Free Republic

Washington — President Trump met Wednesday with key conservative holdouts to the massive budget package containing his second-term agenda, before GOP leaders made concessions to fiscal hawks and blue-state Republicans — as leadership aims to hold a vote on the bill possibly within hours. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, returned from the meeting between Mr. Trump and members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, calling it "productive." Johnson said the plan is still to move forward as expected, with the details of the final version of the legislation unveiled later Wednesday. "There's not much changing here, because the...

Canadian Prime Minister Markey Carney has said that "high level" talks are taking place with the US about joining its proposed "Golden Dome" missile defence system, aimed at countering futuristic threats. US President Donald Trump unveiled the plan for the new missile defence system on Tuesday, announcing an initial total cost of $25bn (£18.7bn). He said Canada was interested in joining the project. There are doubts from experts on how the US would deliver a comprehensive system and it is unclear how Canada would participate or how much it would pay. "It's something that we are looking at and something...

KEY FACTS: The Texas House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 21 (SB 21) with a 101-42 vote, approving the creation of a state-level strategic Bitcoin reserve. The bill, authored by Senator Charles Schwertner and sponsored by Representative Giovanni Capriglione, allows the Texas comptroller to invest in cryptocurrencies with a market cap exceeding $500 billion, currently limited to Bitcoin. Following New Hampshire and Arizona, Texas would be the third U.S. state to establish such a reserve if Governor Greg Abbott, a known crypto advocate, signs the bill within 20 days.

Cyril Ramaphosa must have prepped for an awkward meeting. After all, just a week earlier the Trump administration chartered a Boeing 767 to fly 59 Afrikaner farmers out of his country so they could claim refugee status amid allegations that the white population faced a genocide. But he may not have reckoned with Donald Trump’s sense of theatre. “Turn the lights down and just put this on,” he directed his aides in the Oval Office. “It’s right behind you.” Ministers, reporters, two of the greatest golfers of all time, and the world’s richest man craned their necks to watch as...

A man and woman were shot and killed in front of the Capital Jewish Museum in Northwest D.C. Wednesday evening. The shooting took place in the area of 3rd and F streets in Northwest — in front of the Capital Jewish Museum and behind the FBI field office and the U.S. attorney's office. … The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force is responding, sources familiar with the shooting told News4. … Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon posted on the social media platform X that Israeli embassy employees were injured in the fatal shooting. He called it “a depraved...

Donald Trump has proved to be the political Rottweiler of right-wing Afrikaner groups, taking their fight to South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa.They were quick to celebrate the US president's ambush of Ramaphosa in the Oval Office, with the Solidarity Movement - which had toured the US to lobby the Trump administration - saying it welcomed the fact that South Africa's "enormous problems have been placed on the international stage".Ernst Roets, a leading personality on the Afrikaner right, showed his admiration for the US president. "Donald Trump made history today," he said in a post on X, before thanking him for...

Bleary-eyed House Republicans advanced the One Big Beautiful Bill Act past the Rules Committee after a marathon hearing Wednesday, overcoming the final hurdle needed to bring it up for a floor vote. In an 8-4 vote shortly before 11 p.m., the colossal legislation cleared the GOP-led committee along party lines. The panel convened at 1 a.m. Wednesday to consider the measure due to requirements that Democrats get two days to file minority views. A “Manager’s Amendment” making last-minute tweaks to the mammoth bill — including a provision cementing a deal to increase the State and Local Tax (SALT) deductions cap...

The US Air Force launched a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to anywhere on Earth Wednesday morning — as part of a regular test of the country’s doomsday missiles. The Minuteman III missile was unarmed when it launched from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, the military said. The missile traveled 15,000 miles per hour to a test site in the Marshall Islands 4,200 miles away, officials said. The Minuteman is a 1970-era program that the Air Force plans to replace with the Sentinel system — but that program has been plagued by...

The “safe and effective” narrative collapsed on camera during Senator Ron Johnson’s explosive Senate hearing on COVID-19 vaccine injuries Wednesday afternoon. Senator Ron Johnson brought the receipts, exposing how the Biden administration DELIBERATELY hid vaccine harms from the public. Then Dr. James Thorp (OB-GYN) revealed miscarriage data so disturbing, it left the room silent. This is the Senate hearing they never wanted you to see. I turned three hours of footage into a five-minute read.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal brought by 11 Michigan lawmakers seeking to challenge controversial changes to state election law pushed through by progressive groups in 2018 and 2022. Left-wing groups took millions in ‘dark money’ to run statewide referendums to eliminate all voter integrity laws and make challenging elections extremely difficult. The funds could have come from anywhere, and well-known loopholes in campaign finance law allow ‘layering’ so that foreign governments and left-wing billionaires can donate funds to non-profits and then have those funds eventually transferred to 501(c)4 entities that can engage in ballot...

