Free Republic

President Donald Trump is ordering the U.S. Navy to remove the advanced system used to launch fighter jets from its newest type of aircraft carrier and return to using older steam catapults that he has long said he prefers, according to a directive issued Thursday. The new mandate would likely cost billions of dollars and revert the Navy’s most advanced ships to a system that takes more sailors to operate and is more difficult to maintain. The memo directs the Pentagon and the Navy to present Trump with plans to remove the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, also known as EMALS,...

Weeks before Americans begin voting in the midterm elections, the Trump administration wants to change the rules for voting by mail before the courts have even decided whether the president has the authority to do so. Two federal courts have already concluded that key parts of President Trump’s mail-ballot executive order cannot take effect while the litigation proceeds. Now, the administration is asking the Supreme Court to set those rulings aside and allow the order to take effect anyway. If it succeeds, the rules governing how millions of Americans vote by mail could change just weeks before Election Day. And...

The conflict may have slowed, but not stopped, Iran’s nuclear program, officials and experts said. Chief among President Trump’s reasons for launching the war in Iran was preventing it from building a nuclear weapon. More than five months in, officials and experts say, the conflict may have slowed Iran’s nuclear program but not stopped it. Because Iran has barred U.N. inspections of its most sensitive nuclear sites — a key part of any eventual peace deal — the precise fate of its highly enriched nuclear fuel is unknown. And despite strikes on three key nuclear sites in 2025 and 2026,...

Recent primary results could steer presidential hopefuls in the wrong direction for 2028. The far left is having a moment, and Democratic presidential aspirants are no doubt watching. Progressive activists think they have the key to winning all over the map, buoyed by Abdul El-Sayed’s narrow victory in Michigan’s Senate primary, Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate and state Rep. Francesca Hong’s polling advantage ahead of the Aug. 11 primary and scattered wins by Democratic Socialists of America-aligned candidates. But presidential hopefuls be forewarned: Three warning lights are blinking red. First, even in what looks like a strong Democratic year, these candidates are...

The lobbying group has more than doubled its spending on political campaigns, while rarely mentioning Israel. It has placed a large financial bet on today’s Michigan Senate primary. In less than five years, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee has become one of the biggest spenders in American elections, flooding the airwaves in congressional races across the country. Since its first involvement in elections, the amount of money AIPAC-affiliated political action committees have spent on campaign advertising and outreach to voters has more than doubled, from $29.3 million to $67.2 million, with much of it spent in Democratic primaries. The...

Capital One says anti-money laundering review prompted closure of more than 300 Trump-affiliated accounts Trump Organization and Eric Trump sued in March 2025, alleging political debanking Miami federal court tossed two complaints but let plaintiffs file amended versions SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Capital One Financial (COF.N), opens new tab hit back on Friday against a lawsuit over its decision to close ‌the Trump Organization's bank accounts years ago, stating that it did so after a review by anti-money laundering experts. The disclosure marks the first time a bank has formally tied money laundering concerns to U.S. President Donald...

The war with Iran has been marked by collapsed ceasefires, expanding airstrikes and mounting American and Iranian casualties. In recent days the U.S. military announced the deaths of three more servicemembers, two of whom died in an Iranian missile strike. The U.S. is pressing on with a fight that has no end in sight — or even a clear definition of what an acceptable end would be. BEIRUT — President Trump long railed against forever wars. For years, whether as president or candidate, he flayed electoral opponents and previous presidents with his signature barbs, calling their entanglements a “complete waste...

Trump says noncitizen voting is a widespread Democratic plot to influence elections. A Reuters data analysis reveals a far different picture: a small number of often inadvertent violations. The finding comes amid an expanding federal crackdown that has ensnared hundreds of people, many of whom never cast a ballot. According to U.S. President Donald Trump, America is a hotbed of voting fraud – and foreigners are major culprits. He has portrayed noncitizen voting as part of a broad Democratic Party conspiracy to dilute Republican power. He has claimed on social media that “Crazed” Democrats allow unvetted migrants to enter the...

When President Trump tried to undermine and overturn the election results in 2020, he ran into stiff pushback — not just in the courts, but from many officials in his own government.He made sure there would be little room for such dissent when he returned to the White House. Those seeking to join Mr. Trump’s second administration had to pass a key litmus test: Did they believe the 2020 election was stolen from Mr. Trump?With like-minded allies now positioned in key roles throughout the government, Mr. Trump has trained the full arsenal of the federal government on one of his...

Several Democrats have either been arrested, detained or charged under the Trump administration due to the White House’s crackdown on illegal immigration. Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin has condemned their treatment, arguing lawmakers are being assaulted without reason. “Elected officials are being arrested for doing their jobs,” Martin wrote in a Wednesday statement on social platform X. “Once again, the Trump administration is silencing people who disagree with them in broad daylight.” Here are Democrats who have been recently apprehended by law enforcement: NYC Comptroller Brad Lander Sen. Alex Padilla Rep. LaMonica McIver Judge Hannah Dugan Newark Mayor...

