Free Republic

President Trump posted a map showing New Mexico rebranded as “New America” during a rapid-fire Truth Social storm on Sunday. The post, one of 34 made in less than an hour, showed a map of the southwestern state with the word “Mexico” crossed out and replaced with “America.”The rebrand would be the latest America-themed name change by the president after he ordered that the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Ontario be rechristened the Gulf of America and Lake America, respectively. Trump renamed the Gulf of America after coming back into office in January 2025, claiming the change in name would...

The Wall Street Journal dropped a bombshell new report on Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) late Thursday, detailing allegations that the Democrat has routinely dodged constituents, skipped Senate business, and frustrated his own staff while devoting increasing attention to conservative media and Israel.The Journal based its report on interviews with more than a dozen former staffers and lawmakers, along with internal records and messages. *** Here are five of the most striking revelations. 1. Fetterman canceled on paralyzed veterans — to attend a Fox News interviewThree paralyzed military veterans from rural Pennsylvania traveled to Washington in June for a long-awaited meeting...

A Latino running group has been run out of a historically black Los Angeles neighborhood after opponents told organizers to find somewhere else to pound the pavement. Barrio Athletics announced that its Sunday 5K moved from Leimert Park in Crenshaw to Elysian Park near Dodger Stadium following “careful conversation with community leaders.” What started as a neighborhood dispute over the run quickly turned into showdown over who belongs in one of LA’s most important cultural enclaves.Barrio Athletics had planned to meet at Leimert Park at 9 a.m. and run along Crenshaw Boulevard, but community members immediately objected, saying the event...

President Donald Trump is privately discussing with senior aides whether to declare the U.S. war with Iran over, even as the Pentagon extends troop deployments into 2027 and the conflict continues to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, The Wall Street Journal reported.The apparent contradiction underscores the uncertainty surrounding the administration's strategy. Trump has told advisers he favors declaring an end to the war and believes the combination of economic pressure and U.S. military dominance has put Washington in a winning position.The Journal reported that Trump has argued Iran's economy is collapsing and that U.S. forces have achieved "almost...

WASHINGTON — A former Southern Poverty Law Center chief finance officer declined to face charges in person that she fraudulently funneled $1.2 million in donor money to white supremacist groups. Heidi Beirich waived her right to appear at a virtual court arraignment in the Middle District of Alabama on 14 felony charges involving alleged wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering. Instead, her defense team appeared for the Zoom arraignment and entered a not-guilty plea before US Magistrate Judge Kelly Pate on all counts. Pate set a trial date of Oct. 5, which both prosecutors and Beirich’s defense attorneys indicated...

Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks, the cost to taxpayers for the U.S. War on Terror is approaching $10 trillion. Initial costs for two conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan were more than $8 trillion. An additional $2 trillion will be incurred by U.S. military spending after the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack against Israel and conflicts in Yemen and Iran. Iraq and Afghanistan war costs: $8+ trillion*** Afghanistan: $2 trillion The [Biden] administration left $7 billion worth of U.S. military equipment behind and turned control of the country back to the Taliban. *** Cost on veterans: $2.5 trillion...

The number of U.S. troops killed or wounded in the war with Iran has risen to 774 after the Pentagon added dozens of injured service members to its casualty count in recent days. The number listed as wounded climbed from 697 on Wednesday to 756 on Thursday, an increase of 59, according to the War Department's Defense Casualty Analysis System on Friday. The number of American military deaths remained at 18. The Pentagon did not immediately explain the sharp increase, including when or where the newly recorded injuries occurred. The War Department has divided the casualties into two categories following...

China said on Friday (Aug 21) that United States "sanctions and pressure" would not resolve the Middle East conflict, after Washington urged governments including Beijing to join efforts to isolate the Iranian economy. The US has vowed it would "collapse" the Iranian regime with its threatened campaign, which Tehran has branded as "economic terrorism" doomed to fail, nearly six months since their war began. Asked about US President Donald Trump's threats, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Friday that "sanctions and pressure will not help resolve the issue". "China calls on all relevant parties to take responsible...

The U.S. national debt has surpassed $40 trillion for the first time, marking a historic milestone in a borrowing buildup that has accumulated over generations, through wars, recessions, tax changes and the expansion of major federal benefit programs under presidents of both parties.The Treasury Department reported that total public debt outstanding reached about $40.047 trillion Tuesday, according to The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. The number is striking, but the more significant measure for economists is debt held by the public — money the federal government owes to investors and other entities outside the federal government. That...

President Trump suffered a pair of losses in Florida’s primaries and another in Wyoming on Tuesday as three of his endorsed candidates were defeated in key primaries, showing the limits of his influence with sagging approval numbers. Embattled Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) lost his chance at renomination against former TV reporter Ryan Elijah, who appears on track to win by double digits. Mills has been among the president’s strongest supporters in Congress since he was first elected in 2022, but he has faced mounting controversy amid a House Ethics Committee probe into his conduct. The committee has for months been...

