Free Republic

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky praised “real leaders” in Europe at a summit in Belgium on Friday, taking a veiled swipe at US President Donald Trump amid testy relations between Kyiv and Washington. European leaders are rallying around Zelensky after the White House heaped pressure on Ukraine to halt strikes on Russian oil facilities, even as Russia’s attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure continue unabated. After halting strikes on Russian oil refineries for three days at the request of the United States, Zelensky said he would resume those attacks given Russia didn’t adhere to US President Donald Trump’s so-called “energy ceasefire.” Trump,...

Speaking to broadcaster Newsmax, the president blamed Volodymyr Zelensky for the war, claiming he – not Vladimir Putin – had 'destroyed' Ukraine. It came after Mr Zelensky resumed attacks on Russian oil refineries after hitting out at Mr Trump's 'betrayal' at a time of intense Russian attacks. In an interview with the Financial Times, the Ukrainian leader said the cutting off of US intelligence sharing and the simultaneous weakening of the Starlink satellite internet service was 'dangerous' for civilians. He added: 'The block [on attacking refineries] is out. We’re done.' 'Well, I think that's a disgrace,' Trump said yesterday, adding...

Two top appointees of President Donald Trump, including the deputy secretary of State, have been embroiled in a monthslong fight that includes accusations of leaks to the media and “bizarre” threats of defamation — all over emails that at times included more than a dozen administration officials. The conflict centers on Paolo Zampolli, a personal friend of Trump’s and a special envoy at the State Department, and Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, according to the messages obtained by POLITICO. The emails stretch over almost a year and show Zampolli and Landau disagreeing over chains of command as Landau admonishes...

Diesel futures traded sharply higher Tuesday, as doubts mounted about the likely impacts of the Trump administration’s latest efforts to push prices down. U.S. diesel futures were up 5% by midday to their highest level in weeks. In Europe, diesel futures rose by about 3.8%, while gas futures spiked to levels not seen all year. A move higher in futures markets typically signals that prices will climb in the coming days. Already, the average nationwide price of diesel is up 70% since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. The cost of unleaded gas has risen by more...

Former Vice President Mike Pence called on President Donald Trump to “rescind” his agreement to lift sanctions on Russian diesel fuel and stand up to “Russian aggression,” as Pence believes he did in his first term. “For our National Security, for the security of our Allies in Europe including Ukraine, President Trump should rescind this deal immediately and return to the strong policies of our four years in the White House; impose harsh sanctions on any nation purchasing Russian energy and work with our allies to ensure Ukraine has the military support it needs to repel and defeat this Russian...

When President Trump’s former personal lawyer, Alina Habba, married a Turkish businessman last month, the lavish ceremony cemented their status as a power couple. Ms. Habba, 42, a longtime Trump loyalist, and Turhan Mildon, 29, an investor, hosted some of Washington’s most powerful people, including Attorney General Todd Blanche, the F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, and Will Scharf, the White House counsel. At that point, his patrons could no longer protect him. Mr. Maduro was not only out of power, but sitting in an American jail. Mr. Saab, Mr. Mildon’s most powerful ally in Venezuela, was arrested and extradited to the...

For young white American men, building a successful career in fiction has become something like trying to kick water uphill. An analysis by Jacob Savage in Compact of The New York Times’ annual “notable fiction” lists and that of several other leading magazines revealed the grim reality: "By 2021, there was not one white male millennial on the “Notable Fiction” list. There were none again in 2022, and just one apiece in 2023 and 2024 (since 2021, just 2 of 72 millennials featured were white American men). "There were no white male millennials featured in Vulture’s 2024 year-end fiction list,...

The notion that conservatives care about discrimination against whites is merely a “myth,” according to an article published last week by Law & Liberty. Citing the 2024 American National Election Survey, which asked voters a battery of questions on many topics but included questions like, “How important is being white to your identity?” and gauged their perceptions of discrimination based on whiteness, author George Hawley tries to make the case that the GOP should move on from these concerns and away from the MAGA coalition that won the presidency for Donald Trump in the 2024 election. Hawley notes that in...

The AfD on Tuesday became Germany's first far-right party to win the post of speaker in a state parliament since World War II, when its candidate was elected in an eastern region. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) took nearly 44 percent of the vote last month in Saxony Anhalt state in the former communist East Germany, easily beating the centre-right CDU of unpopular Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Newly elected state lawmakers gathered for the first time Tuesday in parliament in the state capital Magdeburg to elect a speaker, with the AfD's candidate Tobias Rausch winning 48 votes, with only 29 against...

A new Toluna-Harris survey for French radio RTL and French television channel M6 published Monday showed that Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) party was set to win around 35 to 36 percent in the first round of voting for France's presidential elections on April 18, 2027, up from 33 percent in an earlier poll published on September 14. In the second round on May 2, she would easily beat hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, if he made the run-off, and also polls well ahead of centre-right candidate Édouard Philippe, who was seen winning 13 percent to...

