Free Republic

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order allowing a range of food products, including coffee, bananas and beef, to escape his sweeping tariffs. The move comes as his administration faces mounting pressure over rising prices. While Trump previously downplayed concerns about the cost of living, he has focused on the issue since his Republican Party's poor performance in last week's elections. The dozens of products included on the White House's list of exemptions range from avocados and tomatoes to coconuts and mangoes. These goods, the Trump administration said on Friday, cannot be produced in sufficient quantities domestically. Trump...

The US Supreme Court will allow the Trump administration to require all new passports to display an individual's biological sex at birth, for now. The conservative-majority court on Thursday froze an order from a lower court in Massachusetts that had stopped the US government from changing its policy, while the legal process played out. "Displaying passport holders' sex at birth no more offends equal protection principles than displaying their country of birth," the court said. On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order recognising only two sexes, leading the US to issue passports with just male or...