Free Republic

As President Trump threatens a major escalation in Iran, signs are mounting that the U.S. military is preparing for a potential return to major military operations. But experts are skeptical that an intensified air strike campaign — even if it takes out bridges, water facilities and electricity plants — will break Tehran or force tough concessions at the negotiating table. "I don't think it will change Iran's calculation in any way, because from Iran's perspective, this is when they said it publicly, that this is a war of survival for them. So bombing from the air is not going to...

Congress on Thursday split on advancing a pair of war powers resolutions aimed at forcing President Donald Trump to abandon his war with Iran, as the conflict escalates into a deadly new phase and oil tops $100 a barrel. The moves were the first vote since Trump informed Congress that he restarted the war with Iran following the breakdown of peace negotiations. The conflict’s revival after weeks of a shaky ceasefire comes just months before the U.S. midterm elections. It threatens to scramble the majority Republicans’ plan to maintain their razor-thin majorities. The Senate on Thursday voted 47-49 to kill...

Nancy Armour's column argues Clark's reactions to officiating fuel racist harassment of opponentsUSA Today columnist Nancy Armour wants Caitlin Clark to stop flopping and berating WNBA officials. Plenty of people agree with that take, including OutKick's Dan Dakich. Others would argue that Clark’s frustration is understandable, given the physical treatment she has received and the WNBA’s inconsistent officiating. Either way, Armour is well within her rights to criticize Clark’s behavior on the court. Armour argues that Clark’s reactions to missed calls put "Black" and "queer" WNBA players "in danger," essentially blaming Clark for alleged racist messages sent by people she...

Sophie Cunningham doubles down on her transgender stance.A recent press conference appearance by Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham quickly drew widespread attention. The prominent professional basketball player faced intense questioning following her transgender comments. Several aggressive media members heavily questioned her regarding controversial opinions on biological divisions. Sports Reporters Confront Sophie Cunningham Over Divisive StanceBefore Wednesday night’s game against the Connecticut Sun, Cunningham addressed the comments she made in ESPN’s profile. Cunningham was asked about her political views and the “MAGA Barbie” nickname she has been given by some fans. “I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating...

A Secret Service agent suspected of leaking details about Vice President JD Vance’s travel has been placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation. The unidentified agent is believed to have been a source for an MS Now story published last week that claimed Vance’s protective detail was frustrated with the second family’s habit of making last-minute travel arrangements and special requests. “A member of the Vice Presidential Protective Division is the subject of an administrative investigation, and potential criminal inquiry, involving allegations of compromising operational and information security,” a Secret Service spokesperson told The Post Thiursday.

A contentious Senate hearing on a supplemental budget request of nearly $88 billion, largely earmarked to cover the ongoing war on Iran, revealed new figures about the war’s cost to date and the effects of the military’s Project Freedom initiative to escort commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz. The hearing did little, however, to provide concrete answers on what it would take to end the conflict. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared Tuesday before the Senate Appropriations Committee alongside the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, to defend the request, more than $67 billion...

Nearly half of Americans say they believe the Supreme Court is ruling on President Trump’s policies based on ideology instead of the law, according to a new poll. The Washington Post/Ipsos survey, conducted July 8-13, found that 46 percent of 2,648 respondents said they believe the nine justices are ruling on cases impacting the president’s agenda based on ideology. A quarter of respondents said the high court is ruling on those cases based on the law, while 28 percent had no opinion and 1 percent skipped the question.The Supreme Court has given Trump multiple unfavorable rulings during his second term....

Longtime CNN political commentator and Democrat Van Jones rebuked far-left activists Saturday, warning that their positions on Hamas, prisons and immigration are regressive and threatened to steer the Democratic Party in the wrong direction as socialist-backed candidates celebrated recent primary victories. "Yes, we want our Democratic Party to be a big tent. But we don’t need 'party poopers. So STOP pooping in the punch bowl — and telling us the turds are ice cubes," Jones said on X, in reference to his Substack post. Jones accused some Democratic Socialist of America (DSA) activists of promoting positions involving Hamas, policing, prisons...

In its nationwide immigration crackdown, the Trump administration has charged hundreds of people with assaulting or impeding federal agents. President Trump has branded them “insurrectionists,” “animals” and “thugs,” part of a broader effort by his administration to cast protesters and immigrants as violent criminals.But a close examination of those cases reveals that in its rush to meet White House demands for deportations, federal law enforcement has engaged in extensive misconduct — ranging from attacking protesters to destroying evidence and misrepresenting facts in court.The New York Times found that the Trump administration has filed assault charges against more than 550 people...

