Free Republic

The United States has directed its military forces in the Middle East to prepare for potentially extended operations against Iran, positioning them for action should President Donald Trump order strikes on the Islamic Republic. It remains unclear whether Trump will pursue a diplomatic solution or move toward military action against the Iranian regime. Speaking to U.S. forces at a base in North Carolina on Friday, Trump said it has "been difficult to make a deal." "Sometimes you have to have fear. That's the only thing that really will get the situation taken care of," Trump told the U.S. troops. White...

The U.S. military is preparing for the possibility of sustained, weeks-long operations against Iran if President Donald Trump orders an attack, two U.S. officials told Reuters, in what could become a far more serious conflict than previously seen between the countries. The disclosure by the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the planning, raises the stakes for the diplomacy underway between the United States and Iran. U.S. and Iranian diplomats held talks in Oman last week in an effort to revive diplomacy over Tehran's nuclear program, after Trump amassed military forces in the...

As a general rule, once a city erects turnstiles to tourist attractions which were once free to visit, it is time to go elsewhere. Never more so than in the case of Rome. Last week the Italian capital introduced a €2 charge to visit the Trevi Fountain. Tight-fisted tourists like me will still be able to see the Trevi from a distance – it happens to stand in a public street. The charge will be only for sad Instagrammers who want to get close enough to chuck their coins in the water. The city’s tourism department has suggested the fee...

On Sunday night at the Grammy Awards, Puerto Rican musician Bad Bunny declared, “ICE Out,” while accepting the Album of the Year award for Debí Tirar Más Fotos. This reportedly marked the first time a Spanish-language album had won Album of the Year, which should come as no surprise, as Hollywood and the left try to force Americans to accept the replacement of our American demographics and culture. Then Bad Bunny delivered his entire acceptance speech in Spanish. This coming Sunday, Bad Bunny will perform the halftime show at Super Bowl LX. Commissioner Roger Goodell and his team picked this...

JD Vance the favorite to win the 2028 presidential election, Donald Trump in 3rd 2028 U.S Presidential Election Odds Per @Kalshi 🔴 JD Vance: 30% 🔵 Newsom: 21% 🔴 Trump: 6% 🔵 AOC: 5% 🔴 Rubio: 5% 🔵 Harris: 4%

Charlie Kirk’s new book has become such a popular title that on its publication day, hardcover editions had sold out after the book rocketed to the top spot on Amazon’s list of bestsellers. “Stop, in the Name of God: Why Honoring the Sabbath Will Transform Your Life” appeared Tuesday and hit the top of the Amazon Top 100 bestseller list before being listed as temporarily out of stock, according to The Wall Street Journal. The book was still available through other sellers. Winning Team Publishing printed 200,000 copies and will be printing more, a representative of the company said, indicating...

The interception of a sanctioned Russian tanker by the USS Stockdale near Venezuela has turned a slow-burning sanctions story into a visible test of sea power, energy leverage, and political resolve in the Caribbean. As Washington tightens the screws on fuel shipments that have been worth roughly 3 billion dollars to Nicolás Maduro's government, the encounter signals that the era of quiet workarounds is giving way to open contests on the water. I see this clash as more than a one-off naval drama. It is the moment when a shadowy sanctions evasion network, a fragile petrostate, and a resurgent U.S....

A transgender woman lands her dream job of working in a carbon mine, but after having the sex-change surgery must face a superstition that bans female workers from entering the underground galleries.

No one uses “Malthusian” as a compliment. Since 1798, when the economist and cleric Thomas Malthus first published “An Essay on the Principles of Population,” the “Malthusian” position – the idea that humans are subject to natural limits – has been vilified and scorned. Today, the term is lobbed at anyone who dares question the optimism of infinite progress. Unfortunately, almost everything most people think they know about Malthus is wrong. The story goes like this: Once upon a time, an English country parson came up with the idea that population increases at a “geometrical” rate, while food production increases...

War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Tuesday another lethal strike against a drug trafficking vessel in the Eastern Pacific. Two were killed in the attack. According to NewsNation, at least 66 people have been killed in at least 16 strikes since the United States campaign in South America started in September. This strike came “the same day an aircraft carrier began heading to the region in a new expansion of military firepower,” per NewsNation. Hegseth wrote in a statement on Tuesday, Today, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a...

