Free Republic

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz fired back at Vice President JD Vance for suggesting he is already gearing up for a 2028 bid — blasting the veep as “insecure.” Vance, widely seen as the 2028 frontrunner, threw shade at Cruz (R-Texas) last week when he implied that the Lone Star State lawmaker was more focused on 2028 than the upcoming midterms. “In my experience, people engage in political bomb-throwing when they’re feeling insecure,” Cruz snapped back in an interview with Politico on Saturday.“So he’s welcome to make whatever comments he likes,” Cruz, 55, continued. “I’m going to keep focusing on the...

WASHINGTON — Verbal sharpshooter Sen. John Kennedy kept the door open to a 2028 presidential run and defended Sen. Tom Cotton from President Trump’s wrath over his blocking of the Sunshine Protection Act. “My plans right now are to run for re-election, but as I’ve said before, if I don’t think I can be effective in the Senate anymore, I would consider it,” the 74-year-old told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “I haven’t made a decision. If a bunch of, on my side of the aisle, if a bunch of goobers run, and I think they’re goobers, and one...

President Donald Trump on Saturday reiterated his pledge to give every adult U.S. citizen $5,000 if Republicans retain control of both chambers of Congress in next month's midterm elections, while warning of an economic "disaster" if Democrats win."Our country is doing so well under Republican leadership that only I can make you this promise," Trump said in a video posted on Truth Social. "If Republicans win the House of Representatives and the Senate, I'm going to give all adult citizens in the United States of America $5,000.""But Democrat policies won't allow this to happen," Trump said. "In fact, the opposite...

Democratic Maine Senate hopeful Troy Jackson complained that Jewish residents of his state have been reluctant to label Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip a genocide, saying that hesitation was “only because they’re Jewish.”Jackson, who has faced pressure from his left flank to more forcefully condemn the Jewish state, made the comment Tuesday to Portland’s NBC affiliate. “It’s unfortunate that there are people here in Maine that don’t like to use that term only because they’re Jewish and what that means to them, with the Holocaust,” said Jackson, according to Jewish Insider. “[Israel’s war in Gaza] fits that...

The Trump administration is using taxpayer funds to air a television advertisement from Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign in the latest in a series of ads promoting the president ahead of the midterms that the White House maintains are “public service announcements.”The 30-second video, which is virtually identical to one that aired in 2024, shows Trump walking down a hallway as his voice can be heard warning of a “final battle” against “globalists” and “warmongers.” The black-and-white video ends with Trump staring straight into the camera lens with a message that says: “Paid for by the U.S. Government.” The 2024...

Another citizen journalist exposes people defrauding the US taxpayer. This time it's the Jewish Hasidic community.

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., questioned Wednesday whether the Trump administration provided due process when it barred three major media outlets from access to the White House. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly said the administration's process did not appear to comply with two earlier D.C. Circuit rulings, Sherrill v. Knight and Karem v. Trump, requiring due process before reporters' hard passes can be revoked, the Washington Examiner reported. "The government said those cases were wrongly decided," Kelly, an appointee of President Donald Trump, said at the hearing. "Maybe they were wrongly decided, maybe they weren't. But as a district...

The Trump administration is directing more than $174 million in additional funding to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced on Tuesday the one-time investment at the HBCU Summit at the White House, which brought together administration leaders, university presidents, and others. "For nearly 200 years, HBCUs have been engines of opportunity in communities, advancing critical innovations and uplifting local industries across the nation," McMahon said. "This new investment will help ensure these vital institutions have the resources they need to continue delivering world-class education and to prepare students for success in a rapidly evolving economy."...

Mayor Zohran Mamdani renewed his call for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be arrested for war crimes and accused him of visiting a “genocide” on Palestinians just days before the leader is to speak at the UN General Assembly. “When it comes to Benjamin Netanyahu, I have described him as I believe him to be — a war criminal and an architect of a horrific genocide of the Palestinian people,” the mayor told CNN after a cordial meeting with President Trump at Gracie Mansion Monday.“I do believe that that is something that should be honored, because what we want...

The Trump administration is proposing investing $5 billion in a fund that would help Middle East countries rebuild their energy infrastructure following the Iran War, the Wall Street Journal reported.The goal would be to have the countries reduce their reliance on the Strait of Hormuz for transporting oil and gas, the Journal reported. The U.S. would seek matching contributions from eight Middle Eastern countries: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, and Jordan, hoping to establish a $10 billion investment fund. The investment would be called the Partnership for Allied Trust and Construction, or Pact. Officials told...

