Free Republic

When he penned his eyewitness account of the 1917 Russian Revolution, American journalist John Reed famously titled it Ten Days That Shook The World. But 10 days is too long for Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. They've shaken things up in a week. -snip- The Kremlin wants the Russian public and the international community to see that Western efforts to isolate Russia over the war in Ukraine have failed. Russian media are welcoming the prospect of warmer ties with Washington and pouring scorn on European leaders and Kyiv. "Trump knows he will have to make concessions [to Russia] because he...

Russia's point man for relations with the United States said on Monday that all of President Vladimir Putin's conditions must be met in full before the war in Ukraine can end, suggesting Moscow is playing hardball with U.S. President Donald Trump. -snip- Moscow swiftly underscored that its maximalist demands - as set out by Putin in June last year - remained the opening bid at the outset of the negotiations. The "political solution as we envisage it cannot be achieved otherwise than through the full implementation of what was pronounced by President Putin when he spoke to the Russian Foreign...

Donald Trump launched a parting social media salvo at Taylor Swift as he bailed on the Super Bowl early after watching the Chiefs collapse against the Eagles. The president roasted the pop star for being booed while he was cheered at the New Orleans Superdome in a ruthless post on his Truth Social platform. Trump shared contrasting videos of the rapturous applause he received compared to the boos Swift received when she was shown on the big screen. His social media trolling only heaped more misery on the evening for Swift as she watched her boyfriend Travis Kelce's Kansas City...

U.S. President Donald Trump is proving to be somewhat popular within Russia, leaving the Kremlin to grapple with how to counter Russians' love of a leader who isn't President Vladimir Putin, recent media reports suggest. -snip- Alexander Baunov, the editor-in-chief of Carnegie Politika and a senior fellow at Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said in an analysis published on January 31 that in Russia, Trump is a new "anti-elitist president" who, "like a beloved Hollywood lone hero, is closer and more understandable to the generation of the Russian elite that lived through the 1990s or grew up watching American movies than...

The United States' 'America First' policy has disturbing similarities to the slogan 'Germany above all' used by the Nazis to assert national superiority over others, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned. In an op-ed for the magazine 'Russia in Global Affairs' published on Tuesday, Lavrov argued that Washington's approach undermines the UN Charter and the post-war global order built on sovereign equality. He noted that this principle was enshrined in the Yalta-Potsdam agreements signed in 1945 by the USSR, US, and UK, shaping the modern international system. With the administration of US President Donald Trump back in power, Washington's...

Russian President Vladimir Putin was asked about his prediction of the future of Europe with Trump as US President. Putin did not hesitate to slam the European elites. He says they will soon get in line despite working against Trump in the election.Video at link.Vladimir Putin: Nothing has changed. They were happy to carry out any order from Washington under Biden.They just don’t like Trump. They forgot him actively, really interfered in political life, in the election process of the United States. And then they were confused when Trump suddenly won.And then they mentally liked Biden more, you know, mentally.But...

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday described American President Donald Trump as "pragmatic" and "smart," expressing doubt that the US president would lower global oil prices to harm Russia. Putin noted that extremely high or low oil prices would negatively affect both the Russian and American economies. "He is not only a smart person, but a pragmatic person," Putin told state media. "I have a hard time imagining there will be decisions taken that are detrimental to the American economy," he added. Putin also said that the 2022 "crisis in Ukraine"—a reference to Moscow's full-scale military offensive—might have been avoided...

US President-elect Donald Trump said that a meeting was being set up between him and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. "He wants to meet, and we are setting it up," Trump said in remarks before a meeting with Republican governors at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.

Moscow has warned Donald Trump against resuming the testing of nuclear weapons when he takes office, saying it would “not rule anything out” in response to US aggression. Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister who oversees arms control, noted that Mr Trump refused to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty during his first term. Referencing this refusal, Mr Ryabkov said: “American policy in its various aspects is extremely hostile to us today.” “So the options for us to act in the interests of ensuring security and the potential measures and actions we have to do this - and to send politically...

Some people are very worried about the coming Trump administration. Jeff Bezos is not one of them. Or, more accurately, the world's second-richest man says he's not worried about Trump 2.0, even though Trump has singled him out in the past. And Bezos says he could be a Trump ally because he wants to help the next president cut red tape. "I'm actually very optimistic this time around," he said at The New York Times's DealBook conference on Wednesday. "I'm very hopeful. He seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation. And my point of view [is], if...

President-elect Donald Trump will sit down with NBC's Sunday show Meet the Press in his first network interview since winning the presidential election. The interview will be pretaped on Friday and will air on Sunday, Dec. 8.The NBC interview will be conducted by Kristen Welker.JUST ANNOUNCED: President-elect Donald Trump will sit down with @MeetThePress for his first network interview since winning the election. The exclusive interview airs this Sunday.https://t.co/yZBMWfRKBp pic.twitter.com/hyahNHnzRZ— NBC News PR (@NBCNewsPR) December 4, 2024Welker had last interviewed the incoming president in September 2023 and was a presidential debate moderator in the October 2020 debate between Trump and...

Former US President Donald Trump in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal claimed he had warned Russian President Vladimir Putin about potential consequences if Russia invaded Ukraine. He recounted a conversation in which he warned the Russian leader about the severe consequences of invading Ukraine. Trump described Putin's reaction as one of disbelief, but he responded with unwavering certainty.Trump claimed that he told Putin, “Vladimir, if you go after Ukraine, I’m going to hit you so hard, you’re not even going to believe it. I’m going to hit you right in the middle of fricking Moscow... We’re friends....

The Kremlin has refused to publish details of "high-level conversations" between top officials, a spokesperson said after Donald Trump said he had threatened Russian President Vladimir Putin with a strike on his capital if Moscow invaded Ukraine. Trump, the Republican candidate for elections now just two weeks away, told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published on Friday that he had warned Putin—with whom he said he had a "great relationship"—not to go to war in Ukraine or he would "hit" Moscow. "I said, 'Vladimir, 'if you go after Ukraine, I am going to hit you so hard, you're...

Donald Trump, the US presidential candidate from the Republican party, said that he threatened Russian President Vladimir Putin with striking Moscow in the event of an attack on Ukraine. Trump stated this in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. "I said. ‘Vladimir, if you pursue Ukraine, I will hit you so hard you won't even believe it. I'm going to hit you right in the center of freaking Moscow. I said, 'We’re friends. I don’t want to do it, but I have no choice,’" Trump said in the interview. According to Trump, Putin responded by saying, "No way." “I...

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview broadcast on Wednesday that he preferred Joe Biden to Donald Trump but was willing to work with any U.S. president. Putin was asked by interviewer Pavel Zarubin who was "better for us" out of Biden, a Democrat, and Trump, a Republican. Putin replied: "Biden. He is a more experienced, predictable person, a politician of the old school. But we will work with any U.S. president who the American people have confidence in.”

For 74 years, the NATO has been America’s most important military alliance. Presidents of both parties have seen NATO as a force multiplier enhancing the influence of the United States by uniting countries on both sides of the Atlantic in a vow to defend one another.Donald Trump has made it clear that he sees NATO as a drain on U.S. resources by freeloaders. He has held that view for at least a quarter-century.In his 2000 book, “The America We Deserve,” Trump wrote that “pulling back from Europe would save this country millions of dollars annually.” As president, he repeatedly threatened...