Free Republic

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is continuing his push against President Donald Trump's tariffs, with legislation he is co-sponsoring against them to come before the Senate next week. Paul says lawmakers should be in control of tariffs, rather than Trump, through the use of a national-emergency law. The discussion will come less than a month after Paul was one of the only two chamber Republicans to vote against his party's budget, which is seen as a key part of the president's tax cuts, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. "I don't have any bad feelings towards the president, but this is...

President Trump continues to walk back his original tariff assault, and markets are pleased. They rose again Wednesday after Mr. Trump said he won’t fire the Federal Reserve Chairman and is likely to retreat from his highest China tariffs. Is this Mr. Trump’s François Mitterrand moment? Readers of a certain age will recall how the French Socialist President swept into power in 1981 promising a far left agenda of government control over the private economy. The market reaction was brutal. Within a year he had put socialism on pause and by 1983 he had abandoned most of it. He went...

Washington -- The infighting and backstabbing that plagued President Donald Trump’s first term have returned as a threat to his second, with deepening fissures over trade, national security and questions of personal loyalty. The latest turmoil threatens to engulf the Pentagon, where Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has pushed out top advisers and faces fresh controversy over sharing sensitive information about airstrikes in Yemen outside of classified channels. A former Pentagon spokesperson who was ousted last week wrote in Politico that Trump should fire Hegseth for presiding over a “full-blown meltdown.” The interpersonal drama is not - at least yet -...

President Trump is taking exception to the idea that his Administration is offering exceptions to his punishing tariffs. That’s the story after a confusing weekend that offers more lessons in the arbitrary nature of Trump trade policy. Late Friday his own Customs and Border Protection (CBP) department 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 notice takes the tariff rate...

Elon Musk has split with Donald Trump on tariffs in the latest sign the billionaire is distancing himself from the White House. The president's special adviser told a political rally he hopes to see a 'zero tariff situation' between the US and Europe to create a free trade zone. On Wednesday, Trump introduced a controversial 20 percent tariff for Europe along with even higher tariffs for other global trading partners as what he dubbed 'Liberation Day'. But while the president has been pushing US isolationism, Musk espoused a more collaborative approach. 'I hope that the United States and Europe can...

France's far-right leader Jordan Bardella Friday said he had cancelled his speech at a right-wing meeting in Washington after a "gesture alluding to Nazi ideology" by conservative firebrand Steve Bannon. The president of France's National Rally party, who is in the US capital, said he was not present when Bannon, one of the masterminds behind Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, made a gesture that has been described as a Nazi salute on Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

A Florida man ​has been arrested for making “violent” threats against President Trump, police said. Shannon Depararro Atkins​ allegedly made posts on social media targeting the ​Commander-in-Chief. Atkins, 46, was arrested just before 7:30 p.m. Friday during a traffic stop in West Palm Beach — where he was allegedly found with cocaine, cops said. Authorities arrested Atkins after a tip, and the West Palm Beach man allegedly admitted making the “violent posts,” authorities said. “America needs one good bullet to be saved,” Atkins allegedly wrote on Facebook on Jan. 19, a day before Trump was inaugurated for his second term....

President-elect Donald Trump urged the US Supreme Court Wednesday to take the extraordinary step of halting his sentencing later this week in his Manhattan “hush money” case. Trump’s lawyers urged the nation’s highest court to step in after a New York appeals court refused to postpone the Friday hearing, at which he is set to face a no-punishment sentence.The attorneys argued that going ahead with the sentencing would unconstitutionally interfere with Trump preparing for his second term. This Court should enter an immediate stay of further proceedings in the New York trial court to prevent grave injustice and harm to...

President-elect Trump told The Post Saturday he supports immigration visas for highly skilled workers, appearing to side with Elon Musk in the roiling intra-MAGA debate on the issue. “I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them,” Trump said by phone, referring to the H-1B program, which permits companies to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations. “I have many H-1B visas on my properties. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program,” added Trump, who restricted access to foreign worker visas in...

A migrant from Guatemala has been arrested on allegations he lit a sleeping woman on fire inside a Coney Island F train on Sunday morning. Police sources say a civilian identified the suspected killer as he rode on a train at 34th Street in Manhattan. The witness waved down the cops, who later picked the suspect up and detained him. He has not been charged with a crime yet, sources added. The suspect entered the country and was detained by border patrol agents in Arizona in June 2018 Authorities were still working to confirm whether he is in the country...

