Free Republic

Republican-led states are leading the charge to ban soda and candy from their food stamp programs, as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement flips traditional partisanship on its head. Colorado is the only blue state to seek and have a soda ban waiver approved, and the only waiver state to propose expanding SNAP benefits in conjunction with limiting its scope. Both parties at times have expressed interest in eliminating soda from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), but the Trump administration is the first to encourage states to do so.

Washington is “done with the funding” of Ukraine’s war against Russia, JD Vance, the US vice-president, has said, as Europe scrambles to build a united defence before in-person negotiations between Presidents Trump and Putin.Speaking in an interview after an emergency summit with European and Ukrainian officials, co-hosted by David Lammy at Chevening, the foreign secretary’s mansion in Kent, Vance said Americans were fed up with paying towards the cost of the war.“What we said to the Europeans is simply, first of all, this is in your neck of the woods. This is in your back door,” he told Fox News....

One of President Trump’s core objectives heading into negotiations with Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin will be to prevent a third invasion of Ukraine, according to Sen. Lindsey Graham. “I am here to tell you that President Trump will end this war in a way to prevent a third invasion and not to entice China to take Taiwan,” Graham (R-SC), who went golfing with Trump on Saturday, told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “We’re not out to humiliate Putin, we’re out to get a deal to make sure there’s no third invasion.” -snip- “Militarily, we need to keep Ukraine strong, keep flowing...

Russian president secures first official invitation to US in almost two decades ahead of sanctions deadline Alaska, the venue set for Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump’s meeting on Friday, could hardly be more symbolic of the Kremlin’s view of the world. Unlike Putin’s military seizure of about a fifth of Ukraine, Russia’s 19th-century sale of Alaska to the US under Emperor Alexander II was a peaceful transaction. Still, it serves as a reminder that national borders are not set in stone, and land can be a currency for statecraft. Neither the battlefield balance nor budget strains are forcing the Russian...

Vice President JD Vance gave a preview of his expectations for President Donald Trump’s planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.“Look, it’s actually very simple,” Vance said during a Fox News interview with “Sunday Morning Futures” anchor Maria Bartiromo. “If you take where the current line of contact between Russia and Ukraine is, we’re going to try to find some negotiated settlement that the Ukrainians and the Russians can live with, where they can live in relative peace, where the killing stops.He continued, “It’s not going to make anybody super happy. Both the...

Iran has sent its surviving nuclear scientists into deep hiding after Israel killed more than 30 researchers, The Telegraph can reveal.Most are no longer living in their homes or teaching at universities, and have been moved to secure locations in Tehran or northern coastal cities, where they live in villas with their families, a senior Iranian official said.The Telegraph has been shown the names of more than 15 of these surviving scientists, on a list of about 100 held by Israel, whom the Israelis say must now decide whether to continue their work and risk further strikes or find a...

There was a kerfuffle a couple weeks ago involving criticism of Winston Churchill as a leader. I find it strange the way that conservative Americans treat Churchill as if he were one of the greatest American leaders, as the third in the sequence after Washington and Lincoln. I’m not the only person who’s noticed this. The academic Tanner Greer said, “The boomercon historical pantheon of heroes is something like this: Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul II, Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln. Your pick among Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton.” Without taking anything away from Churchill, this is...

@RepThomasMassie It happened again. The House and Senate convened briefly today in empty chambers to block @realDonaldTrump from making recess appointments.

I remember like yesterday when Dr. Paul called me into his Member office in 203 Cannon with a draft of his famous “What If” speech. He had written it in his own hand and he asked me to go over it and clean it up a bit. Not unusual for how he writes: from the heart. And afterward I spent a good deal of time in his office with a stopwatch making sure he could deliver it under the five minute rule. Shuffling the papers. What do we have to cut. Which paragraph could be spoken a bit faster. I...

NEW DELHI, Aug 8 (Reuters) - New Delhi has put on hold its plans to procure new U.S. weapons and aircraft, according to three Indian officials familiar with the matter, in India's first concrete sign of discontent after tariffs imposed on its exports by President Donald Trump dragged ties to their lowest level in decades. India had been planning to send Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to Washington in the coming weeks for an announcement on some of the purchases, but that trip has been cancelled, two of the people said. Trump on Aug. 6 imposed an additional 25% tariff on...

