Free Republic

The Five Eyes is the most powerful spying alliance in history. Forged in the conflagration of World War II, the intelligence-sharing pact among the U.S., Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand helped defeat Nazism and Communism, fend off al Qaeda and Islamic State and shield its members from the ever-growing risk of cyberattacks. Now former and serving members of the Five Eyes and outside experts say it is facing its biggest challenge ever: President Trump’s pledge to curb the “Deep State” by overhauling America’s vast intelligence apparatus. Trump left the Five Eyes alone during his first term and hasn’t named...

Making the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent would be a good start for Congress in 2025. But it’s time to take an even bigger step: creating a simplified flat tax for all. The TCJA got us close to this goal, and a few additional reforms would get it done. Collapsing the personal-income and corporate tax rates to 15% would have huge economic benefits. America would suddenly have one of the lowest tax rates in the world, resulting in trillions of dollars of new capital flow and a spike in take-home pay. The simplicity of a flat tax would reduce...

Forgive us if we missed it, but we don’t recall Donald Trump campaigning to invade Panama and retake its famous canal. But there was the President-elect on the weekend, threatening our Central American ally with punishment if it doesn’t meet his demands. “Our Navy and commerce have been treated in a very unfair and injudicious way. The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, highly unfair, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama—I say, very foolishly, by the United States,” Mr. Trump told a crowd in Phoenix. “This complete ripoff of our country will immediately stop.”...

Donald Trump rarely admits a mistake, much less an overstatement, so we’ll take the regret he expressed Thursday at the chant of “send her back” during his Wednesday rally as the moral equivalent of an apology. Let’s hope his supporters get the message, and that Mr. Trump stops egging them on. The crowd in North Carolina broke into chants of “send her back” after Mr. Trump lambasted Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar for hating America. Mr. Trump had used the words “go back” in a tweet earlier in the week, and the crowd’s chant shows how easily an ill-thought presidential comment...

Does anybody in politics understand tax policy these days? The Biden-Harris Democrats want to raise tax rates to Thomas Piketty French socialist levels. Republicans want to cut taxes, but they want to do so for specific groups to buy their votes. They’ve all lost the growth plot. Mr. Trump’s tax fumbling is especially disappointing because his 2017 cut in tax rates was the policy foundation for the strong pre-pandemic U.S. economy. But so far in this campaign he’s proposing hugely expensive tax cuts for different voting groups that won’t do much for growth. We’ve written about his promise not to...

WASHINGTON—Kamala Harris is making abortion rights central to her candidacy for president as Republicans struggle to articulate a winning message on the issue. In contrast with President Biden, who was reluctant to say the word abortion, the vice president has campaigned aggressively on it since the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that eliminated the constitutional right to the procedure. At the White House, she has met with abortion providers and women who have had abortions. Earlier this year, Harris was believed to be the first president or vice president to visit an abortion clinic. After locking up the support to be...

While that path carries risk because Harris’s poll numbers are nearly as lackluster as Biden’s, she is popular enough among Democrats—particularly among women and Black voters—that casting her aside could cause resentment and division within the party.

In the span of just a few days, Donald Trump’s financial position has moved from seemingly dire—facing the seizure of prized real estate if he doesn’t obtain a large bond—to potentially dazzling, with revelations that his social-media company could bring him more than $3 billion. It is nothing new for a man who has long ridden a roller coaster of luck, acquiring and losing valuable assets repeatedly. When his financial position appears to be the most at risk, again and again, he finds a way to squirm out of it and emerge strong. A big question: Would the windfall come...

Don’t take it just from me. Here are direct quotes from WSJ editorial board tonight. It’s all hiding in plain sight: “If she can remain competitive, there’s an argument for Ms. Haley to stay in the race through the July convention. Mr. Trump faces a treacherous legal road…Ms. Haley could stay in the race, rack up delegates, and see what happens if he is found guilty. “Strange things can happen with candidates who are this old and this disliked by a majority of the public. The 2024 election may have more twists before the Trump vs. Biden die is cast.”

China’s recovery after years of Covid-19 lockdowns will likely look a lot different from previous ones. And for many parts of the world, economists warn, it could be less potent than governments and businesses hope. China has historically relied on government stimulus and heavy investment to power itself out of slumps. That mix helped yank the global economy out of the doldrums after the 2008 financial crisis. This time, China is deeply in debt, its housing market is in distress, and much of the infrastructure the country needs is already built. As a result, its latest revival will be led...

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott is taking steps to run for president, people familiar with his plans said, adding to the stable of Republicans looking to wrest the party mantle from former President Donald Trump. Mr. Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, is testing a message with GOP voters in key early states focused on unity and optimism as some Republicans say it is time to move on from the Trump era. Mr. Trump has announced a bid for president in the 2024 election. Jennifer DeCasper, a Scott senior adviser, said he was “excited to share his vision...