Free Republic

A fresh MAGA civil war has erupted ahead of the midterm elections, with one of President Donald Trump’s most vocal allies lashing out at Vice President JD Vance over abortion and accusing him of being “friends with degenerates.” The scorched-earth tirade by MAGA acolyte Laura Loomer took place shortly after Vance appeared at the annual March for Life rally in Washington, D.C., where he touted Trump as the most pro-life president in history and encouraged anti-abortion activists to “take heart in how far we’ve come.” But Loomer questioned his presence at the event, asking her 1.8 million followers on X:...

President Donald Trump declared that The New York Times must “pay a price” on Thursday after the Gray Lady and Siena University released a new poll suggesting that just 40% of registered voters approve of him. In a write-up about the survey, the Times’ chief political analyst Nate Cohn observed that “The major demographic shifts of the last election have snapped back. In today’s poll, Mr. Trump’s approval rating by demographic group looks almost exactly as it did in Times/Siena polling in the run-up to his defeat in the 2020 presidential election. If anything, young and nonwhite voters are even...

Donald Trump is considering offering every Greenlander $1million – £750,000 – if they vote to join the United States. The US President yesterday ruled out using force to seize the Arctic island and is instead focused on enticing the people to secede from Denmark. If he made the vast payment to all 57,000 inhabitants of the strategically vital territory, the cost could hit £42.5billion. While the plan sounds outlandish, the price tag is a fraction of the £595billion the US spends on defence each year. It would also remove Greenland's reliance on Denmark for grants and reshape the island's economy....

Online conservative figures are throwing a fit over newly inaugurated Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger implementing her policies. The online right has been lamenting Spanberger’s first week as governor, claiming she was just acting as a moderate while running for office and has now taken a far-left turn. In her first few days as governor, Spanberger signed several executive orders, one of which ended state and local cooperation with federal immigration agents, a policy proposal that she said she would enact if elected. Conservatives are expressing outrage over Spanberger’s first moves, equating her to a villain, a witch, and one of...

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...

Pope Leo is among world leaders invited to join U.S. President Donald Trump's "Board of Peace", Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's top diplomatic official, said on Wednesday. Leo, the first U.S. pope and a critic of some of Trump's policies, is evaluating the invitation, he said. "The pope has received an invitation and we are considering what to do," Parolin told journalists. "I believe it will be something that requires a bit of time for consideration before giving a response." The board was initially aimed at ending the conflict in Gaza, however Trump has said it will have a much...

President Donald Trump on Tuesday, January 20, argued that no leader had done more for NATO than he had, while openly questioning whether the alliance would come to the United States’ defense in a crisis. “Nobody’s done more for NATO,” Trump said during remarks. “I’ve done more for NATO than anybody.” He suggested that even NATO’s secretary general would acknowledge his role. Trump questions NATO's commitment after Greenland dispute Trump’s comments came after NATO members strongly opposed his stated desire to take control of Greenland. He said that the backlash reinforced his concerns about fairness within the alliance. “NATO has...

European leaders are said to vent privately in a secret text group chat whenever Donald Trump makes a 'wild' move, according to a new report. The informal messaging group, known as the 'Washington Group', brings together senior European figures who have grown accustomed to coordinating without Washington during Trump's second term, particularly on Ukraine. It includes leaders from both EU and non-EU countries, reflecting a broader 'coalition of the willing' that has continued to operate even as relations with the White House have grown more volatile. Figures said to be regularly exchanging messages include UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French...

President Donald Trump a week ago told the credit card industry it had until Jan. 20 to comply with his demand for a 10% cap on interest rates. With just days to go, consumer groups, politicians, and bankers alike remain unclear on what the White House has planned and whether Trump even remains serious about the idea. So far, the White House has not provided any detail about what will happen to credit card companies that don’t lower card rates. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president has “an expectation” that credit card companies will accede to his...

Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, has decried Europeans for their “complicity” in failing to stand up to Donald Trump’s demands that he be allowed to buy or annex Greenland. Newsom, a frontrunner among Democratic candidates for president in 2028, told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday that Europeans were being “played” by Trump and that their efforts to negotiate with him were “not diplomacy, it’s stupidity”. “It’s time to buck up, it’s time to get serious and stop being complicit,” he told reporters. “I can’t take this complicity. People rolling over. I should have brought...