US President Donald Trump came close to ordering a new American military campaign against the Houthis in Yemen this weekend, after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally urged him to intervene, but called off the planned strikes as they were nearing execution, The New York Times reported. According to the report, Trump had spent roughly two weeks weighing repeated Saudi appeals for US military assistance against the Iran-backed Houthis, whose renewed offensive has expanded the conflict in Yemen and increased pressure on Saudi Arabia. Reuters separately reported Monday that Washington had considered strikes after renewed Saudi appeals but that...

President Donald Trump told Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst that “very big things are going to be happening in the not-so-distant future” on Iran and that “my question is, if and when do I blow the entire nation up?” In a Sunday morning appearance on Fox & Friends Weekend Yingst reported he had just spoken with Trump and conveyed the substance of his conversation with the audience. “He tells Fox News he’s in a ‘deciding mode’ and that ‘very big things are going to be happening in the not-so-distant future,'” Yingst said. “The president described the current choices...

*** RealClearPolitics polling averages on Wednesday show Democrats ahead in Texas, Michigan, Maine, Alaska, Ohio, and New Hampshire.*** In Texas, Democrat state Rep. James Talarico leads Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton by 2.6 points in the latest RCP average, 47.6% to 45%. Talarico leads in eight of the 10 polls included in the current RCP average, while Paxton leads in one*** Michigan also shows a narrow Democrat advantage, with Abdul El-Sayed leading Republican Mike Rogers by 1.8 points, 46.5% to 44.7%, in the current RCP average. Seven of the 10 polls in the polling set show El-Sayed ahead, two show...

New photos obtained exclusively by CBS News reveal for the first time the widespread damage and destruction of buildings and vehicles at multiple U.S. positions across the Middle East, as a result of Iranian missile and drone attacks. The Defense Department's inspector general this week released a fresh report on the war in Iran that revealed "equipment losses" worth up to $3.7 billion — including nearly 60 aircraft. In a first-of-its-kind mandatory report to Congress, the inspector general added that U.S. Central Command reported Iranian strikes at U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan.

WASHINGTON — A new report by the Pentagon’s Inspector General has outlined the costs of Operation Epic Fury. Among them: “hundreds” of buildings and “dozens” of aircraft left damaged or destroyed, over 400 servicemembers wounded and the expenditure of $22 billion in munitions that has left “strategic inventory shortfalls” for the US military. The report, released today, provides the clearest accounting of the materiel damage that has occurred to US military assets since the start of the conflict with Iran. The report only covers from the launch of military activities on Feb. 28 to June 30, meaning that damage totals...

An unimaginably horrific crime occurred on Monday in Austin, Texas, area and not enough people are talking about it. And it's a crime Texas voters might want to be thinking about when they make their way to the ballot box this November to choose a new senator.A 62-year-old man had just visited his mother in a nursing home in Round Rock and taken her for a walk in a local park. After he got her settled back in at the home, he returned to the park on his own and sat down on a bench, minding his own business.***according to...

US President Donald Trump said he did not regret going to war against Iran despite the impact the conflict may have on the November US midterm elections. "I don't believe in the word 'regret.' You can always question yourself a little bit," Trump said in an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham when asked if he regretted the Iran war due to the impact it may have on the elections. "If I had it do again, I would do exactly as I did," Trump said in the interview broadcast on Thursday on The Ingraham Angle show. Trump dismissed suggestions...

The Supreme Court Thursday rejected a bid to implement a new congressional map in Missouri that would have likely given Republicans an extra seat in the House of Representatives.In an order with no noted dissents the high court imposed a stay on the map while a lawsuit brought by opponents of the redistricting gambit makes its way through the legal system.For now, Missouri must use the map implemented following the 2020 census, which has returned a House delegation of six Republicans and two Democrats. The new map would have carved up parts of Kansas City to weaken the Democrats’ grip...

President Donald Trump pledged Wednesday to send every American adult $5,000 if Republicans retain control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections, an extraordinary gambit to reverse his party’s sagging fortunes in November. The dubious promise would likely cost more than $1 trillion and require congressional approval, and would further exacerbate the country’s nearly $1.8 trillion annual budget deficit and concerns about inflation. “If the Republicans win, you win with us and you get $5,000,” Trump said during the GOP’s midterm convention in Dallas. “It will be called the Trump Dividend.”

President Trump is spending Labor Day flooding his Truth Social account with AI-generated images about conquering both the Earth and outer space alike. Trump on Monday posted a map of North America, where both Canada and Mexico are annexed to the United States — and shaded in stars and stripes.He dropped several posts suggesting the state of New Mexico be renamed “New America.” The posts carried various maps bearing the new name. In another, Trump claimed the moon for the United States. The president dropped about 40 posts over a 10-hour period on Sunday before taking it up again on...