Free Republic

U.S. President Donald Trump's moves to take China to task on trade are likely to backfire as his sweeping global tariffs hit allies as well as rivals, according to former national security advisor John Bolton.

Some thoughts on a climbdown for the ages. The reaction was widespread relief in America and the world. Americans want their country to be the world’s growth engine but not, as a former Reagan administration official put it, through policies “that risk the collapse of the global financial system.” Donald Trump scared people he hadn’t scared before. He didn’t use to scare his policy allies—small-business people, workers, retirees. He did this week. Fear dampens reflexive support. Politicians need reflexive support from the bottom of their base as a platform from which to move. The president weakened his position. It is...

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed Rep. Darrell Issa’s (R-CA) No Rogue Rulings Act, which will place restrictions on federal District Court judges from issuing nationwide injunctions. One Republican voted to empower activist judges. The new law will stop a single district court judge, one out of 677 across the nation, from dictating policy for the entire country, as we’ve seen countless times from Trump-hating activist judges. This comes after the Supreme Court vacated Judge James Boasberg’s orders barring the Trump Administration’s removals of Venezuelan gang members under the Alien Enemies Act. They ruled that Boasberg, as a single...

A RINO Congressman announced on Sunday that he would be moving to undercut President Trump’s bold move to reshape the global economic order with reciprocal tariffs on countries that have taken advantage of America for years. The Gateway Pundit previously reported that President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday the implementation of a 10% baseline tariff on all imports, effective April 5, 2025. On April 9, the worst offenders will be hit with even tougher measures. Speaking from the White House Rose Garden, Trump proclaimed April 2 as “Liberation Day,” marking a new era of economic independence. He emphasized that this...

Despite repeated messages of support by Trump, Waltz has lost sway with the president and the backing of senior aides within the White House, officials said, just as the administration struggles to broker peace deals and faces the threat of further war in the Middle East. For Trump, Waltz’s biggest sin wasn’t starting a Signal chat to coordinate strikes on the Houthis in Yemen, or even posting Israel-provided intelligence onto an unclassified network, it was having the Atlantic magazine’s editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg’s number in his phone and inadvertently adding him to the conversation. Trump’s anger spilled over into...

"That's what I'm talking about. Bring that resistance!"That was self-described Republican Michael Steele on Saturday's edition of MSNBC's The Weekend, urging far-left Dem Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal to resist Donald Trump. Steele and Jayapal each claimed that they have very different views on many issues, but are united in resisting the predations of Orange Man Bad. But when's the last time anyone heard Steele forcefully express his supposedly still-Republican views on the show? His positions have been indistinguishable from those of his highly-partisan Dem co-hosts, Alicia Menendez and Symone Sanders. Speaking of the latter, Sanders repeatedly waved her handkerchief [see screencap]...

You see, at first, when someone says, 'Let’s impose tariffs on foreign imports,' it looks like they’re doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs. And sometimes for a short while it works – but only for a short time. What eventually occurs is: First, homegrown industries start relying on government protection in the form of high tariffs. They stop competing and stop making the innovative management and technological changes they need to succeed in world markets. And then, while all this is going on, something even worse occurs. High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries...

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger is urging President Trump to prosecute him after declaring Joe Biden’s pre-emptive pardon null and void. Posting on TRUTH Social on Sunday Trump declared that former Joe Biden’s pre-emptive pardons, issued during the final days of his administration, are “void, vacant and of no further force or effect.” Trump argued that the pardons are invalid because Biden used an autopen to sign them, claiming the former president had no direct knowledge or involvement in granting these pardons. ..... Snip..... In a video uploaded to the X platform, Kinzinger challenged Trump to go after him: So I...

John Bolton says that a ceasefire isn't in Ukraine's best interest

Republican strategist Karl Rove said President Trump’s claims that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has discovered “hundreds of billions” in government “fraud” will backfire when Democrats spotlight a lack of prosecutions of those involved. During an appearance on Fox News’s “Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy,” Rove echoed Democratic strategist James Carville’s sentiment that Democrats should “allow the Republicans to crumble beneath their own weight.” In his joint address to Congress last week, Trump criticized the “appalling waste” in government spending, while praising DOGE head and tech billionaire Elon Musk for discovering “hundreds of billions of dollars of...

