Free Republic

President Trump says he is authorizing troop deployment in Portland

US President Donald Trump voiced his displeasure with Putin’s actions and pointed out the decline of Russia’s economy, according to his remarks to journalists at the White House, APA reports quoting RBC Ukraine. Trump criticized what Russia is doing and the actions of its president, Vladimir Putin. "They have put it all out on the line. Their economy is going to hell. They're bombing the hell out of everything," he said. The US president also noted that Russian forces are capturing very little territory, if they are capturing any at all. "In fact, they're losing some territory. So, I think...

United States President Donald Trump expressed on Thursday his disappointment with Russian President Vladimir Putin, regarding the lack of progress toward resolving the war in Ukraine. "With all of the heavy bombardment over the last two weeks, they have gained almost no land. I'm not going to ever call anybody a paper tiger but Russia has spent millions and millions of dollars in bombs, missiles, ammunition and lives," Trump told journalists amid a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Oval Office.

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he will use tariff revenue to offer cash bailouts for farmers who are struggling with trade uncertainty and other economic headwinds. “We’re going to take some of that tariff money that we made, we’re going to give it to our farmers, who are, for a little while, going to be hurt until the tariffs kick into their benefit,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “So we’re going to make sure that our farmers are in great shape, because we’re taking in a lot of money.” Trump officials expect that Congress will need to...

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has ordered a meeting with top military leaders from around the world to gather on short notice. The meeting is slated to take place at Quantico in Virginia next Tuesday, per the Washington Post. A meeting of the officials was confirmed by Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell, who said Hegseth "will be addressing his senior military leaders early next week," but did not address additional details, the outlet reported. Military members from around the world have been ordered to attend the meeting, the outlet reported. The order also comes as Hegseth has been looking to overhaul...

Two Republican lawmakers have introduced a bill that would authorize the minting of 400,000 silver dollar coins featuring the image of Charlie Kirk, FOX News reported Sept. 24. The proposal, brought forward by Reps. August Pfluger, R-Texas, and Abe Hamadeh, R-Ariz., seeks to memorialize Kirk through limited-edition legal tender bearing his likeness, full name, and the inscription “well done, good and faithful servant.” The year 2026, the motto of the U.S., and other official markings would also appear. The final coin design would be selected by the Treasury Secretary in consultation with President Donald Trump. The text of the bill...

Senior Justice Department investigator Glenn Prager revealed Jeffrey Epstein was “CIA” and confirmed that rapes occurred while Bill Clinton was on the private plane. The O’Keefe Media Group on Wednesday released audio of Glenn Prager discussing the DOJ’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Prager served as an Inspector overseeing sensitive investigations involving the FBI, DEA, Bureau of Prisons, US Marshals Service, ATF and the US Attorney’s Offices. Glenn Prager was overheard at a Phoenix airport dropping Epstein bombshells. “I’ve interviewed all the victims, There’s never been an instance where Trump was on a plane with these kids and the rapes occurred....

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that Russia is a “paper tiger,” APA’s Moscow bureau reports. Peskov stated that Russia is not a tiger, but a bear. “Russia is a bear, there is no such thing as a ‘paper bear,’” he said while commenting on Trump’s remarks.

Republicans are turning the heat back up on the Trump administration for its handling of the Epstein files. Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie torched FBI Director Kash Patel over the weekend after he caught the bureau chief off guard on information that Patel should have already been privy to. “I told Director Kash Patel that the FBI has names of 20 men to whom Jeffrey Epstein trafficked women and girls,” Massie wrote on X. “This basic fact seemed to surprise him. Why? “Is the FBI withholding those names to protect the President’s rich and powerful friends?” Massie continued, before demanding that...

The Trump administration is planning to add a $100,000 to the fee for H-1B visa applications, taking aim at a program that is used to attract highly skilled workers to the U.S. The additional fee, which was confirmed to CBS News by a White House official, would impact employers including tech giants such as Amazon, IBM, Microsoft and Google, which have relied on the program to hire foreign workers. President Trump could sign a proclamation adding the new fee as soon as Friday, and which would restrict H-1B workers from entering the U.S. unless accompanied by the $100,000 payment, according...

A new proposal by Senator Jim Banks aims to restructure the H-1B visa system, drastically raising wage requirements and limiting alternatives companies use to hire foreign workers. -snip- The American Tech Workforce Act includes three main reforms. First, it increases the minimum required salary for H-1B visa holders from $60,000 to $150,000, which may disincentivize companies to look abroad for talent. The bill would also eliminate the OPT program, which allows foreign graduates to work in the U.S. for up to three years post-graduation. Thirdly, the bill replaces the current lottery system with a model awarding visas to the highest-bidding...