What Everyone Misses About Nick FuentesThe racialist influencer represents a spectacle that demands cool analysis rather than emotional reaction.The racialist influencer Nick Fuentes has caused an uproar with his appearance on Tucker Carlson’s podcast. Fuentes, a 27-year-old live-streamer, has built a reputation as the most controversial voice on the right. He’s embraced seemingly every taboo: praising Hitler, disputing the Holocaust’s death toll, calling himself a “white nationalist,” musing about domestic violence, and opposing interracial marriage.Carlson’s invitation has divided conservatives. Some suggest that Fuentes’s appearance on the podcast represented an unacceptable mainstreaming of his views. Others, most notably Heritage Foundation president...

President Donald Trump warned that if the Nigerian government continued to allow Christians in the country to be killed, the United States military “may very well” go into Nigeria “guns-a-blazing.” In a post on Truth Social, Trump instructed the Department of War to “prepare for possible action,” adding that if the U.S. does attack, “it will be fast, vicious, and sweet.” Trump also threatened to “stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria” if the Nigerian government continues to allow the killing of Christians. “If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the U.S. military carried out three strikes Monday in the waters of the Eastern Pacific against boats suspected of carrying drugs, killing 14 and leaving one survivor. The announcement made on social media Tuesday, marks a continued escalation in the pace of the strikes, which began in early September spaced weeks apart. This was the first time multiple strikes were announced in a single day

DONALD Trump has deployed 10,000 US troops, nuclear-capable bombers, and America’s most elite special operations unit — the “Night Stalkers” — to the waters off Venezuela. The Caribbean is now bracing for its most explosive showdown in decades as dictator Nicolás Maduro whips his country into a war footing and vows to repel any US attack. In a dramatic escalation, three B-52 bombers — the same heavy bombers used in Iraq and Syria — flew for hours off Venezuela’s coast this week. Meanwhile, MH-6 Little Birds and MH-60 Black Hawks from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, known as the...

A Russian investment envoy proposed that Elon Musk and The Boring Company build a “Putin-Trump” tunnel connecting Alaska and Russia through the Bering Strait. President Donald Trump said the proposal was “interesting” and he’d have to think about it. Musk has previously held talks with Putin about other matters. President Donald Trump said Friday that a Russian proposal for Elon Musk and his tunneling business, the Boring Company, to build an undersea rail tunnel through the Bering Strait was “interesting” and he’d have to think about it.“That’s an interesting one,” Trump said when asked about the suggested tunnel from...

While the shutdown is needless, the Democrats are rightly concerned about healthcare cost coverage. MEDICAID EXPANSION FAIRNESS What I’m thinking of is to slightly and generally increase the state Medicaid expansion share to 5% plus the highest rate of state income tax. Right now, California pays for Medicaid expansion at 10% and rakes in 13% income tax from doctors. That would make Medicaid expansion cheaper for no income tax red states like Florida and Texas. To help fund likely Medicaid expansion to states like Texas and Florida, the state Medicaid shares (traditional & expansion) would increase annually starting in 2028...

The government of Japan this week extended the application of nine laws related to spousal rights and responsibilities to same-sex couples, a significant, if limited, victory in the country’s slow march towards marriage equality. The Japanese constitution currently defines marriage as “mutual consent between both sexes.” It does not recognize same-sex unions. Three of eight of Japan’s regional high courts in the last few years have ruled that the government’s failure to grant legal recognition to same-sex couples is unconstitutional. In its Tuesday announcement, the government said it will consider same-sex couples to be in “de facto marriages” under the...

Trump administration sends memo to Congress declaring 'non-international armed conflict' with drug cartels The Trump administration sent a memo to Congress on Thursday saying that the United States is now "in a non-international armed conflict" with drug cartels, which administration officials have designated as "terrorist organizations." "The President directed these actions consistent with his responsibility to protect Americans and United States interests abroad and in furtherance of United States national security and foreign policy interests, pursuant to his constitutional authority as Commander in Chief and Chief Executive to conduct foreign relations," the memo states. The notification to congressional lawmakers came...

A notice calls the people the U.S. military recently killed on suspicion of drug smuggling in the Caribbean Sea “unlawful combatants.”President Trump has decided that the United States is engaged in a formal “armed conflict” with drug cartels his team has labeled terrorist organizations and that suspected smugglers for such groups are “unlawful combatants,” the administration said in a confidential notice to Congress this week. The notice was sent to several congressional committees and obtained by The New York Times. It adds new detail to the administration’s thinly articulated legal rationale for why three U.S. military strikes the president ordered...

President Donald J Trump has sent troops to Portland to handle domestic terrorists who are attacking immigration facilities, he posted on Truth Social. “At the request of Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, I am directing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists. I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” The White House confirmed the post. "At the request of Secretary of Homeland Security, @Sec_Noem, I am...