Free Republic

Three days after Ukraine launched its most complex attack against Russia since the full-scale war began, details of how it was carried out and the damage it caused to Russia’s strategic bomber fleet are still emerging. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described the operation, dubbed “Spider’s Web”, as “absolutely brilliant”, although the extent of Russian military losses remains unclear. On Wednesday, he said that of the 41 planes damaged, half cannot be repaired. The attacks targeted at least four Russian military air bases, the furthest of which from Ukraine is the Belaya base in the Siberian region of Irkutsk, around 4,850...

Citigroup announced Tuesday that it’s ending its policy restricting banking services to businesses selling firearms, citing “regulatory developments, recent executive orders and federal legislation.” The policy, which required retailers to limit gun sales to people over 21, was originally implemented in 2018 after a 19-year-old shot and killed 17 students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. However, in a statement released Tuesday, the bank indicated it will “no longer have a specific policy regarding firearms.” “The policy was intended to promote the adoption of best sales practices as prudent risk management and didn’t address the manufacturing of...

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that recent U.S. tariff increases will reduce federal deficits by $2.8 trillion over the next decade, primarily through increased customs revenue and lower interest payments on federal debt—more than enough to offset the projected cost of President Donald Trump’s proposed tax cut bill. In a separate analysis, the CBO recently estimated that extending the 2017 tax cuts, as proposed in the administration’s new tax and spending bill, would increase the deficit by roughly $2.4 trillion over the same period. That legislation would reduce federal revenues by $3.67 trillion while cutting spending by $1.25 trillion,...

The Army announced on Tuesday that it "surpassed" its fiscal year 2025 recruiting goal of bringing in 61,000 recruits, and there are still four months left to go. This year’s goal is more than 10% higher than the 55,000 recruits targeted in fiscal 2024, demonstrating a surge in interest and enthusiasm for Army service. Recent recruiting momentum has seen average contracts per day exceeding last year’s levels by as much as 56% during the same period. The Army has not reached its recruiting goals this early in the year since 2014, Army officials said in a statement. Army Chief of...

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he had a "good conversation" with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a call about Ukraine's recent drone attack and Iran. Following Ukraine's major drone attack deep on air bases inside Russia, Trump reported that Putin told him Russia "will have to respond". Trump also warned in a social media post that the phone call, which lasted more than an hour, would not "lead to immediate Peace". The two leaders also discussed Iran, and Putin suggested he could help with nuclear talks with the country. The conversation between the two leaders marks the first...

President Donald Trump said early Wednesday morning that Chinese President Xi Jinping is “very tough” and “extremely hard to make a deal with” as the United States attempts to advance trade talks with China. While the president’s top trade officials have met with their Chinese counterparts, Trump has yet to sit down with Xi since imposing massive tariffs on Chinese imports. A senior White House official told CNBC that Trump and Xi would likely speak “very soon,” potentially this week. “I like President Xi of China, always have, and always will, but he is VERY TOUGH, AND EXTREMELY HARD TO...

Here are 50 reasons why President Donald J. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill is the best chance in a generation to pass critical reforms for which Americans voted:It delivers the largest tax cut in American history. This means an extra $5,000 in Americans’ pockets with a DOUBLE-DIGIT percent DECREASE to their tax bills. Americans earning between $30,000 and $80,000 will pay around 15% less in taxes.It makes the Trump Tax Cuts permanent, preventing the largest tax increase ever. If the bill doesn’t pass, Americans will see the largest tax increase in history.It raises Americans’ take-home pay by as much as...

In just the last six months, a socialist torched the governor’s mansion in Pennsylvania. A trust-fund psycho stalked a healthcare CEO and then shot him in the back. An illegal alien from Egypt named Mohammed threw Molotov cocktails at a group of Jewish demonstrators. Mobs of visibly unhealthy Antifa activists attacked a Christian concert in Seattle, injuring several people and sending one police officer to the hospital. (And then the attackers effectively received an endorsement from the mayor of Seattle.) A man from Massachusetts was arrested at the Capitol after admitting that he planned to set fire to the conservative...

Warpig Lindsey Graham traveled to Ukraine this past weekend to pump up the hopes of the Ukrainian leader in the country’s ongoing war with Russia.During his visit to Europe, Graham told reporters that a Russian victory in Ukraine would be worse than the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.Lindsey is getting desperate.The globalist warmongers fear Trump’s work to bring peace to the region. The warmongers are shooting for World War III.Senator Lindsey Graham: “The American withdrawal from Afghanistan was a terrible decision. It triggered the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It made America look weak in the eyes of the world....

If fire departments on land have problems unleashing the torrent of water needed to extinguish a single burning EV, the crew of a ship doesn't stand a chance against hundreds of flaming lithium-ion batteries. A cargo ship carrying around 3,000 vehicles across the Pacific Ocean caught fire on Tuesday. The Morning Midas, a 600-foot cargo ship, was in the middle of a voyage from Yantai, China to Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico when the fire broke out. Zodiac Maritime, the ship's London-based operator, noted that smoke was first spotted on a deck carrying 800 electric vehicles. Once the blaze got out of...

