Free Republic

Construction crews began dismantling the East Wing on Monday, even as the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) has not granted approval for the ballroom itself. According to NPR, NCPC chairman Will Scharf — who is also a Trump aide — said at a September meeting that the commission lacks jurisdiction over demolition or site preparation, only the “vertical build.” At an East Room event with the Louisiana State University baseball team, Trump acknowledged the noise from the construction happening “right behind us,” and added, “They wanted a ballroom for 150 years, and I’m giving that honor to this wonderful place.”

Former Biden White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre unleashed on the Democratic Party in an excerpt from her new memoir, explaining why she decided to become an independent after years as a party flack. In the excerpt, Jean-Pierre detailed the phone call in which then-President Joe Biden told the White House team that he was dropping out of the race, Newsweek reported. "Biden seemed to be totally at peace with his decision, but I was stunned, my feelings a blur. I was angry and sad. I was enraged and heartbroken that this man had given more than 50 years of...

By Josh Hammer Newsweek senior editor-at-large and host, "The Josh Hammer Show" If one were dead set on dividing President Donald Trump's MAGA coalition at the seams, how would one proceed? Trying to drive a wedge through the immigration issue doesn't necessarily make sense: Tightening and securing America's borders is so core to the nationalist-populist MAGA project that there can be little room in the coalition for much dissent. Trying to divide MAGA along economic laissez-faire or populism lines is also doomed to fail: As important as pocketbook issues are to everyday Americans, the wonky details of fiscal policy generally...

New allegations that Texas Representative Sheila Jackson Lee went on a verbally abusive and curse-laden tirade against staff members have prompted backlash on social media.

The Charlie Kirk show has responded after conservative political commentator Candace Owens released a screenshot of messages shared by Kirk in a group chat, where he had been discussing Jewish donors pulling funding over his links to Tucker Carlson. "It is authentic," Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet said in a video released on October 7. "I actually am really excited that the truth is out there. I first want to say, the reason I didn’t share that screengrab publicly is that it was a private exchange." Kolvet said Kirk's feelings about Israel were "complicated and nuanced" and he wanted...

After decades of dead ends, Austin, Texas, police on Friday named deceased serial killer Robert Eugene Brashers as the suspect in the city’s infamous yogurt shop murders. The announcement follows decades without answers in the December 1991 killings of four teenage girls—Amy Ayers, Eliza Thomas, and sisters Sarah and Jennifer Harbison—at the “I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt!” shop in Austin. The girls, aged 13, 15, and 17, were bound, gagged, and shot, before the shop was set on fire. The breakthrough comes with notable advancements in forensic DNA testing and renewed attention from an HBO docuseries about the case. Not...

Russia has said it believes NATO is plotting a "landing" in Ukraine as part of a bid by the European Union to "occupy" Moldova. The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) claimed NATO military units were massing in Romania close to the Moldovan border and were also planning a "landing" in Ukraine's Odesa region, according to TASS, Moscow's state news agency. Why It Matters Moldova goes to the polls on Sunday in a critical parliamentary election. The vote is seen as a stark choice for the country between a path to EU membership or closer ties with Moscow. Following Russia’s invasion...

"The Israeli government is far from perfect... It's a very complicated country. But Israel has a right to exist, and Israel has a right to defend itself. One of the reasons why Israel should have a right to defend itself is Israel is a civilized country. Hamas are a bunch of savage animals. And I hate to be that simple, or that black and white, but it really is that way." Accusations of antisemitism In August, when Kirk appeared as a guest on Megyn Kelly's podcast, she said she felt the pro-Israel side had a "knee-jerk about calling you antisemitic...

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...

ABC News reporter Matt Gutman is facing backlash for describing a text exchange between suspected Charlie Kirk killer Tyler Robinson and his partner as "very touching". Prosecutors on Tuesday revealed text messages between accused gunman Tyler Robinson and his roommate, in which Robinson admitted to killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk, described hiding his rifle and detailed his planning in the days before the shooting. Utah Governor Spencer Cox had previously said Robinson lived with a romantic partner who is transgender. FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino confirmed on The Megyn Kelly Show on Monday that the name of Robinson's partner is...

