Free Republic

President-elect Trump on Saturday threatened to impose 100% tariffs against emerging markets that try to shift away from the U.S. dollar in international trade. Why it matters: The threat against the BRICS nations (primarily Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) is the latest escalation in Trump's campaign to use the specter of tariffs to achieve policy goals. Catch up quick: Trump, in a Truth Social post Saturday, demanded the BRICS countries fully support the dollar and not create their own competing currency. If not, he said, "they will face 100% Tariffs, and should expect to say goodbye to selling...

Vladimir Putin has said he will fire more of Russia's new hypersonic missiles at targets in Ukraine. The Russian president added that his country has already begun mass production of the nuclear-capable weapon. Putin also said that Moscow would carry out more tests of the hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile in 'combat conditions,' a day after firing one on Ukraine. 'We will continue these tests, including in combat conditions, depending on the situation and character of the security threats posted to Russia,' he said in a televised meeting with military chiefs. Putin said that while it isn't an intercontinental missile, it's...

The United States and Russia are very close to engaging in 'direct military conflict,' Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned in an interview published Friday in a Turkey daily, just days ahead of a US presidential election. 'Under the current president (Joe Biden), who has taken the downward spiral of Russophobia in the US to its logical conclusion, our countries are on the brink of direct military conflict,' he told the Hurriyet daily, without elaborating. Asked about next week's US election pitting former Republican president Donald Trump against Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, Lavrov said the outcome would make little difference...