Free Republic

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday he had no information about unconfirmed reports on Telegram that U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff might have flown into Moscow, saying no meetings with him were on the agenda.

Donald Trump and wife Melania were all smiles as they watched a fireworks display at one of the many celebrations being held in the Washington, D.C., area ahead of the inauguration. Trump marked his return to power with a celebration at his Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, about 30 miles outside Washington. In addition to the First Couple, many of the major players in the Trump orbit were in attendance, including daughter and former senior advisor Ivanka, who was alongside her husband, Jared Kushner. All of Trump's adult children and their partners were in attendance, with Don Jr....

After seven hours of discussion, the Israeli cabinet today approved a deal to release around 2,000 terrorists, over 100 of whom are serving life sentences for mass murders, in exchange for 33 hostages living or dead. 24 ministers voted in favor of the deal, and 8 opposed, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, as well as Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli and MK David Amsalem from Netanyahu’s Likud Party. The deal will take effect on Sunday, Arutz Sheva reported. Josh Waller of The Israel Guys called the Hostage Deal “disastrous” and a “sinister scheme going on...

An official appointed by President-elect Donald Trump for his next administration was the deciding factor in securing a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, but President Joe Biden nevertheless took a victory lap over the breakthrough on Tuesday. Steve Witkoff, who Trump appointed as his Middle East envoy for his second administration, emerged successful from a critical meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, according to The Times of Israel. Witkoff apparently did more to move Netanyahu toward a ceasefire in a single meeting than Biden did in the past year, according to two Arab officials who spoke...

President-elect Donald Trump named Massad Boulos, a Lebanon-born billionaire and the father-in-law of Trump's youngest daughter Tiffany, as his senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs on Sunday. The announcement, made on Trump's Truth Social platform, praised Boulos as "an accomplished lawyer" who is an "unwavering supporter of peace in the Middle East." "I am proud to announce that Massad Boulos will serve as Senior Advisor to the President on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs. Massad is an accomplished lawyer and a highly respected leader in the business world, with extensive experience on the International scene," Trump wrote. "Massad...

But there's a few things that strike me as curiouser than they should be: First up, the last-minute change in the Republican nominee's schedule. The alleged perp was outside the Trump International Golf Club for twelve hours, which was long enough to figure out the most vulnerable spot: the hole closest to the exterior fence. And yet the golf game was not on the candidate's official schedule, and was a comparatively last-minute addition. So how did Mr Routh find out about it? The unusually long motorcade arriving at the club? No. The would-be killer was on site hours before Trump...