Free Republic

President Trump has always defied the laws of political gravity, seemingly impervious to setbacks that would sink any other figure and immune from the traditional ebb and flow of campaign cycles. But his capitulation in the fight over releasing the Epstein files, and other recent developments, suggest that, when it comes to Congress, the president is subject to at least some of the same currents as his predecessors, as the first signs of his lame duck status emerge. The willingness of congressional Republicans to defy Mr. Trump and back legislation requiring the disclosure of federal files on Jeffrey Epstein, the...

On the campaign trail, Donald Trump was unapologetic about putting America first. He promised to secure the nation’s borders, strengthen the domestic workforce and be tough on countries he thought were taking advantage of the United States.Now, 10 months into his second term, the president is facing backlash from some conservatives who say he is too focused on matters abroad, whether it’s seeking regime change in Venezuela, brokering peace deals in Ukraine and Gaza or extending a $20-billion currency swap for Argentina. The criticism has grown in recent days after Trump expressed support for granting more visas to foreign students...

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order allowing a range of food products, including coffee, bananas and beef, to escape his sweeping tariffs. The move comes as his administration faces mounting pressure over rising prices. While Trump previously downplayed concerns about the cost of living, he has focused on the issue since his Republican Party's poor performance in last week's elections. The dozens of products included on the White House's list of exemptions range from avocados and tomatoes to coconuts and mangoes. These goods, the Trump administration said on Friday, cannot be produced in sufficient quantities domestically. Trump...

President Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States faces an economic and national security catastrophe if the Supreme Court nullifies his use of an emergency powers statute to place tariffs on most nations. Trump also said his administration is looking into $2,000 stipends to lower- and middle-income Americans through tariff dividends, as well as paying off the national debt. “All money left over from the $2000 payments made to low and middle income USA Citizens, from the massive Tariff Income pouring into our Country from foreign countries, which will be substantial, will be used to SUBSTANTIALLY PAY DOWN...

The most important thing to know about the Trump administration’s defense of its hotly contested use of tariffs to bring allies and opponents to heel is not that it is a novel and unprecedented legal argument but rather a full-throated articulation of the campaign themes that got the president elected – in both 2016 and 2000. In its legal documents, and in the oral arguments that took place before the Supreme Court Wednesday, the Trump administration paints a picture of America under siege. Once thriving industrial towns in the Midwest hollowed out. Factories dismantled as supply chains have been moved...

With a social-media post that said “STOP LYIN” about there being an affordability crisis, President Trump claims he’s whipped inflation. But consumers are still feeling the squeeze. Target’s prices are up 5.5% nationwide this year and Walmart’s are up 5.3%, according to an analysis by DataWeave, which looked at roughly 16,000 items across each retailer’s website. Amazon’s price hikes have averaged more than 12%, according to a report. After seven months under Trump’s tariffs, Americans are paying more for nearly everything — from a cup of joe and plush living room sofas to children’s toys. Inflation for food has been...

In the most significant economic case to reach the Supreme Court in years, Trump’s authority to issue emergency tariffs faced deep skepticism from key conservatives — including Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. • While justices had tough questions for both sides, a majority expressed reservations about the administration relying on declared emergencies to issue the unchecked tariffs. • As plaintiffs presented their case, Kavanaugh repeatedly noted that courts had previously allowed then-President Richard Nixon to use similar emergency powers to impose tariffs during his administration. • Both sides previously framed the...

Following numerous victories for Democrats in last night’s elections, prediction markets are showing more favorability for Democrats to regain control of the House of Representatives in 2026. Prediction market Kalshi now projects that the Democratic Party has a 69% chance of winning the House next year, compared to Republicans’ 31% chance. Numbers for Democrats are up significantly from the estimates on Election Day, which gave the Democratic Party a 59.5% chance of winning compared to Republicans’ 40.5% chance. Off-year elections are often seen as a barometer of the country’s pulse on the current leadership. After several resounding victories, Democrats are...

President Donald Trump's use of sweeping tariffs faced sharp questioning at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, in a case with major implications for the president's agenda and the global economy. A majority of justices, including several conservatives, expressed doubts about the White House's justification of the import duties, which the president has said are necessary to restore America's manufacturing base and fix its trade imbalance. The measures are being challenged by a number of small businesses and a group of states, which contend that the president has overstepped his authority in imposing the levies, which are in effect a tax....