India said on Saturday that the Trump administration’s move to increase U.S. H-1B visa fees to $100,000 per year was likely to have humanitarian consequences, warning of potential disruptions for families. India was the largest beneficiary of the U.S. H-1B skilled worker visas last year, accounting for 71% of approved applications. Companies will now have to pay the new $100,000 per year fee, which is set to take effect from Saturday midnight. (0400 GMT on Sunday). The move, announced on Friday, could further strain ties between India and the U.S., which hit their lowest point in decades after President Donald...

-snip- Foreign workers, starting September 21, can’t enter the U.S. on an H-1B visa unless their employer’s petition (the paperwork requesting the visa) includes an extra $100,000 payment to the federal government. This fee must be renewed and paid annually, according to United States Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. -snip- Nationally, there are approximately 730,000 active H-1B holders as of early 2025. -snip- Washington currently ranks 4th nationally for H-1B activity. The state, particularly the Seattle metropolitan area, is a major hub for the U.S. tech industry, with companies like Amazon and Microsoft relying heavily on H-1B visas to hire...

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday officially creating the ‘Gold’ and ‘Platinum’ cards for heavy-pocketed immigrants wanting to get into the country. The ‘Gold’ card will cost $1 million, and the ‘Platinum’ card will cost $5 million. Trump previously pitched the gold card as a replacement for the EB-5 visa program. The president believes the program will bring in more than $100 billion for the Treasury Department. He says the funds will be used “for cutting taxes and paying down debt.” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the new program will allow the United States to “only take...

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has once again raised eyebrows by publicly questioning President Trump’s latest show of military force, this time over a Venezuelan drug vessel blown to pieces in the Caribbean. The Gateway Pundit reported in August that Trump ‘secretly’ signed a directive ordering the Pentagon to start using military force against certain Latin American drug cartels. The order provides an official basis for the possibility of direct military operations at sea and on foreign soil against cartels. This means that US troops could find themselves in countries like Mexico battling the Sinaloa Cartel, for example. As TGP readers...

The Trump administration aims to carry out more violent strikes against drug cartels, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said as he met with Ecuador’s president.Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that the Trump administration wants to help partner governments conduct violent strikes against criminal groups, following the playbook the U.S. military used this week to carry out a lethal attack on a boat in the Caribbean.“Those governments will help us find these people and blow them up,” he said at a news conference in Ecuador. “They might do it themselves, and we’ll help them do it.”Mr. Rubio made his...

Armed Venezuelan F-16 fighter jets buzzed a US Warship in a “show of force” on Thursday after the US military blew up a Tren de Aragua drug trafficking vessel. CBS News reported: Two armed Venezuelan F-16 fighter jets flew over the USS Jason Dunham on Thursday, according to multiple Defense Department officials who described the action as a “show of force.” The Dunham, an Aegis guided-missile destroyer, is among a flotilla of U.S. warships dispatched to the region in recent weeks that the Pentagon says have been deployed to target criminal organizations and narco-terrorism. CBS News was unable to determine...

President Trump's high-seas Navy strike on a boat full of illegal drugs and 11 narcos, taking it out and feeding the local sharks, didn't go over well with the Chavista elites in Caracas. But instead of pretending they had no idea drugs were being trafficked from Venezuela to the U.S., or at least pretending that they didn't know the particular criminals aboard, a leading Chavista kingpin went full frontal 'thug' instead: [X post in Spanish at link] Google Translation: #URGENT | Direct threat from Diosdado Cabello against María Corina due to the US offensive: "If they squeeze us, we squeeze...

resident Donald Trump warned on Friday that Venezuelan planes will be "shot down" if they put the United States in a "dangerous position." Why It Matters Trump's warning comes after the Pentagon said two Venezuelan planes flew near a U.S. Navy vessel in international waters amid an expanded U.S. military presence in the southern Caribbean. The comment comes as Washington and Caracas trade increasingly sharp warnings following a U.S. strike this week on a boat the administration says was tied to the Venezuelan-linked Tren de Aragua gang. The exchange raises questions about the risk of further military escalation in the...

On February 28, 2025, Donald Trump hosted Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, where the following (abridged) exchange occurred (emphasis mine):Vice President JD Vance: The path to peace and the path to prosperity is, maybe, engaging in diplomacy. ... What makes America a good country is America engaging in diplomacy. That’s what President Trump is doing.President Zelensky: Can I ask you? [snip]Vance: Sure. Yeah.Zelensky: You know that we had conversations with [Russian President Vladimir Putin]. ... And we signed with him, I signed with him the deal. I signed with him, [French president Emmanuel] Macron and [former German...