The United States plans to reduce the number of personnel it has stationed within several key NATO command centers, a move that could intensify concerns in Europe about Washington's commitment to the alliance, three sources familiar with the matter said this week. As ​part of the move, which the Trump administration has communicated to some European capitals, the U.S. will eliminate roughly 200 positions from the NATO entities that oversee and ‌plan the alliance's military and intelligence operations, said the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss private diplomatic conversations. Among the bodies that will be affected, said the sources, are...

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin received an invitation to join his new Board of Peace that will supervise the next phase of the Gaza peace plan. Trump confirmed Putin's invitation while speaking to reporters at the College Football National Championship Game in Florida, where Indiana defeated Miami. The Kremlin said earlier on Monday that Putin had received the invitation, adding that it is now "studying the details" and will seek clarity of "all the nuances" in communications with the U.S. government. France has also received an invitation but does not plan to join...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday he was worried US President Donald Trump's push to take Greenland could be diverting attention from Russia's invasion, now approaching its four-year mark. "I'm worried about any loss of focus during a full-scale war," Zelensky told reporters. He added, however, that the dispute surrounding the autonomous Danish island and Ukraine should not be seen as "interchangeable".

The Catholic archbishop for the U.S. military services said it “would be morally acceptable to disobey” orders if troops considered them against their conscience as the Trump administration intervenes in Venezuela, readies troops for a possible deployment to Minnesota and threatens to seize Greenland.Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio is the latest public figure to suggest that U.S. soldiers could disobey their orders. His comments also underscored the mounting concern being voiced by the first American pontiff, Pope Leo XIV, as well as his top cardinals in the United States, over the Trump administration’s foreign policy.“Greenland is a territory of Denmark,” Broglio...

Gov. Gavin Newsom told world leaders to “stand up” to President Donald Trump and show “backbone” during the Democrat’s visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.“It’s time to buck up, it’s time to get serious and stop being complicit,” Newsom told a reporter when asked if he had any message for Europeans concerned about the White House’s comments on acquiring Greenland. “It’s time to stand tall and firm and have a backbone. I can’t take this complicity, people rolling over. I should have brought a bunch of kneepads for all the world leaders.” *** “I mean, handing out...

The last time the United States purchased land from Denmark, the sale included Jeffrey Epstein’s future notorious island — which has since been dubbed “Epstein Island” and “Pedophile Island.” The 1917 Treaty of the Danish West Indies saw what is now known as the US Virgin Islands bought by the United States for $25 million (roughly $633 million today), in exchange for, in part, accepting Danish sovereignty over Greenland. Among around 60 islands and rocks included in that sale, one, Little Saint James, would become infamous after it was bought by pedophile financier Epstein. -- snip -- “Reminder: In 1917,...

The EU has strengthened its energy security by cutting gas demand by over 20% between 2021 and 2024 and curbing gas imports from Russia. However, this progress masks a new vulnerability for the EU: Incentivising imports of US liquefied natural gas (LNG) has created a potentially high-risk new geopolitical dependency. Following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the EU has gradually reduced its reliance on Russian gas. The bloc’s imports of Russian gas (including pipeline gas and LNG) fell by 75% between 2021 and 2025. Despite this shift, Russia remains one of the EU’s largest gas suppliers. The EU...

Former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper holds a commanding double-digit lead in the latest poll of North Carolina's closely watched Senate race, which is seen as one of Democrats' best pickup opportunities in the 2026 midterm elections. The new survey data released Monday by Tipp Insights for the League of American Workers shows Cooper with 48 percent compared to 24 percent who support former Republican National Committee (RNC) chair Michael Whatley. An additional 27 percent are undecided.

President Donald Trump has granted clemency to James Phillip Womack, the son of Arkansas Republican Rep. Steve Womack, commuting the remainder of his federal prison sentence for drug distribution. The commutation was issued under an executive grant of clemency signed by Trump and released by the Justice Department. USA Today reported that James Womack was sentenced in federal court in May 2024 to eight years in prison and fined $1,900 for distributing more than five grams of methamphetamine.The sentence stemmed from a federal indictment filed April 26, 2023, charging James Womack with distributing methamphetamine and being a felon in possession...

President Donald Trump is preparing to counter Chinese influence in Canada as his 'Donroe Doctrine' for the Western Hemisphere expands beyond Latin America, his former campaign architect Steve Bannon has told the Daily Mail. 'The next big thing is going to be Canada. Canada is the next Ukraine because they can't defend their northern arctic border and China is going to come take a bite,' former White House chief strategist Bannon said. 'They can't defend it and Trump is going to come in hard on Canada.' During his first term, Trump formed an Arctic working group that deepened his understanding...