Free Republic

The United States stands on the brink of an unprecedented transformer shortage that threatens to derail President Trump’s ambitious plans for AI-driven reindustrialization. With wait times for electrical transformers now stretching to 3–5 years—compared to just 4–6 weeks in 2020—manufacturers warn of "catastrophic" grid instability as power demands skyrocket from new data centers, factories, and infrastructure projects. The bottleneck stems from Trump’s aggressive trade policies, including a 25% tariff on India (the world’s largest transformer producer, making 60% of global supply) and looming 100% penalties on China (which produces another 20%). The Transformer Shortage: A Ticking Time Bomb Transformers are...

President Trump is increasingly directing his frustrations at specific Senate Republicans, including turning his fire on key allies in recent days. The president this week publicly excoriated Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) over upholding the “blue slip” tradition and pushing a congressional stock trading ban, respectively. While Trump has long had a tendency of airing his grievances out in public — especially toward those he views as disloyal — the latest barbs about staunch backers are raising eyebrows and drawing questions about whether the strategy will continue to be effective in advancing his agenda. “I don’t think...

US President Donald Trump said on July 31 that Russia’s actions in Ukraine were “disgusting” and indicated that new sanctions against Moscow were coming over its invasion of its neighbour. “Russia – I think it’s disgusting what they’re doing. I think it’s disgusting,” Mr Trump told journalists. He also said he would send his special envoy Steve Witkoff, currently in Israel, to visit Russia next. Russian President Vladimir Putin has already met Mr Witkoff multiple times in Moscow, before Mr Trump’s efforts to mend ties with the Kremlin came to a grinding halt. Washington has given Moscow until the end...

Here’s why Fort Knox gold will never be audited. Not in the past 70+ years, and probably never in the future. What are they hiding from us—and why do even presidents back down when they try to investigate? President Trump said multiple times that he wanted to visit Fort Knox to verify if the gold was really there. Elon Musk offered to livestream the whole thing. And then… nothing. Total silence. No visit. No audit. Not a single follow-up. The story just kind of disappeared. But why? In this video, we talk about the Fort Knox gold controversy—why there hasn’t...

President Trump on Monday suggested that first lady Melania Trump convinced him that Russian President Vladimir Putin has continually backed out of his promises over a possible peace deal with Ukraine. He explained that his wife pointed out Putin's false promises following Trump's phone calls with the Russian leader amid calls for a deal to end the conflict. "I go home. I tell the first lady, ‘You know, I spoke to Vladimir today. We had a wonderful conversation.’ She said, ‘Oh, really? another city was just hit,'" he said. "There's times I'd get home. I'd say, 'First lady, I had...

President Trump said Monday his administration would send Ukraine additional weapons after his administration imposed a pause on some shipments to Kyiv. “We’re going to send some more weapons. We have to. They have to be able to defend themselves. They’re getting hit very hard now,” Trump told reporters during a dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “Defensive weapons, primarily, but they’re getting hit very, very hard. So many people are dying in that mess,” he added. The Pentagon last week confirmed a decision to halt the delivery of some air defense missiles and munitions to Ukraine, citing concerns...

FORT KNOX EXPOSED: WHAT HAPPENED TO THE GOLD INSPECTION? — NO AUDIT, NO TRANSPARENCY, AND WHY DID TRUMP BACK DOWN? Where is America’s gold? Fort Knox hasn’t been fully audited since the 1950s — and in 2025, Trump promised an inspection, then suddenly backed down. No transparency. No answers. Just silence. This investigation asks the question no one in power dares to face: What are they hiding?… ….. Trump Promised Transparency. Then Walked Away. Why? Early in 2025, President Donald J. Trump announced plans to authorize a full audit of Fort Knox — the first in over 70 years. Supporters...

Podcast personality Joe Rogan broke with President Donald Trump again over a new issue. “Bro, these ICE raids are (expletive) nuts, man,” Rogan said to two guests Luis J. Gomez and Big Jay Oakerson in a recent episode of his podcast published June 18. “I don’t think if the Trump administration, if they’re running and they said we’re going to go to Home Depot and we’re going to arrest all the people at Home Depot. We’re going to go to construction sites and we’re just going to tackle people at construction sites. I don’t think anybody would have signed up...