I am a huge John Wayne fan. I grew up watching his movies, soaking in the grit, strength, and unspoken code he brought to every role. He didn’t just play heroes; he defined what it meant to be a man in a world that respected strength paired with decency. There was a time in America when the question didn’t need asking. Masculinity was a virtue, not a liability. It meant something. Not an identity crisis waiting to happen, but a foundation for society: men who worked hard, stood up straight, took care of their families, and didn’t ask for applause....

There are more mysteries than answers surrounding the Biden team. Why did Joe Biden's medical team announce right now—on the eve of the release of “Original Sin” — this shocking story that the president, who just left office 100 days ago, was suffering from a very seriously rare, malignant form of prostate cancer, asks Victor Davis Hanson on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words:”

You had ONE JOB to do – and you couldn’t get it done. Sarah Russell was promoted to Commissioner of CEMA in May 2021. They joined CEMA in 2010 as a specialist responsible for public information, community outreach, training, exercise, etc. Sarah Russell was fired on Saturday after the tornado sirens were not used during the massive tornado that swept through St. Louis City on Friday afternoon. Thousands of homes were damaged. At least five individuals died, and tens of thousands were without power. Mayor Cara Spencer suspended Sarah Russell after the tornado sirens were left off during Friday’s tornado....

Nationalist George Simion was on his way to becoming the next president of Romania, a strategic NATO hub and Eurocrat vassal state in Eastern Europe. But then his Establishment candidate made what many Romanians consider an unbelievable comeback.Challenging Dan’s VictoryOn Tuesday, citing foreign election interference, Simion announced he was challenging Nicușor Dan’s victory:We now have irrefutable evidence of meddling by France, Moldova, and other actors, in an orchestrated effort to manipulate institutions, direct media narratives, and ultimately impose a result that does not reflect the sovereign will of the Romanian people.Simion alleges that €100 million was spent in Moldova on...

Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman (D) says former aides who voiced their concerns about his mental health have a “bizarre grudge” against him. Fetterman, who was hospitalized in 2023 for clinical depression, nine months after he suffered a stroke, says he’s doing well and plans to serve out the rest of his Senate term, despite a warning from his former chief of staff that he’s acting erratically and could pose a danger to himself. “For me, it’s like in the ‘Goodfellas’: everyone takes a beating sometimes,” he told video journalist Nicholas Ballasy when asked about allegations of erratic behavior made by...

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~ ~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~ Mushrooms Falling From The Sky! U.S. Air Force tactical air control party (TACP) specialists assigned to Detachment 1, 3rd Air Support Operations Squadron descend over Malemute Drop Zone during airborne training at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. Air Force special warfare Airmen and Alaska Army National Guardsmen from the 207th Aviation Troop Command conducted the training to demonstrate airborne and mission-readiness skills in an arctic environment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Alejandro Peña) Canteen Mission StatementShowing support and boosting the morale ofour military and our allies' militaryand family members...

MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace said Wednesday on “Deadline” that President Donald Trump humiliated the people of the United States during his Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Wallace said, “Another day for the history books today from Donald J. Trump. An astonishing display from him in the White House today Donald Trump meeting with the president of South Africa and attempting to ambush and humiliate that leader inside the Oval Office. But what he did instead was embarrass and humiliate the people of the United States of America again, in his meeting with President Ramaphosa, Trump peddled...

A federal court ruled in favor of religious and other broadcasters on Monday against a Biden administration rule that would have required them to annually report employees’ genders and ethnicities. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) “workforce diversity” rule from 2024 in response to lawsuits from the National Religious Broadcasters and other groups that argued the regulation violated constitutional rights. Trump-appointed FCC Chairman Brendan Carr celebrated the ruling as he continues his broader push to end left-wing policies at an agency with significant control over America’s airwaves. “The FCC’s 2024 decision...

Donald Trump used videos of a Marxist firebrand politician to highlight the alleged persecution of white farmers in South Africa as the country’s president sat beside him. The US president dimmed the lights at an Oval Office meeting to play clips of Julius Malema, known for his anti-white rhetoric, who was this month blocked from visiting Britain. Mr Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party won just under 10 per cent of the vote at last year’s general election with a platform feeding on the disillusionment of many young black voters who have not seen their lives improve, despite the abolition...

Public sector unions fuel bloated government and rig the system with taxpayer money—outlawing them is the first step to restoring democratic accountability.California Governor Gavin Newsom is attempting to pivot to the political center in hopes of appealing to moderate Democrats in the 2028 presidential primaries. But Newsom is constrained by the same political machine that influences Democrats nationwide: public sector unions. Some would say this influence is absolute—and in California, that is almost certainly true. Over the past 15 years of Newsom’s political career, public sector unions contributed over $21 million to his campaigns, more than any other special interest...