Free Republic

President Trump said Japan is set to kick off tariff negotiations with the US in Washington on Wednesday — becoming one of the first countries to test his willingness to relent on the sweeping tariffs. “Japan is coming in today to negotiate Tariffs, the cost of military support, and ‘TRADE FAIRNESS’,” Trump said in a Truth Social post. “I will attend the meeting, along with Treasury & Commerce Secretaries. Hopefully something can be worked out which is good (GREAT!) for Japan and the USA!” It comes a day after the Trump administration said it had been presented with offers from...

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that it was “absolutely a fallacy” that the United States is getting ripped off because they have a trade deficit with another country. Paul said, “I mean, the whole debate is so fundamentally backwards and upside down. It’s based on a fallacy, and the fallacy is this, that somehow, in a trade, someone must lose. That somehow, when you trade with someone, there’s a loser and someone’s taking advantage of you, and China is ripping you off, or Japan is ripping you off. It’s absolutely a fallacy. Every trade that...

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that any country that buys oil or gas from Venezuela will pay a 25% tariff on any trades made with the United States. This "secondary tariff" will take effect on April 2, Trump said in a Truth Social post. Trump is imposing the move because, he said, Venezuela has sent "tens of thousands" of people to the United States who have a "very violent nature." Benchmark crude oil futures jumped nearly 1.5% on the news of the tariff. Earlier this month, Trump issued a 30-day wind down of a license that the U.S....

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that if President Donald Trump continued to make statements about impeaching judges, he could “tick off” the Supreme Court and lose cases. Christie said, “Look, it is the MO of this first quarter of the Trump administration, which is we are going to try to use the power of the presidency in every way we can, and in this instance to intimidate people from availing themselves of the rights they have as American citizens to access the court system if they think the government has done something wrong....

Worried Tesla owners are begging Elon Musk to add a feature to their vehicles that would warn off vandals trying to damage their car. The clamoring for help comes amid vandals and arsonists destroying Tesla dealerships and vehicles across the country. “I really hope Tesla is working on some sort of defensive measures… just something extra to make Tesla owners feel a little bit better about parking in public parking lots,” Tesla owner Sawyer Merritt said Tuesday, according to a report by Fortune. “Honk, flash the lights, do something.” Merritt’s request came the same day an arson attack was carried...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) signaled Thursday that President Trump’s threat to levy tariffs on key trading partners of the U.S. is hurting his constituents, saying “when we start losing, you back off.” “Almost every industry in Kentucky has come to me and said, ‘It will hurt our industry and push up prices of homes, cars,’ and so, I’m going to continue to argue against tariffs,” Paul said late Thursday in an interview with CNN. The Kentucky Republican argued the U.S. has “more leverage” than any other nation, but not “all the leverage.” He urged the Trump administration to be “smart”...

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday rejected a call from Parliament member Jagmeet Singh to bar President Trump from attending the Group of Seven (G7) summit that is set to take place in Canada in June, saying it is “not responsible.” Trudeau, who announced his intent to step down as prime minister and as the leader of the Liberal Party last month, will not be the country’s head during the G7 summit of leading industrialized nations in Kananaskis, Alberta, this summer. Despite the resignation, he called the demand to disinvite Trump from the gathering “shocking.” “I think it’s easy...

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Monday he is prepared to cut off electricity exports to the U.S. if President Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on Canadian goods go through. “If they want to try to annihilate Ontario, I will do everything — including cut off their energy with a smile on my face,” Ford told reporters at a mining convention in downtown Toronto, the Toronto Sun reported. Ford doubled down on his pledge to retaliate by matching tariffs, noting the U.S. is a major customer of Canada’s electricity. “They rely on our energy. They need to feel the pain. They want...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday that Israel will be halting all movement of goods into Gaza, following Hamas’s apparent rejection of a ceasefire proposal suggested by President Donald Trump’s envoy. As Breitbart News reported Saturday, “Israel accepted a new proposal by the Trump administration on Saturday night, under which all of the 63 remaining hostages would be released over the course of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, en route to a permanent ceasefire.” It was not clear at the time what Hamas’s response would be to the proposal, which had been conveyed by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff.

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky departed from the United States for Britain on Saturday, landing in London ahead of talks with European leaders earlier than expected after a dressing down in the Oval Office by President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance. Following a sensational White House meeting on Friday, which devolved into a public sparring match, with the Ukrainian leader being accused of acting “disrespectful” to President Trump and the American people, Zelesnky quickly jetted off to the United Kingdom in the early hours of Saturday morning ahead of Downing Street talks with European allies. He is expected to...

