Free Republic

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was reportedly in the dark about the Trump administration’s plan to invade Venezuela and depose President Nicolas Maduro. Bloomberg reported on Thursday that the White House excluded the nation’s top intelligence from discussions about the planned ouster, which was carried out on Saturday. People familiar with the situation said that Gabbard had previously opposed U.S. intervention in the South American country. “The United States needs to stay out of Venezuela,” Gabbard, then a Democratic member of Congress, tweeted in 2019. “Let the Venezuelan people determine their future. We don’t want other countries to choose...

European governments now understand the seriousness of Trump's threats and are "desperately looking for a plan to stop him"BRUSSELS, January 8. /TASS/. Amid US President Donald Trump's increasingly harsh rhetoric about establishing control over Greenland, the European Union is preparing for a direct confrontation with the US leader, according to Politico Europe. "We must be ready for a direct confrontation with Trump," an EU diplomat briefed on ongoing discussions told the newspaper. "He is in an aggressive mode, and we need to be geared up," he added. The newspaper notes that while European governments previously did not realize the seriousness...

WASHINGTON — The Senate advanced a resolution Thursday to block President Trump from taking additional military action in Venezuela, just five days after the capture of Caracas strongman Nicolas Maduro. In a 52-47 vote, the upper chamber agreed to consider a so-called “War Powers resolution” to force Trump to end hostilities toward the South American nation, in a blow to the administration. The measure must still clear the Senate and House to take effect

https://x.com/HiRezTheRapper/status/2008604404178354463 There’s a fish that looks like president Donald trump at this aquarium 😁🙄😉................

In what could prove to be a pivotal election year for the Republicans, with the midterms holding much influence, President Donald Trump arguably needs the support of his own party now more than ever. Especially as he is facing loud calls for impeachment from the Democratic Party on account of his Venezuela operation... Yet there is currently a split forming, as some prominent Republican lawmakers are publicly disagreeing with Trump regarding his renewed annexation threats against Greenland in the wake of the Venezuela intervention. In a series of inflammatory remarks labeled as “utterly unacceptable” by Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen,...

n the wake of an ICE shooting that killed a woman in Minneapolis on Wednesday, academics have joined the chorus of left-wing radicals seeking to abolish the federal law enforcement agency. "Abolishing ICE is the moderate position," said Victor Ray, an associate professor of sociology, criminology and African American studies at the University of Iowa. In another social media post, Ray referred to the shooting, which killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, as a "murder." Nobody has been charged with murder in the case.

Conan O’Brien warned comedians giving in to their anger at President Donald Trump that they are being “co-opted” and not making much of a difference. In a conversation with Oxford Union on Tuesday, O’Brien noted he often hears people say how “great” Trump must be for comedians. The one-time Tonight Show host argued the opposite, saying “talking crazy” is part of Trump’s brand and it makes it difficult to structure satire around it. O’Brien cited Trump’s construction of a White House ballroom as something sketch comedy writers would likely come up with to mock Trump — except it’s reality. “Comedy...

Did Obama really deport more people than Trump? On the surface, the answer is yes. During his two terms in office from 2009 to 2017, Barack Obama’s administration oversaw roughly 2.7–3.2 million deportations (removals and returns), making him, by some measures, the president with the highest total deportations in modern US history. Since Obama’s era included a higher share of border returns counted as deportations, his total figures appear higher even though the populations targeted were different. Under Trump, enforcement has increasingly focused on interior arrests and removals but these often lag in official numbers due to legal backlogs and...

For the past 22 years I have watched, written about, broadcast, and cross-referenced the groups, messages, and protests by the left in Portland, Oregon. For a long time, before the Occupy Wall Street movement, I was one of the few in Portland talking about the derivations of these groups on my blog and the radio. Before the category-killing Antifa movement subsumed the anarchists and BLM activists, these groups always came from one place: the ANSWER Coalition. This anti-war, anti-Israel, anti-capitalist, anti-anything-opposed-to-America organization gave cover to the wildest and most extreme groups in Portland. Earth First!, Animal Liberation Front, Earth Liberation...

The woman shot dead by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis has been identified as Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three who had just moved to the city. She was a prize-winning poet and a hobby guitarist, who was there as a legal observer of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities, city leaders have said. But the Trump administration has called her a "domestic terrorist". Good's death has sparked protests across the country, with many people holding signs that read "Justice for Renee". ... A fundraiser for Good's family, which was set up with a target of $50,000...