Tonight we have observed the revival of the Democrat party...The Trump administration along with the GOP have set the stage for a disaster come 2026.

Four Republican senators voted with Democrats on Thursday to approve a bipartisan resolution to repeal President Trump’s global tariffs, including steeper rates on long-time allies such as the European Union, Japan and South Korea. Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), the GOP sponsor of the resolution, and Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) voted for it. The same proposal failed in the Senate in late April on a 50-49 vote after Vice President Vance cast the tiebreaking vote to defeat it. Critically, McConnell and Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.), who voted Thursday for the resolution, missed the...

The Senate passed a resolution Tuesday aimed at ending President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Brazil, with five Republicans joining Democrats in a rare bipartisan rebuke of the president over trade policy. Sens. Rand Paul, Thom Tillis, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and former Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell sided with Democrats in the 52 to 48 vote. McConnell has long been critical of Trump’s trade policy, and said in a statement ahead of the vote, “Tariffs make both building and buying in America more expensive. The economic harms of trade wars are not the exception to history, but the rule.” The...

The Ronald Reagan Foundation has just announced that Canada has fraudulently used an advertisement, which is FAKE, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about Tariffs. The ad was for $75,000. They only did this to interfere with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, and other courts. TARIFFS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY, AND ECONOMY, OF THE U.S.A. Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DJT

President Donald Trump’s tariffs will cost global businesses upward of $1.2 trillion in 2025, with most of the cost being passed onto consumers, according to a new analysis from S&P Global. In a white paper released Thursday, the firm said its estimate of additional expenses for companies is probably conservative. The price tag comes from information provided by some 15,000 sell-side analysts across 9,000 companies who contribute to S&P and its proprietary research indexes. “The sources of this trillion-dollar squeeze are broad. Tariffs and trade barriers act as taxes on supply chains and divert cash to governments; logistics delays and...

President Trump said his proposed 100% additional tariffs on goods from China were "not sustainable."

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he will use tariff revenue to offer cash bailouts for farmers who are struggling with trade uncertainty and other economic headwinds. “We’re going to take some of that tariff money that we made, we’re going to give it to our farmers, who are, for a little while, going to be hurt until the tariffs kick into their benefit,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “So we’re going to make sure that our farmers are in great shape, because we’re taking in a lot of money.” Trump officials expect that Congress will need to...

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that he is “confident” that President Donald Trump’s tariff plan “will win” at the Supreme Court, but warned his agency would be forced to issue massive refunds if the high court rules against it. If the tariffs are struck down, he said, “we would have to give a refund on about half the tariffs, which would be terrible for the Treasury,” according to an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” He added, however, that “if the court says it, we’d have to do it.” The Trump administration last week asked the Supreme Court for...

President Trump fired the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner last month because he didn’t like the monthly jobs numbers. He claimed the numbers were “rigged.” But Friday’s monthly report for August confirms that job creation has stalled amid his tariff barrage. Employers added a mere 22,000 jobs last month while the numbers were revised down for the previous two by a combined 21,000. This means only 107,000 new jobs were created in the last four months—an average of 27,000. Monthly job gains averaged 167,000 last year. Nearly all of the new jobs last month were in social assistance and healthcare...

Full statement from Pam Bondi: President Trump found there was a national emergency and took action under the law by imposing tariffs. The judges of the Federal Circuit are interfering with the President’s vital and constitutionally central role in foreign policy. This decision is wrong and undermines the United States on the world stage. The Justice Department will appeal this decision and continue to fight to restore the president’s lawful authority.

Wholesale inflation increased much more than expected in July, raising concerns about a resurgence of inflationary pressures in the economy. The Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday released the producer price index (PPI) for the month of July, which showed an increase of 0.9% from the prior month and 3.3% from a year ago. Those PPI figures were much hotter than the forecast of prices rising 0.2% on a monthly basis and 2.5% from last year that was estimated by economists polled by LSEG. Core PPI, which excludes volatile components like food and energy, also rose 0.9% from last month...