California Democrats slammed Donald Trump after he joked the US should let Iran 'take out' Los Angeles and San Diego at a rally in Nebraska on Monday. The President campaigned in Grand Island alongside GOP Senator Pete Ricketts, who is running against an independent candidate backed by national Democrats. Trump was defending the Iran War and explaining that higher gas prices - which he hopes to lower with an Executive Order ⁠expanding ​access to tax-exempt ​diesel - are a small price to pay to keep Iran from having a nuclear weapon. 'And again, remember, with the war, it's just artificial....

President Donald Trump said he doesn’t care what the polls and the “fake news” are showing: he is confident the Republicans are going to shock the world — and the Democrats, in particular — and perform much better than expected in the 2026 midterm elections. The president struck an optimistic tone while rallying for the GOP in Vandalia, Ohio on Saturday evening. He said Republicans will be just fine, as long as conservatives don’t stay at home on Election Day. “They’re in for a big surprise. It’s very simple: You gotta get out and vote. You gotta get out. You...

One month until Election Day, voter dissatisfaction with the economy, concerns about political extremism and frustration with President Trump have Democrats within reach of flipping four Republican-held governorships, opening a wide lead in Iowa and an expanding advantage in Ohio among likely voters, according to new polls by The New York Times and Siena University. In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican fixture in the state for decades, is now narrowly behind his Democratic challenger, Gina Hinojosa. The Democratic candidate also has an advantage in the race for governor of Alaska. The only place surveyed where the Republican is ahead...

The nation’s two largest states by land area gave Democrats a boost in the battle for Senate control Saturday, with candidates in Texas and Alaska hitting 50% or more in new polls. Both races would represent pickups if Democrats are able to hold on and win on Nov. 3, which is just a month away. In Texas, Democratic state Rep. James Talarico leads Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, 51% to 45%, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll released Saturday. President Trump’s approval rating in the state stands at 40%, compared with 57% who disapprove. The poll, which examined...

Donald Trump attempted to turn up the heat on fellow Republican Tom Cotton in the fight to change daylight saving time, even giving out what appeared to be the Arkansas senator's personal cell phone number. The President spent much of Saturday speaking out in favor of The Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent. The bill passed the House in July but faces roadblocks among Republicans, including Cotton, who is strongly opposed. 'For some reason, Tom is stopping the Bill and, in the Senate, it´s very easy to do, it only takes one!' Trump wrote on social...

After struggling to win over young men in 2024, Democrats sense an opportunity to make inroads with a demographic that’s become increasingly disillusioned with the party in power. Two years ago, the GOP was able to capitalize on an environment in which young men felt either ignored or actively disliked by the Democratic Party. But with the cost of living going up — thanks in part to an unpopular war in the Middle East — the cultural factors that motivated young men to turn out for Republicans in 2024 may be outweighed by economic factors this time around. Veteran Democratic...

President Donald Trump again insulted Texas Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton, calling him “a pain in the a**” before wondering aloud, “Is he here, by the way?” The president has used similar lines countless times before, including at his Republican midterm convention in Dallas, where he declared, “He may not dress right. He may not talk exactly perfectly, and he may not be the best-looking guy I’ve ever seen, but you know what he is? He’s the greatest attorney general in America, and he deserves to be your next senator.” His latest remarks came as he returned to Denton, Texas,...

President Trump on Thursday said “it’s possible” the Iran war could cost him the November midterm elections by risking Republican control of the House, Senate or both. “Well, it’s possible. It should help,” Trump told reporters outside the White House before heading to a campaign rally in the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma. “Because Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. So when you say, ‘Is it OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon?’ I would say 100 percent of the people say no, including worldwide. So, when you say it that way, it would help. If you don’t say...

Mortgage rates continued to climb for the sixth straight week, reaching the highest level since November 2023. That caused weekly demand to drop 6%, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances, $832,750 or less, increased last week to 7.30% from 7.12%, with points rising to 0.75 from 0.73, including the origination fee, for loans with a 20% down payment. Refinance demand has been hit hardest, given that so few borrowers can now benefit at today’s higher interest rates. Applications to refinance a home loan dropped...

No one would claim that the Iran War has been a political godsend for President Donald Trump and the Republican Party. But some Israel-First conservatives are willing to say—and lately have been incessantly saying—that the Iran War hasn’t been a political scourge. Those Israel-First conservatives are wrong, even if the devil is, at least partly, hidden in the details. The Iran War has damaged Trump’s approval ratings, consumed his presidency, and darkened the GOP’s prospects in the upcoming midterm elections. A chief proponent of the argument that Trump hasn’t suffered all that much from the Iran War is Ben Shapiro...