Free Republic

A Venezuelan migrant arrested 16 times since arriving in Chicago in October 2023 is now in ICE custody, records show. Back in February, after his 13th arrest, we reported that a Cook County judge warned Josue Vargas Rodriguez that he would be eligible for deportation because he pleaded guilty to trying to rob a woman in Streeterville. Incredibly, Rodriguez was subsequently released from custody after that court hearing and he managed to get arrested three more times before the feds finally scooped him up, records show. Rodriguez, also known as Santos Vargas, Santiago Bargas Rodriguez, Santiago Jose Vargas Rodriguez, and...

On Thursday’s broadcast of “CNN News Central,” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) stated that the minerals deal between the U.S. and Ukraine appears positive and he appreciates President Donald Trump changing his approach.Merkley said, “Well, what I really like is it creates a partnership between the Trump administration and Ukraine, which is such an improvement from where we’d been, where Trump was essentially mimicking or mouthing all of the talking points that Putin wanted him to mouth. And it does have elements that we’ve heard about that sound good. It’s not demanding that Ukraine repay us for the aid that we’ve...

Thursday on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” senior political commentator Van Jones spoke with a group of African Americans in South Carolina who explained why they voted for and continue to support President Donald Trump. Seth Dawkins said, “I mean, part of it is he’s an &&&^&^&. I like — I like authenticity.” Detra German said, “It just opened my eyes to maybe he’s not this person that I have been led to believe that he was.” Kyasia Kraft said, “I saw how things were going during his first term, and I was pleasantly surprised, and I was pleased with what...

What is going on; US DEBT CLOCK is posting $36.798 Trillion as of today. GOV DEBT TO THE PENNY is posting $36.213 Trillion as of 4/30/25.

ive years after the worldwide hyperfocus on COVID-19 began, some are concerned about the next pandemic — whether it could be caused by influenza, bird flu or another pathogen. Too easily overlooked are non-influenza, non-COVID viruses and bacteria that are burgeoning and spreading unchecked — both in the U.S. and around the world. While they may not cause the next pandemic, they do cause a lot of illness and death. One such bacteria is Streptococcus Group A, an old enemy that colonizes the throat and tonsils of close to 20% of U.S. children, according to Dr. Joshua Osowicki, team leader...

A ship carrying humanitarian aid and activists bound for Gaza was bombed by drones while in international waters off Malta overnight Thursday-Friday, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, a pro-Palestinian activist group, said. The Saudi Al Arabiya news channel, citing a Western security source, reported that the convoy was organized by Hamas and that those onboard planned to engage with IDF troops as they approached the Gaza shore. The group uploaded video footage on social media ostensibly showing a fire on one of its ships. The footage could not be independently verified. A ship carrying humanitarian aid and activists bound for Gaza...

Freed Palestinian Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi was once accused of telling a Vermont gun store owner that he used to “kill Jews while he was in Palestine” with modified automatic firearms that he built himself, court documents allege. The allegations were laid bare in court papers filed Wednesday as the Trump administration unsuccessfully sought to keep Mahdawi in custody following his arrest for leading anti-Israel protests on the Ivy League campus. In arguing their case, the Trump admin honed in on a visit Mahdawi made to the gun store in the summer of 2015, which resulted in the owner...

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, the latest crush of the left-wing resistance to President Donald Trump and a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live Thursday night and found himself on the receiving end of a barrage of jokes about his weight. Kimmel played video of President Trump mocking Pritzker’s weight, saying: “He’s too busy eating, he wants to eat all the time. ‘Would like a hamburger? How many do you want? Five,’” Trump said, imitating the billionaire Hyatt hotel heir ordering food. “He loves to make fun of people any way he can,” Pritzker nervously replied, adding...

It got “60 Minutes” sued by the man who became president of the United States. Now it’s up for a major award — for precisely the same aspect of it that so enraged Donald Trump. Last fall’s “60 Minutes” story on Kamala Harris — the subject of Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit against CBS — was nominated for an Emmy Award Thursday for “outstanding edited interview.” Trump, in his lawsuit, complained that the interview was deceptively edited to make his Democratic election opponent look good. The annual News & Documentary Emmys will be awarded in late June. “60 Minutes” is competing...