The Trump administration will be undertaking a "phased pause" at contractor-operated Job Corps centers across the country, which was recently found to have a low graduation rate and a high number of serious incident reports filed. A press release from the Department of Labor stated that the pauses will occur at contractor-operated Job Corps centers by June 30, and will initiate "an orderly transition for students, staff, and local communities." Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said in a statement, "Job Corps was created to help young adults build a pathway to a better life through education, training, and community. However, a...

Apple heiress Laurene Powell Jobs, Google founder Eric Schmidt, and the George Soros-backed Tides Foundation are among the Democratic heavyweights bankrolling the anti-Israel charity of activist Kamau Franklin, who called Elias Rodriguez’s alleged assassination of two Israeli diplomats in Washington, D.C., a "morally righteous" act. Franklin runs Community Movement Builders, an Atlanta-based nonprofit that promotes "liberation" ideology for black Americans, Palestinians, and other groups. The organization embraces radical rhetoric in support of those causes, referring to police as "pigs" and calling the state of Israel "the result of a war crime." Last week, Franklin signed an open letter defending Rodriguez’s...

In the dawn light of a South African savanna, a team of rangers huddle around a satellite dish aimed skyward. Their phones spring to life with a signal – an unthinkable result just months earlier in this remote, off-grid conservation zone. The source is Starlink, Elon Musk and SpaceX’s satellite internet service, offering encrypted, high-speed connectivity far from state-controlled networks. But in South Africa, this signal didn’t just connect – it disrupted. And that disruption provides some subtext to the extraordinary “Wild West Wing” showdown between Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in May, which played out in...

- A drag queen storytime event planned for next week in Monterey is stirring controversy and sparking strong opinions across the community. The event, hosted by the Monterey Public Library in partnership with Monterey Peninsula Pride and Oscar’s Playground, is scheduled for June 11 and features a drag performer named Saint Sallos.

Stewart’s smirk became the face of ‘smart liberalism,’ solidifying distrust in middle America and fostering a culture of ridicule and sanctimony.Jon Stewart is back at it again, playing the role of political chiropractor, desperately trying to realign the spine of a party he helped fracture. The New Yorker recently offered Democrats a fresh 2028 campaign slogan: “Overcome the stink.” It’s classic Stewart — sharp, crowd-pleasing, and seemingly wise. The kind of quip you’d see on a bumper sticker next to “Coexist.” And yet, the stench he’s gesturing at — the political decay, the public disillusionment, the loss of coherence on...

I just finished speaking, by telephone, with President Vladimir Putin, of Russia. The call lasted approximately one hour and 15 minutes. We discussed the attack on Russia’s docked airplanes, by Ukraine, and also various other attacks that have been taking place by both sides. It was a good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate Peace. President Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields.

Joe Rogan just had Bono on his podcast, and Bono, who famously poses as the great White Irish savior of the Third World, stated that America’s USAID cuts have already killed 300,000 people. Well, that’s a lot of people. Rogan pointed out that USAID is a giant money laundering scam, and a lot of other people have been either asking where all these 300,000 dead people are or wondering why Bono – who’s rich beyond measure thanks to the bad taste of so many people – doesn’t get his checkbook out and start scribbling. No evidence supports his ridiculous claim,...

Documents released by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Tuesday appear to contradict former FBI Director Christopher Wray’s claim that a controversial 2023 memo targeting “radical traditionalist Catholics” was a one-off and the work of a single bureau field office. Extent of FBI’s targeting of ‘radical traditionalist Catholics’ greater than Biden officials claimed, GOP senator reveals The Biden-era FBI chief told House lawmakers in July of 2023 that the memo – which described the purported overlaps between Catholics who oppose abortion rights and would-be terrorists as an opportunity for “threat mitigation” and “source development” – was “a single product by a...

Residents living across a huge area spanning three states have been warned of dangerous air pollution levels on Tuesday. Swathes of Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin are all affected by poor air quality, with an area around Minneapolis covered by one of the most severe warnings. Smoke from wildfires, combined with the current weather conditions, have contributed to the pollution. Why It Matters Health officials warn that vulnerable populations — such as children, older adults and individuals with existing respiratory issues — face heightened risks during periods of poor air quality. Even healthy members of the general public may experience health...

Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-TX) Second Amendment weakness, the result of his high profile support for gun control under Joe Biden, is hampering his reelection prospects. On May 28, 2025, Texas Southern University’s Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey Center reported that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has a nine percent lead over Cornyn in the March 2026 Republican primary. Five days later, on June 3, 2025, Punch Bowl News pointed to “a new independent poll” showing the Cornyn’s deficit had greatly increased, with Paxton ahead by 22. Breitbart News previously noted that Cornyn fell into low esteem with Texas...