The chances of Donald Trump resigning have spiked over the last day on a cryptocurrency-based prediction market following speculation about the U.S. president's health and absence from public engagements over the last week. Polymarket increased the chances of a presidential resignation after the Trump administration said there would be an Oval Office news conference at 2 p.m. ET Tuesday without specifying the reason for the event. However, later White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told Newsweek in a statement "the President will be making an exciting announcement related to the Department of Defense." The event follows days of speculation about Trump...

Selling Mega Mansions host Camille Anderson took to social media this week to talk about the issue of crime in Los Angeles, after she said she was "body slammed" while being mugged in Beverly Hills. Anderson, best known for hosting the reality show that follows estate agents trying to sell luxury homes, posted a video on Instagram describing the incident earlier this week. "I was thrown to the ground very forcefully, like body slammed to the ground," she said, adding there were multiple "grown adult men that did this." Newsweek reached out to the Beverly Hills Police Department outside of...

JD Vance's fishing trip in England was technically illegal because British Foreign Secretary David Lammy did not have the required rod license. The Foreign Office said Lammy described the lapse as an "administrative error," that he had written to the British Environment Agency to notify them and that he had now purchased the relevant licenses. It is not yet clear whether Vance had a license—Newsweek has contacted his team, via email, for comment.

President Donald Trump said Friday that he had ordered two nuclear submarines in the "appropriate regions" in response to recent statements made by Demitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the security council of the Russian Federation. Medvedev said Thursday to to remember that Moscow possessed Soviet-era nuclear strike capabilities of last resort after Trump told Medvedev to "watch his words." Trump posted on Truth Social, "Based on the highly provocative statements of the Former President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, who is now the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to...

I have repeatedly stated -- in this forum and elsewhere — that Republicans must not gloat over their rare and recent victory in the 2024 elections. The incumbent party typically loses numerous House and Senate seats in mid-term elections. Moreover, things can change fast. Unforeseen circumstances routinely arise. (See COVID-19.) Arrogance can turn many voters off. The mainstream media is 100.0% in the tank for Democrats, as is the education establishment and other institutions. The Deep State is ever lurking. And Democrats cheat … whenever and wherever they can. That is why they are so rabidly against the concept of...

You should know, dear reader, we are not among those who despised ADM Jeremy "Mike" Boorda. In fact, we did and always will admire this fine man, who went all the way from Seaman to Chief of Naval Operations. No one has done it before, and it's very likely no one else will accomplish such a feat in the future. ADM Boorda deserves our respect and remembrance as a great leader who deeply cared about his sailors and country. On this, the 16th anniversary of his mysterious death, we should mourn his loss, but also demand the Pentagon come clean...

The London Sunday Times, May 19, 1996 LAST POST FOR A HAUNTED 'HERO' IT WAS probably the loneliest journey of his life. Admiral Jeremy "Mike" Boorda, the four-star chief of American naval operations, left his sandwiches untouched on his huge, mahogany desk, picked up his hat and ordered his driver to take him to his home in the Washington naval yard. Moments earlier he had heard the news that he had been expecting for a year. Rear Admiral Kendall Pease, the navy information chief, told him that two reporters from Newsweek magazine would be arriving in two hours to question...

It may not be the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, but when historians write the definitive story of the first half of the 21st century in the U.S., a single weekend in the spring of 2011 may well go down as the era's hinge point—a 48-hour period that set into motion a string of events still unraveling now, 14 years later. That weekend, President Barack Obama authorized the mission to kill Osama bin Laden and kept it secret from the world as he delivered a cutting speech that brought down the house at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. What no...

Representative Ro Khanna (D‑CA) has announced plans to force a vote in the House of Representatives demanding the full, unredacted release of all documents related to disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Khanna said he will introduce an amendment this week that would require the House Speaker to bring the measure to a roll-call vote, putting every member of Congress on the record.

Democratic mayoral primary winner and state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani is leading the pack of candidates to potentially govern New York City in a new poll released Wednesday.