Free Republic

President Trump said Monday that Russia hasn’t seen any tariffs because “we’re not doing business essentially with Russia.” Russia was not on the receiving end of any tariffs from the United States, along with North Korea and Cuba, according to the list revealed last week. “Because they’re in a war and I’m not happy about what’s going on with the bombing,” he said in the Oval Office beside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “They’re bombing like crazy right now, they’re bombing, I don’t know what’s going on right now. That’s not a good situation.” He said “we’re getting sort of...

President-elect Donald Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum discussed Mexico’s approach to staving off illegal migration from Mexico but came away from the conversation with different characterizations of the plan. The call between the two leaders on Wednesday comes on the heels of Mr. Trump’s announcement that he would slap a 25% tariff on Mexico, Canada and China on all products coming from the countries until the flow of illegal migrants and drugs into the U.S. is halted. Mr. Trump said in a post on Truth Social that their conversation was “very productive” and that Ms. Sheinbaum “has agreed to...

The next president will appoint more than 100 federal judges to the bench, providing an opportunity to mold the federal judiciary towards his or her liking. As of Election Day, there were six vacancies on the high-profile federal circuit courts, and 61 district court vacancies waiting to be filled. According to recent history, a new president on average has between 200 and 250 Article III judicial appointments during the course of four years in office. During his first administration, former President Donald Trump appointed three Supreme Court justices, 54 circuit court judges and 174 district court jurists. The impact of...

the Trump campaign needs to be aware of an emerging thread of data that suggests that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis may do better in the general election. New survey results from Public Opinion Strategies build on previous results and are starting to frame a coherent story about how the general election might look with different Republican candidates. The new survey results indicate that Mr. DeSantis would do better than Mr. Trump in the general election in specific battleground states. For example, in Georgia, Mr. DeSantis leads President Biden by 3 percentage points in a general election matchup. In the same...

Former President Donald Trump did not hold back his praises to some of the world's authoritarian leaders in a new media appearance. In his interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Trump shared his admiration for the leadership styles of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. "They're all top of the line," Trump said. The former president described Xi as a "brilliant man" and recalled meeting with him in his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida in 2017. "President Xi is a brilliant man... The look, the brain, the whole thing. We had a...

President Joe Biden is said to be spending this holiday season in deep thought about another run for the Senate, err, make that another run as President Kamala Harris’ sidekick, err, oops, make that a third term in the White House. Or something, something, anyway. Which is it, Joe? If this is the hope of the Democrats, Republicans are poised to breeze into the White House 2024. “Biden, who just turned 80, remains in many Democrats’ minds the party’s best shot at retaining the White House in 2024,” The Hill wrote, in a piece that was headlined, “Biden mulls 2024...

Donors just didn’t want to back a loser — and that’s just what Mr. Trump is now — a loser. “Hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, the second-most prolific GOP donor of the midterms, said Tuesday that he would support [Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis over Trump, pointing to the Florida governor’s dominant reelection victory in a state that was considered competitive until recently,” The Hill reported this week. “I’d like to think that the Republican Party is ready to move on from somebody who has been for this party a three-time loser,” said Mr. Griffin, who funded a pro-Trump super political...