Free Republic

"The door is closed," said a would-be migrant to the US. Yorman Briceno, who was anticipating applying for asylum in the United States, has found his plans stalled as he waits at a shelter in Ciudad Juarez, near the border crossing at El Paso, Texas. The Trump administration has not only quashed illegal immigration but has put a chill on legal immigration as well. "There's no more hope for entering legally as long as Donald Trump is there," Briceno told The Wall Street Journal, "and anyone telling you otherwise is lying." Border crossings have hit their lowest level since the...

A popular knock on this second Donald Trump term is that the president stocked his administration with nothing but saluting loyalists. Tell that to the staffers scheming to undercut his signature tax reform—by “managing” him into surrendering to the left’s favorite talking point. A (delighted) mainstream media several weeks ago started writing stories about a new Republican interest in raising taxes on “the rich”—namely hiking the top individual tax rate from 37% to 40%, higher than even under Barack Obama. These reports all come from anonymous White House officials, and always take care to insinuate Mr. Trump is “open” to...

They needed to get the president alone. On April 9, financial markets were going haywire. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick wanted President Trump to put a pause on his aggressive global tariff plan. But there was a big obstacle: Peter Navarro, Trump’s tariff-loving trade adviser, who was constantly hovering around the Oval Office. Navarro isn’t one to back down during policy debates and had stridently urged Trump to keep tariffs in place, even as corporate chieftains and other advisers urged him to relent. And Navarro had been regularly around the Oval Office since Trump’s “Liberation Day”...

Tariffs are advertised in the name of helping American workers, but what do you know? They turn out to favor the powerful and politically connected. That’s the main message of President Trump’s decision to exempt smartphones and assorted electronic goods from his most onerous tariffs. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) late Friday issued a notice listing products that will be exempt from Mr. Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs that can run as high as 145% on goods from China. The exclusions apply to smartphones, laptop computers, hard drives, computer processors, servers, memory chips, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and other electronics. The CBP...

President Trump finally blinked. It took a week for the plunge in the stock and bond markets—along with a sustained campaign by executives, lawmakers, lobbyists and foreign leaders—to prompt Trump to roll back for 90 days a major element of his sweeping tariff plan. The president said that the reaction to the tariffs was getting a bit “yippy”—like a nervous athlete unable to perform—and he relied on his instincts to change course as he watched the bond market tank and listened to business leaders including JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon express fears of a recession. The episode was classic Trump:...

President Trump says trade wars are easy to win. Investors think otherwise, and on Wednesday Mr. Trump decided maybe investors are right. After a flight from U.S. assets and a rout in the bond market, Mr. Trump announced a pause for 90 days on the worst of his “liberation” tariffs on most countries, China excepted. Markets celebrated with a stock-market rally on hope that perhaps Mr. Trump isn’t entirely oblivious to the damage he’s causing. The rout in dollar assets reversed, at least somewhat, and the rise in the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield eased. It would be hard to find...

Despite repeated messages of support by Trump, Waltz has lost sway with the president and the backing of senior aides within the White House, officials said, just as the administration struggles to broker peace deals and faces the threat of further war in the Middle East. For Trump, Waltz’s biggest sin wasn’t starting a Signal chat to coordinate strikes on the Houthis in Yemen, or even posting Israel-provided intelligence onto an unclassified network, it was having the Atlantic magazine’s editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg’s number in his phone and inadvertently adding him to the conversation. Trump’s anger spilled over into...

The King of Canada wants President Trump to back off. Just don’t expect him to actually say that publicly. Britain’s King Charles III, who is also Canada’s head of state, is wrestling with an unprecedented diplomatic headache. The monarch wants to stand up for the largest country in his realm as Trump talks about turning it into the 51st U.S. state. At the same time he has to honor the British government’s desire that he keep Trump, who deeply admires the royal family, sweet. The result has been a master class in passive-aggressive pageantry from Buckingham Palace. Earlier this month,...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that if Russia rejected the 30-day U.S.-brokered cease-fire that Ukraine had accepted, “we’ll unfortunately know what the impediment is to peace here.” We knew that before, but now we know even on Mr. Rubio’s terms, as the Kremlin on Thursday said nyet. President Trump’s envoy, Steven Witkoff, is visiting Moscow, and the Kremlin welcomed him with the back of its hand. Yuri Ushakov, a close adviser to Vladimir Putin, told Russian television that a cease-fire would be “nothing other than a temporary breather for Ukrainian soldiers.” He added, “our goal is long-term peaceful...

The op-ed was entitled “Can White Men Finally Stop Complaining?” and it appeared the other day in the Wall Street Journal. White men, it charged, have a “victim mentality” – even though they’re back on top. Not only has Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office, but for white dudes, everything’s coming up roses: The manosphere won. Bro podcasters top the charts. Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg declares his company needs more “masculine energy.” Elon Musk shares a post saying only “high-status males” should run the country. The White House kills diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, and so do multiple companies,...