“The View” host Whoopi Goldberg made a joke about Elon Musk and JD Vance killing Donald Trump on Thursday’s episode of the daytime talkshow, one which left her scrambling to clean up. Goldberg, 69, made the quip during a conversation about the way Musk, 53, has inserted himself into the debate about the bipartisan spending bill that lawmakers on Capitol Hill are hoping to pass and in turn avoid a government shutdown. “Who is in charge?” asked Goldberg, a vocal critic of President-elect Trump, 78. “Because I’ve been saying it for a while. I’ve been saying it – I think...

The House Ethics Committee secretly voted to release the findings of its investigation of sexual misconduct allegations against former Rep. Matt Gaetz, according to a new report. Gaetz (R-Fla.) resigned from Congress on Nov. 13 when President-elect Donald Trump announced him as his pick for attorney general — before Gaetz withdrew eight days later due to Senate Republican concerns about those allegations. The Republican-led Ethics Committee’s secret vote occurred sometime in December, CNN first reported Wednesday, and the document is expected to be released sometime before the end of the month. The panel’s spokespeople did not immediately respond to The...

President-elect Donald Trump said Monday he’d consider pardoning embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Trump was blunt when asked by a reporter during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort if he’d come to Adams’ rescue with a presidential pardon. “I would,” he said. “I think that he was treated pretty unfairly.” The declaration came as Adams battles for his political life and potential freedom against a historic bribery and corruption federal indictment, which he denies. Many in Adams’ camp have seen another Trump presidency as a potential boon for his defense, either through a pardon or a sympathetic...

Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, said gay people should be able to serve in the US military, in an apparent shift from his previous stance on the issue. When asked by reporters Thursday if gays should serve in the military, the former Fox News host and National Guard captain replied, “Yes,” Politico reported.Hegseth, who served tours of duty in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay as an infantry officer, previously called policies allowing openly gay people to serve part of a “Marxist,” social justice agenda. In his 2024 book “The War on Warriors,” Hegseth wrote that the “don’t...

President-elect Donald Trump used a “forceful hand” to get his Drug Enforcement Agency pick to drop out on Tuesday after hearing “concerns” about the Floridian’s record, sources familiar told The Post — leading outgoing Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) to make a bid for the position. Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister issued a lengthy statement indicating he was withdrawing his name for the DEA slot — but did not reveal the specific reason he was dropping out of the confirmation process after just three days. “Everyone knows President Trump calls the shots,” a well-placed source spilled. “The president heard the concerns...

President-elect Donald J. Trump’s support for Pete Hegseth, who he announced as his nominee for defense secretary shortly after Election Day, is wobbling after a crush of controversy over a rape allegation and a 2018 email from Mr. Hegseth’s mother accusing him of a pattern of abuse toward women. How Mr. Hegseth fares through a series of tests on Wednesday will be critical for his chances. He is set to continue his meetings with key senators, including Joni Ernst of Iowa, a combat veteran who has spoken about being sexually assaulted herself, and his mother is expected to sit for...

The mother of Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, wrote him an email in 2018 saying he had routinely mistreated women for years and displayed a lack of character. “On behalf of all the women (and I know it’s many) you have abused in some way, I say … get some help and take an honest look at yourself,” Penelope Hegseth wrote, stating that she still loved him.She also wrote: “I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around and uses women for his own power and ego. You are that...

Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump's pick for defense secretary, was investigated for an alleged sexual assault in 2017 but no charges were filed. The alleged incident took place in the early morning hours of Oct. 8, 2017, at the address of the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa in Monterey, California, the city said in a statement. The police department investigated 'an alleged sexual assault' involving Hegseth, a Fox News host and Army National Guard veteran, that was reported four days later, according to the statement. The victim's name and age are confidential. No weapons were involved, according to the statement,...

Exit poll results showed 79% of Jewish voters backing Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday, compared with 21% who said they’d voted for the Republican, former President Donald Trump. More responses are still being added to the poll, which was conducted by a consortium of national media outlets, and the results could change. If the current split holds, it would represent yet another election cycle in which Republican claims that Jews would flock to their candidate because of Israel or antisemitism did not pan out.Edison Research, which conducts the poll for the consortium, surveyed voters in 10 states: Arizona,...