The Wall Street Journal has called for Donald Trump to be sued to prevent tariffs being imposed on Canada and Mexico. The newspaper's editorial board wrote in very blunt terms that Trump did not have the power to order the tariffs without Congressional approval. 'He's treating the North American economy as a personal plaything, as markets gyrate with each presidential whim,' the WSJ board wrote. 'It's doubtful Mr Trump even has the power to impose these tariffs, and we hope his afflatus gets a legal challenge.' The WSJ, published by Rupert Murdoch who also owns Fox News, is usually sympathetic...

Utah State Senator Daniel Thatcher left the Republican Party this week to join the Forward Party, becoming the first sitting member of the Utah State Senate affiliated with the organization and its ballot line. In a statement released Friday, the Forward Party said that Thatcher changed his registration on the last day of the legislative session. Reasons provided from a speech Thatcher gave that afternoon include his disappointment with the Utah Republican Party’s leadership on voting rights and legislative priorities. Specifically, Thatcher voiced concerns over the passage of HB 300, which he believes undermines the vote-by-mail process, as well as...

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is again speaking out against the Trump administration — this time blasting efforts led by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to gut the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) by slashing jobs and foreign contracts. Murkowski, a crucial swing vote in the Republican-controlled Senate, said Thursday in a post on social platform X that she recently met with USAID employees from her state. “They not only informed me of the confusing and callous handling of personnel matters by [the Office of Personnel Management] and DOGE, but they also painted an incredibly troubling picture of what...

High-profile MAGA personalities applauded Friday as President Trump escalated his hostility toward Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky. Mr. Trump wrote on social media that Mr. Zelensky “disrespected the United States in the cherished Oval Office” and “can come back when he is ready for Peace.” That followed a hostile meeting in which Mr. Trump and JD Vance berated and bullied Mr. Zelensky, with the vice president demanding: “Have you said thank you once?” In the days leading up to the meeting, Mr. Trump described Mr. Zelensky as a “dictator” and suggested that Ukraine started the war with Russia. Along with the...

Sen. Lisa Murkowski delivered a scorching rebuke Saturday of President Donald Trump’s explosive exchange with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a rare voice of Republican dissent as party members lined up in support of the president’s increasingly combative relationship with Ukraine. “I am sick to my stomach as the administration appears to be walking away from our allies and embracing Putin, a threat to democracy and U.S. values around the world,” the Alaskan wrote in a Saturday afternoon post to X.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will give a live interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier just hours after his disastrous meeting in the Oval Office Friday with President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance over ending Russia’s war on Ukraine. The interview is scheduled to air at 6 p.m. EST on the Fox News Channel. Trump ordered Zelensky out of the White House, canceling a lunch and press conference that was meant to mark the signing of a mineral deal between the U.S. and Ukraine, after Zelensky argued with Trump and Vance for several minutes over the war and...

Representative Mike Quigley (R-IL) said Friday on CNN’s “News Central” that President Donald Trump should be thanking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky because he had been fighting for democracy. When asked about his reaction to the Oval Office meeting between Trump and Zelensky, Quigley said, “I just think people should appreciate the fact that we are fundamentally a different nation than we were just weeks ago. We are alone in the world, and we are less safe.”

Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) claimed on CNN’s “News Central” that some of her Republican colleagues privately say President Donald Trump’s actions on Ukraine have gone too far. Shaheen said, “Vladimir Putin is a murderous dictator. He is a thug who understands one thing, and that is strength, and anytime he thinks he can get the better of Donald Trump, he is going to do that.” She continued, “We have ten Democrats and ten Republicans, a fifth of the senate on that resolution, because there is bipartisan support in the United States Senate for Ukraine. I think most of us were...

A band of moderate Republicans in Congress sharply criticized the Trump administration this week for siding with Russia at the United Nations on resolutions regarding the war in Ukraine, even as the majority of the G.O.P. turned a blind eye to the United States’ sudden embrace of a longtime adversary.“The Trump Administration royally screwed up today on Ukraine,” Representative Don Bacon, Republican of Nebraska, wrote on social media on Monday night. “The vast majority of Americans stand up for independence, freedom and free markets, and against the bully and invader.”The reproach from Mr. Bacon and others came after the United...

Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Tuesday and called on lawmakers not to give President Donald Trump their authority.Co-host Jonathan Lemire said, “Certainly there’s a lot of debate among Democrats right now as to who is that face, who is the leader for the party right now? Who’s going to play the role that Nancy Pelosi did during those first couple of years of Trump’s initial term in office? So now let’s take a look at more from Ryan Noble’s interview with Senator Murkowski, who warned her Republican colleagues not to cede their authority to President...