"BERLIN—President Trump’s embrace of Russia is causing Europeans to rethink their security and giving currency to an idea the U.S. has long sought to avoid: a nuclear-armed Germany. Friedrich Merz, who is poised to become Germany’s next chancellor, said Berlin should start talks about expanding the French and British nuclear deterrents to cover Europe, according to an interview the conservative politician did with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung weekly. .... On the nuclear side, researchers and some politicians say Berlin’s fastest route to rebuilding a deterrent could be to replicate its arrangement with the U.S. This could see French nuclear bombers...

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered a strong rebuke of President Donald Trump's decision to level punishing tariffs on their country. He cited the Wall Street Journal to criticize Trump, and call his decision 'dumb.' 'Donald, they point out that even though you are a very smart guy, this is a very dumb thing to do,' he said angrily at a press conference on Tuesday. Imports from Canada will now be taxed at 25 percent as Trump's tariffs went into effect on Tuesday. 'Today the United States launched a trade war against Canada, their closest partner and ally, and their...

High-profile MAGA personalities applauded Friday as President Trump escalated his hostility toward Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky. Mr. Trump wrote on social media that Mr. Zelensky “disrespected the United States in the cherished Oval Office” and “can come back when he is ready for Peace.” That followed a hostile meeting in which Mr. Trump and JD Vance berated and bullied Mr. Zelensky, with the vice president demanding: “Have you said thank you once?” In the days leading up to the meeting, Mr. Trump described Mr. Zelensky as a “dictator” and suggested that Ukraine started the war with Russia. Along with the...

"Vance Wields Threat of Sanctions, Military Action to Push Putin Into Ukraine Deal," blared the headline of the news report, which was accompanied on X with the caption: "Exclusive: Vance pledged to hit Russia with sanctions and potentially military action if Putin won't agree to a peace deal that guarantees Ukraine's independence." The headline that characterized Vance as threatening Russia---including with American military force---was condemned by the Vice-President on Friday. Vance reiterated that President Donald Trump would bring peace to the region, and said the newspaper had "twisted my words." - - - - - Vance went on to outline...

President Trump is looking forward to a fundamentally productive negotiation with Russia’s Putin and Ukraine’s Zelensky, Vice President JD Vance has said, in comments mischaracterised by the Wall Street Journal as a threat of war.U.S. Vice President JD Vance is speaking at the Munich Security Conference — taking place just one day after what is said to have been a terror attack in the city — and meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal before these engagements, Vance communicated President Donald Trump’s determination to make a peace deal in Ukraine and the incentives on...

Vice President J.D. Vance delivered his first major speech in Europe on Friday speaking at the Munich Security Conference in Germany.During his speech VP Vance did not hold back – just like his boss! Vice President Vance lectured Europe on the continent’s moves to eradicate free speech and free expression in the formerly free societies.Vice President Vance also spoke about ending the Ukraine-Russia War. J.d. Vance told the European crowd that there are certainly military tools and economic tools the West could use to pressure Vladimir Putin from reengaging Russian military operations in Ukraine.The Wall Street Journal immediately took the...

The Wall Street Journal reports that the consumer confidence that accompanied President Donald Trump’s entry into office has eroded. The University of Michigan’s February report on consumer sentiment found that it fell by 5 percent, from 71.1 percent in January to 67.8 percent this month. Americans now expect inflation this year will be 4.3 percent, a 1 percent increase from last month. Morning Consult also found that consumer optimism is quickly fading. Consumers are worried about volatile decisions around sweeping executive orders and potential tariffs. Early polling data from Trump’s first days in office showed that the speed of the...

Marko Elez is a 25 year old who has the trust and support of the world’s richest man, Elon Musk to help root out problems as part of the Department of Government Efficiency, aka “DOGE.” He and others of the DOGE team were doxxed several days ago in an article in Wired, along with other articles and posts on X. Elez was assisting Musk in his Trump-led efforts to root out fraud, waste and abuse from America’s government, starting with the United States Agency for International Development “USAID”, The State Department, Treasury Department, and other agencies. And then the mainstream...

WASHINGTON—In laying out the checks and balances of democracy, authors of the U.S. Constitution imagined that the president and Congress would wrestle for power when their authority conflicted, each fighting for influence. “Ambition must be made to counteract ambition,” James Madison wrote. President Trump’s ambition has been sweeping and muscular in the first days of his new term, producing less of a transition in government than a takeover. Congress, by contrast, has all but forfeited the match. The result, if Trump’s assertions of power survive the courts, would significantly rebalance power in Washington, centralizing unprecedented authority over federal spending, executive-branch...

Washington -- President-elect Donald Trump wants to travel to China after he takes office as part of his effort to deepen relations with Beijing, and also has talked to advisors about visit to India, a media report said Saturday. Trump, who arrived at the Dulles International Airport aboard a special plane along with First Lady Melania and son Barron, had during his election campaign threatened to impose additional tariffs on China. “President-elect Donald Trump has told advisors he wants to travel to China after he takes office, according to people familiar with the discussions, seeking to deepen a relationship with...