Attorney General Pam Bondi has all but disappeared from Fox News in recent weeks, after being all over the network during the first few months of the Trump administration. Bondi’s last appearance as a guest on Fox News was with Sean Hannity on June 30th, days before her DOJ and the FBI released a joint memo concluding that Jeffrey Epstein killed himself and did not keep a “client list.” Bondi subsequently found herself on the receiving end of a firestorm of anger from the MAGA base, which had been assured by President Donald Trump, Bondi, and others in the administration...

CIA Director John Ratcliffe told the press that officials from the Barack Obama administration—including former CIA chief John Brennan and FBI Director James Comey—may be charged for their role in Russiagate, the spy operation designed to topple the first Donald Trump administration. With FBI Director Kash Patel reportedly overseeing a criminal conspiracy case involving Brennan, Comey, and others, there’s reason for optimism that those who targeted the president, his aides, and supporters from 2016 to 2024 will finally be held accountable. Naturally, those with the most to lose, such as former Obama officials implicated in the biggest political scandal in...

@RepMTG Nuclear-armed Israel is not hurting, and they've already proven that they are more than capable of not only defending themselves, but annihilating their enemies to the point of genocide. The reason why AIPAC is attacking me is because I dared to tell the truth. We’re $37 TRILLION in debt. I’m fighting for America’s future generations. AMERICA ONLY now.

The juxtaposition could not have been more jarring. I opened TikTok only to be presented with a clip of provocateur Candace Owens ranting to Tucker Carlson about her growing hatred for Israel and its demonic behavior. I closed that app, only to open X and be greeted with this headline: Hamas Forces Emaciated Israeli Hostage To Dig His Own Grave Hamas force starved Israeli hostage to dig his own GRAVE. “What I’m doing now is digging my own grave. Everyday my body becomes weaker and weaker.”Evyatar David appeared skeletal in a newly released video as he was forced to dig...

Israel’s security cabinet met Thursday night to debate whether to approve a full military conquest of the Gaza Strip, as IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir warned that such an operation would endanger the lives of hostages still held by Hamas. Zamir, addressing ministers during the high-stakes meeting, repeated his support for a strategy of encirclement and said advancing into densely populated areas would make it impossible to ensure the hostages’ safety. He also warned that a full conquest would come at significant cost to the military’s strength and readiness. Outside the meeting, hostage families and former captives...

@RepThomasMassie 🚨 The Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader are convening pro-forma sessions of Congress in empty chambers during the August recess solely to block President Trump from making recess appointments. Why isn’t the media covering this?

The U.S. doesn't seem to have changed in its penchant to concoct unfounded allegations in order to advance its geopolitical goals, as suggested by critics, including its own lawmakers. From Operation Mockingbird to the fabrication of the "lie of the century," an unambiguous behavioral pattern perpetuated by successive U.S. governments has damaged Washington's credibility regarding its stated foreign policy goals. During the Cold War, the U.S. government reportedly manipulated domestic American news media organizations for propaganda purposes. Its aim was to counter communist influence as part of its geopolitical fight against the Soviet Union. In Operation Mockingbird, the Central Intelligence...

Former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo, former Shin Bet chief Ami Ayalon, and former deputy IDF chief Matan Vilnai on Sunday announced they had sent a letter to US President Donald Trump requesting that he compel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the current war. This information was provided to The Jerusalem Post ahead of other media. These top officials, along with top former police and foreign ministry officials, lead the Commanders for Israel’s Security (CIS) group – which now makes up over 600 former senior security officials – in making that call on Trump to intervene. 'Stop the Gaza War'...

Sixteen IDF soldiers have committed suicide in 2025, Brig. Gen. Amir Vadmani of the IDF Personnel Directorate presented to the subcommittee for human resources in the IDF on Tuesday. Additionally, 21 soldiers committed suicide in 2024, 17 in 2023, and 14 in 2022. The committee, chaired by MK Elazar Stern, convened to discuss efforts within the IDF to prevent suicides among soldiers. "What drew attention is the unusual number of suicides recently,” Stern said. “We've addressed this before, but it has become more urgent after soldiers returned from fighting in Gaza.” The committee met with various family members of soldiers...

Husbands, LOVE your wives, just as Christ LOVED the church and gave himself up for her… Eph 5:25 How far ahead would America be if they never had Harvard, Yale and Columbia? These three institutions have done more damage to American than any other institutions in the Country. When you look at where communism started in this Country as well as its institutionalization you have to look no further than these schools to their indoctrination of the most wealthy and powerful children who go on to destroy the foundations which brought their families the success and lifestyles they enjoyed. Whether...