Even people who dislike Donald Trump tend to give him credit for one thing: getting NATO to pay its fair share. American presidents have long grumbled about burden sharing. Trump has been crude, theatrical and transactional, but the sentiment he expressed was broadly shared. And Europeans got the message. Non-American NATO countries collectively spent 1.4 percent of their combined gross domestic product on defense in 2014; in 2025, it was close to 2.3 percent.But be careful what you wish for.The usual assumption is that if Europe spends more, the United States will spend less. This is demonstrably wrong. European defense...

On paper, the US constitution is a thing of beauty. But the would-be emperor in Washington has revealed its great weaknessAmerica’s big birthday has come at a bad time. On Saturday it will be a divided nation that marks 250 years since 13 North American colonies declared their independence from the Great Britain of George III. Many will be anxious that the republic they established that day is fragile – not least because of the would-be emperor in the White House.Some will console themselves that hope and angst have always been intertwined in the American story. From the very start,...

Nearly 1 million people who bought President Trump’s memecoin have lost money through the end of June, according to a report by the cryptocurrency analytics firm Nansen. Their losses total $3.81 billion. The analytics firm’s assessment was calculated this week after Mr. Trump signed an annual financial disclosure showing that he walked away with a $636 million payout on the same crypto bet, part of a haul of at least $2.2 billion from all of his business ventures in 2025. Once a crypto skeptic, Mr. Trump embraced the profit-making opportunity of digital currencies in 2024, while he was running for...

On Wednesday via X, Donald Trump Jr. alleged that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) — an ally of President Donald Trump — is “lying thru his teeth” with his recent comments on the administration’s memorandum of understanding with Iran. Speaking with The Daily Wire on Wednesday, Cruz said of the deal to end the conflict in the region: What has been released so far suggests that, unfortunately, the president is getting, I think, very poor advice when it comes to this deal. History teaches that giving billions of dollars to theocratic lunatics who want to murder us is a bad idea....

President Trump’s scuttling of a hearing to review his pick for director of national intelligence has once again plunged Congress into chaos over who will lead the intelligence community and how lawmakers can renew the nation’s lapsed spy powers. The Senate spent the morning ping-ponging over whether members would even hear from nominee Jay Clayton, who serves as a U.S. attorney. Trump said the hearing was canceled, but Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), an ally of the president, initially rebuffed him, saying the hearing would still go on. Cotton later backtracked and announced the “regrettable” decision that the...

Republican senators are growing tired of the White House throwing curveballs into things they want to get done. For example, many Republican senators want a now-lapsed surveillance law that allows intelligence agencies to spy on foreign threats to be reauthorized. The problem? They need Democratic support to overcome a filibuster in the Senate. President Trump has now twice thwarted efforts to win over that support. The first time he named Bill Pulte, the controversial head of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac who had no intelligence experience, as acting director of national intelligence. Democrats and Republicans alike howled in protest. Trump...

President Donald Trump is making life almost impossible for Senate Republicans — and these days fewer of them are willing to just let it slide. Some lawmakers that were once happy to brush off impulsive and disruptive behavior by saying they hadn’t seen the president’s social media posts or that it was just “Trump being Trump” are increasingly willing to speak out against what they view as bad decisions that undermine their ability to deliver legislative wins as the midterms approach. The latest irritation was the early-morning Truth Social post Wednesday that upended GOP hopes of quickly confirming a new...

A visibly agitated President Trump stormed off his interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press” after a testy exchange with a reporter who grilled him over his claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Trump lashed out at moderator Kristen Welker after she insisted he failed to provide a shred of evidence about his disputed accusations that the 2020 election was “rigged” against him or that the elections in California are subject to malfeasance.

Ukrainian drones on Wednesday attacked St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city, on the opening day of an annual economic conference that President Vladimir V. Putin has tried to cultivate into a showcase of a modern and prosperous country. It was the second time in a month that Ukraine had struck a major Russian city before an event important to Mr. Putin, as Kyiv expands a campaign of long-range strikes aimed at inflicting economic damage on Russia and demonstrating its vulnerability to attacks. In early May, Ukrainian forces hit sites in Moscow, including a high-rise apartment building near the city center, days...

60 Minutes veteran correspondent Scott Pelley reportedly unleashed on CBS News Editor in Chief Bari Weiss' job qualifications and claimed she's "murdering" the show in a heated meeting with his new boss, RadarOnline.com can reveal. Weiss, 42, was not present for the blowup between Pelley, 68, and the show's new executive producer, Nick Bilton – the hand-picked choice of the former Free Press boss to lead the storied newsmagazine into a new era. Nick Bilton Claims Bari Weiss 'Loves 60 Minutes' Bilton's hiring was announced on May 28, and he tried to lead a friendly meet-and-greet with staffers on June...