Shades of those X videos of instant karma for the would-be bully! On Friday’s CNN This Morning, Group Chat member Luke Thomas, an MMA analyst with an imposing presence who doubles as a left-wing pundit, initially sounded ready for battle. After more than a hundred House Democrats voted to block billions in military aid to Israel, Sen. John Fetterman drew his red line, saying that he would leave the Democratic Party if it went officially anti-Israel. Thomas’s tough-guy response? “Good riddance. I’ll help him pack his bags.” Macho stuff, Luke! But Thomas's bravado didn’t last. Fellow panelist Elliot Williams, a...

The man who managed to slip past tight security at New York’s 30 Rockefeller Center and hurled a racial slur at “Today” show co-host Craig Melvin appeared before a judge on Friday to face charges stemming from the confrontation. Andrew Truelove, 41, was charged with burglary and menacing, both in the third degree as hate crimes, after investigators said he entered the lobby just before 9 a.m. Thursday and snuck behind an employee who used their identification card to swipe into a restricted area, according to the criminal complaint. Truelove was at the bottom of a stairwell when he spotted...

President Donald Trump in his primetime speech on Thursday is alleging vulnerabilities exist in American election systems, using a large trove of newly declassified documents as evidence to suggest future elections could be at risk of foreign interference, particularly by China. Though the documents are newly declassified, they largely discuss vulnerabilities that have been known for years and election officials around the country have tried to address. None of the declassified information supports the claim that any previous election results — including the 2020 presidential contest that Trump lost — were manipulated by foreign interference or fraud in a way...

The bottom 50% of households in the U.S. own only $4.27 trillion of the nation's $174 trillion in available wealth. By contrast, the top 0.1% own $25.07 trillion, and the top 99 to 99.9% own a little under $30 trillion, according to Federal Reserve data. With AI now supercharging the stock market, and richer families already owning the majority of those assets, that divide is only likely to widen. Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, is well aware of this phenomenon. In fact, the man worth more than $3 billion according to Forbes says he understands why people are "anti-rich."...

Hunter Biden, the son of former President Biden, was awarded $1.7 million in damages on Friday as part of a defamation lawsuit against former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne. Byrne, a known denier of Biden’s victory over President Trump in the 2020 presidential election, accused the younger Biden of taking part in an $800 million bribery scheme involving Iran and failed to defend his claims in court. U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson of the Central District of California ruled the ex-executive acted with “intentional misrepresentation” and “conscious disregard” for Hunter’s rights, and said Byrne continued to amplify the false allegations even...

The US congressman Ro Khanna says armed Israeli settlers detained him during a visit to the Israel-occupied West Bank recently, describing the experience as a first-hand view of the realities faced by Palestinians living under occupation. In an interview with Reuters on Thursday from a Palestinian village, the progressive US House Democrat from California said his detention happened the previous day while his delegation visited an area of the southern West Bank that has experienced repeated attacks by Israeli settlers. Khanna recounted how settlers carrying US-made M4 rifles surrounded the group’s van. “We were at a village that Israeli settlers...

During the heated exchange, Behar insisted she was simply focused on “winning” in what she called an “emergency” situation under President Donald Trump. There is something hilarious about women who spent years demonizing white men suddenly treating them as saviors and their only path to victory. Behar began by floating a list of white male candidates she believes could actually win, naming Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. She framed the suggestion as cold political reality, telling her co-hosts they needed to face facts after watching the country...

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...

WASHINGTON -- Three-time U.S. Olympian David Hearn has been indicted in Washington, D.C., for allegedly "maliciously" destroying the lining at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Hearn was indicted in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on a single count of destruction of property worth $1,000 or more, a felony charge that carries up to 10 years in prison. U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announced the charges at a press conference on Thursday, saying Hearn will face "accountability." "The indictment is in response to an incident that occurred on June 19 of 2026 in which...

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) is alarmed that Democrats might expand the membership of the Supreme Court It is true that leading Democrats, including former Vice President Kamala Harris, have welcomed “ideas, for example, that are about Supreme Court reform, including the notion of expanding the court.” But it is wrong to call it court-packing. In fact, the Supreme Court has already been strategically stacked by President Trump and his Senate allies, entrenching an illegitimate conservative supermajority. Adding four seats under the next Democratic trifecta would actually be unpacking the court. After Justice Antonin Scalia died on Feb 13. 2016, President...

The Trump Mobile T1 Phone appears to be available for outright purchase for the first time, after the pre-order notice was removed from the company’s website. The $499 handset is essentially a repainted HTC U24 Pro from 2024, and it follows a long stretch of delays, an FTC inquiry, and reports that the device is only assembled, not built, in the US. Ever since Trump Mobile announced the T1 phone last year, the handset has been on pre-order status. But if you were thinking about getting your hands on it, it looks like the Trump Mobile T1 Phone is now...