Top Minnesota Democrats are condemning President Trump for amplifying false claims about the murder of former House Speaker Melissa Hortman. Driving the news: On Saturday, Trump shared a Truth Social post and video that promotes unsubstantiated conspiracy theories tying Hortman's June 14 slaying to Gov. Tim Walz and alleged fraud in state programs. What they're saying: Walz, who considered Hortman a friend and political ally, blasted the post as "dangerous, depraved behavior from the sitting president of the United States." "In covering for an actual serial killer, he is going to get more innocent people killed," the DFL governor wrote...

He is not a neoconservative in the sense we once knew: he does not cloak American interventions in the language of democracy promotion, human rights, or universal values. Instead, he is a neoconservative without the values. What makes him distinctive is not the substance of his policies, but the way he frames them, stripped of the moralizing tone. Oddly enough, this makes his foreign policy more transparent—and perhaps, in some ways, more refreshing. Classical neoconservatism was never only about hawkish foreign policy. It was about the marriage of power and ideals. The movement argued that American might was essential not...

Working out, we can see the all the local media "news" reports at the gym. Some network affiliated stations, some 'independent' ones. Amazing that Minnesota has been the epicenter of fraud and took center stage on that and Florida media is silent. Then the governor of the state, the handpicked running mate of the 'black' woman sidekick to Sleepy Joe, is forced to quit his attempt for re-election. Florida media again is silent. But a moron driver tries to run over an ICE agent and the Miami media...goes all in on "eeeevil Trump!"

Wednesday on CNN’s “The Lead,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller’s comments that Greenland should be a U.S. territory were “unacceptable.” Host Jake Tapper said, “So do you want Stephen Miller to lose his job?’ Tillis said, “Either Stephen Miller needs to get into a lane where he knows what he’s talking about or get out of his job. The reason why I thought it was important for me to make a comment on the floor is I’ve been the Republican leader of the Senate NATO observer Group since 2018. There is no...

With silver unable to hold gains above $80 an ounce, one Canadian bank is taking another crack at the short side of the market. On Wednesday, commodity analysts at TD Securities published their latest trade, saying they were shorting silver futures and looking for sharply lower prices within the next three months as market fundamentals start to balance out.

A preschool teacher was arrested on camera as she finished a TV interview about Donald Trump’s raid on Venezuela to seize Nicolás Maduro... Jessica Plichta, 22, said she was the only person arrested among roughly 200 demonstrators at an anti-war protest in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday, hours after Maduro was detained in Caracas... In the broadcast footage, two officers could be seen approaching from behind as she wrapped her interview with WZZM, the city’s ABC affiliate, then escorted her away as she told them, “I am not resisting arrest.” WZZM said an officer cited “obstructing a roadway and failure...

Lindsey Graham: “Who is in charge of Venezuela? Donald J. Trump. If you defy him, what happened to Maduro is going to happen to you”

Tim Walz wants a third term. Donald Trump and Mike Lindell want to beat him. Minnesota has been the white whale for Republicans in the Trump era. And 2026 could be the year they finally break through — if President Donald Trump and one of the most prolific peddlers of conspiracy theories about the 2020 election don’t sink their chances. Republicans are growing optimistic about their chances of unseating Democratic Gov. Tim Walz next year, as he seeks a historic third term. But Trump’s increasingly caustic attacks on Walz and disparagement of Minnesota’s Somali community — and MyPillow CEO Mike...

Europe's leaders boldly confronted Donald Trump on Tuesday night after his administration threatened to use the US military to seize Greenland. A joint statement from leaders including Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy vowed to defend Greenland's 'territorial integrity' - following days of escalating tensions between the US and NATO ally Denmark. It comes as Trump and his top advisers explore plans including purchasing the Danish territory or taking charge of its defense, according to a senior administration official. The White House said that 'utilising the US military is always an option'...

The US military operation to track down, capture and fly Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro back to the United States for prosecution on drug trafficking charges went flawlessly. It was well-coordinated, meticulously planned and executed to a tee. Nearly two days after Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were taken into U.S. custody, details of the snatch-and-grab mission are beginning to percolate into the US media. It involved a cyberattack against Caracas’s electricity system, precision bombing against several Venezuelan airfields and ports, a low-flying helicopter assault on Maduro’s hideout and a CIA deployment that was operating in the country since August....