democrat Party is succeeding, and they are ending what has always been known as the Democrat Party in America,” Johnson told reporters in the Capitol. “After a monthslong pressure campaign from the far left, House...

Mark Carney has delivered a sharp insult to Donald Trump after trade negotiations were canceled over an ad featuring former president Ronald Reagan slamming tariffs. Trump hit Canada with an additional 10 percent tariff and terminated crucial trade talks last week after he was upset by the commercial which aired during the first two games of the baseball World Series. The tariff commercial used an excerpt of a speech given by Reagan in 1987 to criticize US tariffs during Friday and Saturday's match ups between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays. Speaking about Trump's spat at the ASEAN...

Life was never the same for New Yorkers after the terrorist attacks of September 11 2001, with every resident coping with the trauma and devastation of that day. But for Muslim New Yorkers there was an added burden: the suspicion and sometimes physical harm now lurking around every corner. Vigilante violence against Arabs and Muslims exploded across the city and around the country. In what feels very much like a precursor to today’s ruthless ICE raids, mass arrests swept up Muslims on flimsy immigration pretexts, with many of them being held under extremely abusive conditions. The contemporary national security state...