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance were expecting a consequential but standard Oval Office appearance with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday. Their appearance was anything but routine. The meeting to announce a rare earth materials agreement between Ukraine and the United States as part of a pathway to peace between Ukraine and Russia deteriorated quickly after a combative Zelensky protested U.S. desire to draw down the long war. “The president and vice president were caught off guard by Zelensky’s offensive antics,” a source familiar told Breitbart News. Zelensky suggested Ukraine had been fighting the war alone, insisting...

On Tuesday’s broadcast of CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) said that he doesn’t believe spending cuts are necessarily needed and “we’d be better off” if the current tax cuts expired, but he wants to see tax cuts for the middle class. Co-host Becky Quick asked, “How would you go about cutting spending?” Pallone answered, “Well, first of all, this is all being done, these Medicaid cuts are being proposed in order to pay for the Republican tax plan, which, basically, just helps the very wealthy and large corporate interests.”

On Friday’s “PBS NewsHour,” Washington Post Associate Editor and MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart stated that it’s incorrect to claim that Europe is ripping off the United States on defense by not spending enough on their defense because they’re not “paying the United States money in a protection racket.” It’s just people want them to “spend more of your GDP on your own defense, rise up to the level of where the United States is, relatively speaking” so that “the burden is more fairly shared.” New York Times columnist David Brooks stated that Europe has increased its defense spending.

The Washington, DC, area housing market has seen an increase in homes being listed for sale as more government employees have either been laid off or have accepted buyouts. According to Devon & Dustin Fox Homes website, “big changes” are happening in the Washington, DC, housing market as people are seeing an increase in homes being listed and “homes are sitting longer.” The median sale price of homes in the Washington, DC, housing market is reported to be around $600,000, a four percent increase year-over-year. Homes listed are reportedly staying on the market around 22 days, according to the Fox...

BMW’s conservative approach to EV adoption, investing in platforms that can accommodate internal-combustion, hybrid, and electric powertrains, is now paying off as the company navigates the uncertain transition to electric vehicles. Inside EVs reports that as the automotive industry grapples with the challenges of transitioning to electric vehicles, BMW’s strategic decision to invest in flexible platforms is proving to be a wise move. Unlike some of its rivals, such as Mercedes and Audi, who have focused heavily on dedicated EV platforms, BMW has taken a more measured approach by developing architectures that can support multiple powertrains, including internal-combustion engines (ICE),...

Japan Airlines plane collides with parked Delta Air Lines aircraft at Seattle Airport https://x.com/i/status/1887231726960922732

As deadly wildfires continue scorching their way through Los Angeles and the surrounding area for the second straight week, homeowners are worried about the prospect of defaulting on their mortgages in the wake of the unprecedented disaster were offered some reprieve from the nation’s major lenders. On Monday, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac unveiled mortgage assistance and relief options for customers reeling from the historic Southern California fires. Both government-backed corporations are offering 12-month forbearance plans, meaning that struggling homeowners could either reduce or suspend their mortgage payments for up to a year without incurring late fees, foreclosure, or other...

Tech giant Apple has laid off employees from its digital services group, primarily affecting those working on the Apple Books app and Apple News. The Verge reports that Apple, the tech giant behind the iPhone and many other popular products that have made it one of the world’s most valuable companies, has recently made job cuts across its digital services group, according to a report by Bloomberg. The layoffs, which have aready affected around 100 employees, are said to be part of a “shift in priorities” for the division. The majority of those laid off were working within the team...

LinkedIn is laying off more than 660 workers across its engineering, product, talent and finance teams, the employment-focused social media site announced Monday. “Talent changes are a difficult, but necessary and regular part of managing our business,” the company said in a news release. This marks LinkedIn’s second round of major layoffs this year, after it announced its plans to cut more than 700 jobs in May amid efforts to make “changes to our Global Business Organization (GBO) and our China strategy.” In a Monday email to employees, which was obtained by Insider, LinkedIn executives said the latest round of...

T-Mobile plans to lay off close to 5,000 employees, about 7 percent of its workforce, by the end of September, the company’s president and CEO said in an email to employees Thursday. The layoffs will primarily affect corporate, back-office and technology roles, while retail and other customer-facing roles “will not be impacted,” Mike Sievert, T-Mobile’s president and CEO, said in the email disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.