Those who compare Trump’s actions to the ‘forever wars’ have seriously misjudged himWhat now?After the daring and what everyone is describing as a “flawlessly executed” attack by the United States on Iran’s hardened nuclear facilities Saturday night, Macbeth’s words must be on the minds of many: “If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well / It were done quickly.”Things did not work out so well for the Thane of Cawdor, as Macbeth then was. But even though his attack was not “the be-all and the end-all” he wanted, everyone who wishes for peace must second his opening argument....

I spent millions of my own money and TRAVELED THE ENTIRE COUNTRY campaigning for President Trump and his MAGA agenda and his promises. And Trump’s MAGA agenda included these key promises: NO MORE FOREIGN WARS. NO MORE REGIME CHANGE. WORLD PEACE. And THIS is what the people voted for. Only 6 months in and we are back into foreign wars, regime change, and world war 3. It feels like a complete bait and switch to please the neocons, warmongers, military industrial complex contracts, and neocon tv personalities that MAGA hates and who were NEVER TRUMPERS! After the bombs were dropped,...

President Trump's second term has been a payday for the powerful, exposing a disconnect in his promise to deliver for "the forgotten man" of America's working class. Why it matters: The populist paradox at the heart of MAGA — a movement fueled by economic grievance and championed by a New York billionaire — has never been more pronounced, Axios' Tal Axelrod and Zachary Basu report. ⚡ Trump's blue-collar base remains fiercely loyal, energized by his hardline stances on immigration, trade and culture — and patient that his economic "Golden Age" will materialize.

“If “Too Late” at the Fed would CUT, we would greatly reduce interest rates, long and short, on debt that is coming due. Biden went mostly short term. There is virtually no inflation (anymore), but if it should come back, RAISE “RATE” TO COUNTER. Very Simple!!! He is costing our Country a fortune. Borrowing costs should be MUCH LOWER!!!”

My opinion bluntly, Trump had better get his head out of his ass – NOW! We started this war and accelerated it under the Biden Administration. Victoria Nuland was there, handing out sandwiches at Maidan, encouraging the overthrow of the government, and she handpicked the “interim government” and then instructed them to start the civil war and attack the Russians in the Donbas. In this instance, it is NATO and the Neocons who have provoked this war with Russia out of vengeance for once being communist. They installed the interim UNELECTED president Oleksandr Turchynov (born 1964) and ordered him to...

President Donald Trump lashed out at his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for continuing to attack Ukraine while talks are ongoing between the two countries to find an end to the conflict. Speaking to reporters on the tarmac at Morristown, New Jersey before he boarded Air Force One and returned to Washington, D.C., Trump spoke about a range of topics as he fielded questions ranging from tariffs to manufacturing goals to Russia and Ukraine peace talks. "I'm not happy with what Putin is doing," Trump said. "He's killing a lot of people, and I don't know what the hell happened to...

President Trump in a new post on Truth Social on Sunday night accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of having gone “absolutely” crazy and said if he did not stop what he was doing, it would lead to the downfall of his country. The social media comments came after Trump had issued some of his toughest comments about Putin earlier in remarks to reporters in New Jersey. “I’ve always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. He has gone absolutely CRAZY!,” Trump wrote. “He is needlessly killing a lot of people, and...

President Donald Trump on Sunday insisted there will be no exemptions in the tariffs after there was some confusion when it came to electronics. 'NOBODY is getting “off the hook” for the unfair Trade Balances, and Non Monetary Tariff Barriers, that other Countries have used against us, especially not China which, by far, treats us the worst!' the president posted on Truth Social. A notice released late on Friday suggested gadgets would avoid Trump's 125 percent import tax on Chinese goods and even his sweeping 10 percent global tariffs. But his administration clarified on Sunday that electronics would be subject...