Russia is shipping parts for drones, missiles and explosives to Iran to replenish its weapons stockpiles decimated by US and Israeli airstrikes during the war, according to a new report. More than two dozen Russian ships, many of them under US and European sanctions, traveled across the Caspian Sea to deliver the arms to Iran’s port in Amirabad, NBC News reported, citing documents and a Western official. While the development demonstrates Moscow and Tehran’s deepening alliance, it also proves that the US-Israeli strikes against Iran’s production plants have been largely successful, Jim Lamson, a former CIA analyst, told the outlet....

Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that the top US priority in the Iran war was keeping oil and gasoline prices low for Americans, with preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon ranking second.The remarks contrasted with President Donald Trump's repeated framing of the fight: that entering the war had the sole objective of preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, even if that meant short-term economic sacrifices for Americans.Vance's comments also underscored the growing reality that the war now centers on control of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has forced to the top of the negotiating agenda. "I...

President Trump claimed Wednesday that the US has complete control of the Strait of Hormuz, one day after Energy Secretary Chris Wright confirmed increasing oil exports from the crucial waterway as Iran’s economy continues to free fall. “The U.S.A. has total control over the Strait of Hormuz. I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT!” Trump proclaimed on Truth Social. “Our Naval Blockade is being called, by everyone, ‘A WALL OF STEEL,’ and there is nothing Iran can do about it,” he added. ***“On Sunday alone, over 20 million barrels left the Arabian gulf region, which is above the pre-conflict average.” Only...

Billionaire heiress Elizabeth Simons is pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into the Democratic Party’s campaign to retake the House — even as she bankrolls the socialist causes and candidates that have Democrats’ establishment leaders increasingly on edge.Simons, who previously cut a $250,000 check to a super PAC backing Mayor Zohran Mamdani, has donated $354,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee — the party’s chief House campaign arm — and thousands more to individual House candidates this election cycle. The donations, ironically, put Simons behind the same Democratic leadership forces trying to prevent the party’s increasingly powerful progressive wing from...

An Iranian military spokesman said Saturday that Tehran's control over the Strait of Hormuz is "irreversible," warning that the United States must accept the new status quo or face even greater costs. "The Iranian order prevailing over the Strait of Hormuz is irreversible," Iranian army spokesman Brig. Gen. Amir Akraminia said, according to Iran's Fars news agency. "Today, the Iranian order prevails in the Strait of Hormuz, and the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran stand firm until this order is fully established," Akraminia said. He said Iran's armed forces have the will and military capabilities necessary to...

Preliminary proposal reported by Iran’s Tasnim agency would also block Israel-linked cargo, demand compensation from ‘hostile states’ and fine violators up to 20% of cargo value; separate Iranian report says Tehran and Oman are discussing service fees and a jointly managed shipping corridor Iran’s parliamentary National Security Committee is reviewing a preliminary “strategic plan for managing the Strait of Hormuz” that would bar Israeli and American vessels from the critical waterway, according to a report Thursday by Iran’s Tasnim news agency. The reported proposal would also prohibit the passage of Israeli-linked military and civilian cargo, demand compensation from countries deemed...

Donald Trump clashed with Pete Hegseth over a claim that a US munitions shortage could limit his options in the Iran war, according to reports. The US president confronted his defence secretary at Camp David, his country retreat in Maryland, demanding to know why he had been misled about the missile shortage. The clash occurred on the sidelines of Mr Trump’s cabinet meeting on Friday, at which he said that he thought the missile issue “had been fixed”, two people familiar with the matter told the Washington Post. The White House dismissed the claims as “fake news”, denying that the...

A Louisiana man accused of gang raping Louisiana State University student Madison Brooks before she was fatally hit by a car has asked that Brooks’ supporters be banned from wearing pink in the courtroom at his trial. Desmond Carter, 21, who is charged with others of sexually assaulting Brooks, 19, in a car in Baton Rouge in 2023 just before her death, claimed that Brooks’ family and friends have repeatedly worn pink – Brooks’ favorite color — in court in an effort to intimidate the jury into a guilty verdict, according to WBRZ.Carter’s lawyers pointed to several social media posts...

President Trump on Monday blasted Iran’s leadership as “unbelievably duplicitous,” accusing Tehran of privately pursuing peace talks with the US while publicly denying any negotiations were taking place days after he called off a massive military campaign planned for the weekend.In a Truth Social post, Trump claimed Iranian officials had sought a meeting with the US before turning around and insisting they were only in talks with Oman over plans for the Strait of Hormuz. “They ask for a meeting, some would say ‘beg,’ talks begin, with more scheduled in the immediate future, and they say, openly and proudly, that...

The Iranian government flat-out rejected President Trump’s claim that new negotiations were due to get underway later Monday, with officials stating that no talks were taking place or scheduled.Trump, 80, told reporters en route to Washington Sunday night that he had called off a planned “massive attack” on Iran at the request of US partners in the region — including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.“They thought that a deal is imminent,” said the president, later adding: “Now what we’re doing is talking to them [Iran], in the form of a ​negotiation. It begins tomorrow afternoon.” Iran Foreign...