Workers demand back wages from companies impacted by steep U.S. tariffs and an economic slowdown in China. Protests by workers demanding back wages are spreading across China in a sign of growing discontent among millions suffering the brunt of factory closures, triggered by steep U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports amid an economic downturn. Across the country – from Hunan province’s Dao county in central China to Sichuan’s Suining city in the southwest and Inner Mongolia’s Tongliao city to the northeast – hundreds of disgruntled workers have taken to the streets to protest about unpaid wages and to challenge unfair dismissals...

Gun control groups don't like it when life is peaceful. They may say they want a reduction in so-called gun violence, but they also can't raise money when people aren't freaking out about that so-called gun violence. With that in mind, it shouldn't be surprising that they're willing to misrepresent the facts.

Citing the hundreds of drones that flew around military sites last year, defense officials warn that the Pentagon is still unprepared to defend its installations—but say a new standard operating procedure, and expanded authorities, could help. “Mass drone incursions over Joint Base Langley-Eustis in December 2023 reminded us that the homeland is no longer a sanctuary, and should our adversary choose to employ drones for surveillance or even attack, we would not be prepared to adequately defend our homeland and only marginally capable to defend our military installations,” Rear Adm. Paul Spedero, vice director for operations for the Joint Staff,...

April was not the cruelest month for investors—although the tariffmageddon-obsessed naysayers may be smarting. Despite a month of wild swings and gloomy forecasts, U.S. stock markets ended April nearly flat, brushing off predictions that Trump’s trade policies would trigger a historic collapse. The S&P 500 finished the month down just 0.8 percent. The Dow dropped 2.1 percent, and the Nasdaq edged lower by 0.3 percent. That mild performance stood in stark contrast to a mid-April Wall Street Journal article that warned of a “Trump rout” and suggested the Dow was on track for its worst April since 1932. It wasn’t....

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 177,000 in April, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.2 percent . . .

President Donald Trump dropped a late-night truth bomb on Truth Social, absolutely obliterating the radical Left’s latest impeachment obsession — and warning Republicans it’s time to start playing offense.In a fiery post just before midnight, Trump called out the Democrat Party for spiraling into chaos and weaponizing impeachment once again — this time without even pretending to have a reason.Trump revealed that two little-known Democrat congressmen have already started whispering about impeachment — without even being able to say why.

(Daily Signal)—Hello, this is Victor Davis Hanson for The Daily Signal. There’s been a lot of media hysteria, some ambiguous and some negative polls. We have talked about that before, that they seem to be not so disinterested as we might imagine. It’s in line with previous prejudicial polls. But here’s the main course of action that we’re all looking at. It’s 100 days and we’re right in the middle of everything. And yet, people are already talking about President Donald Trump as if he’s failed or there’s an obituary. Nothing could be further from the truth. Don’t listen to...

The prices of rent-stabilized apartments are set to go up in the Big Apple after the city’s Rent Guidelines Board voted in favor of potential hikes Wednesday. The panel, which is charged with deciding rates for the Big Apple’s regulated apartments, agreed to rent increases between 1.75% to 4.75% for one-year leases and between 4.75% to 7.75% for two-year leases. The board, which has increased rents by a combined 9% in the last three years, will finalize the rates in a June vote. Any approved hikes would affect rent-stabilized leases that start on or after Oct. 1.

Chuck Schumer announces that the SAVE Act, which requires proof of citizenship to register to vote nationwide, is DONE. Won't go to Trump's desk. DOA. It needs 60 votes. Schumer turned around, looked at Republicans, and gloated as he said this.

Illegal aliens cost Texas hospitals more than $100 million in just a single month, brand new data from the Lone Star State shows. Texas hospitals are on the hook for a $121.8 million bill incurred by illegal aliens across 31,000 visits in November 2024 alone, according to data collected by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (THHSC). The findings came after Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed an order directing THHSC to collect and provide quarterly data on the cost of illegal aliens to the state’s hospitals and the number of visits from illegal aliens. The first full year of...

Feb. 28 was one of the darkest days for Ukraine since Russia’s invasion three years earlier. An Oval Office visit by President Volodymyr Zelensky meant to win favor with President Trump turned into a televised shouting match, prompting Mr. Trump to banish his guest from the White House without even serving him a planned lunch. Mr. Trump was already a deep skeptic of U.S. support for Ukraine. But after the disastrous meeting with Mr. Zelensky, he accelerated his diplomacy with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, drafting a peace plan to end the war in Ukraine that offered major concessions...