Free Republic

As president, I will restore American strength on the world stage and focus our attention and resources on deterring Xi’s Chinese Communist Party — the greatest economic and security threat facing America today. My goal is straightforward: We win, and they lose. My treasury and commerce secretaries will focus on American interests, not Wall Street’s access to Chinese markets. I will create an Office of Economic Security and Competition to prioritize reshoring and friendshoring critical production, protecting technologies and reducing reliance on adversaries. I will defend American workers and innovators from illicit technology transfer and intellectual-property theft. I will align...

President Biden on Saturday suggested he might cut off US military assistance to Israel if it moved forward with a military operation to dismantle Hamas’ last stronghold in the Gazan city of Rafah. An Israeli victory over Hamas is now a red line for a president surrendering to a pro-Hamas political base. Americans should understand the consequences of that red line: A guarantee that Oct. 7 will happen again, that hostages will never come home, that an emboldened Iran will escalate on all fronts and that Hamas-oppressed civilians will suffer indefinitely. After dismantling Hamas’ operational control over northern and central...

Floyd’s death during a police chokehold on May 25, 2020, ignited nationwide protests to reform police procedures. “It doesn’t get any worse than that,” President Donald Trump said of Floyd’s death. Within three weeks, he signed an executive order establishing an abuse-of-force database and called for improved police practices. Fast forward to Feb. 22, 2024, when Georgia nursing student Laken Riley was bludgeoned to death, allegedly at the hands of an illegal migrant, Jose Ibarra, who is a member of the notorious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

Former President Donald Trump is well on his way to easily locking up the GOP presidential nomination for the third straight time, but attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference were split over who should join his ticket. Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem tied as the top pick among CPAC goers in the veepstakes with 15% apiece, according to a straw poll at the grassroots event. Former Hawaii Democrat Rep. Tulsi Gabbard came next with 9% support, followed by Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) at 8% each. Rep....

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday he would not consider being Donald Trump’s running mate one day after the former president confirmed the former 2024 rival was on his “short list” — with DeSantis revealing that he was looking at other prospects, including another White House bid in four years. “People were mentioning me [as a potential vice president]. I am not doing that,” DeSantis told Republicans his presidential campaign had recruited to be delegates to this summer’s nominating convention during a thank-you call, audio of which was shared exclusively with The Post. The 45-year-old also went in-depth about who...

Former President Donald Trump acknowledged Tuesday that at least five high-profile Republicans and one former Democrat are on his shortlist for potential running mates in the general election — including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and onetime Democratic presidential primary candidate Tulsi Gabbard.

The European Union is good at coming up with inoffensive-sounding terminology to talk about unpleasant things. For example, the phrase “strategic autonomy” is a nice way of saying, “We don’t trust the Americans” — and, with Donald Trump leading the polls and boasting about encouraging Vladimir Putin to invade European countries, it is impossible to blame them. It is important to get the context of Trump’s remarks straight: Trump says he told an unidentified NATO counterpart whose country hadn’t met the organization’s target for defense spending, “No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage [Russia] to do...

The Trumps posed for a festive family Christmas photo — but noticeably missing was Melania Trump. Kimberly Guilfoyle, the fiancée of Donald Trump Jr., shared the portrait on her Instagram Story Tuesday, and while a very-grown-up Barron Trump stole the show, the former first lady was nowhere to be found. Snapped at Mar-a-Lago, the image features Trump Jr., former President Donald Trump, Guilfoyle, Barron, Ivanka Trump, husband Jared Kushner and their kids, Tiffany Trump and husband Michael Boulos. Barron, 17, can be seen towering in front of the Christmas tree and behind his father.

Former President Donald Trump leads President Biden by two percentage points among registered voters nationwide in a head-to-head 2024 election matchup, according to a poll out Tuesday. The New York Times/Siena College survey shows Trump is backed by 46% of those voters while Biden is supported by 44%. Another 9% of registered voters refused to answer either way. Among likely voters, however, 47% said they backed Biden while 45% said they backed Trump and 8% said they didn’t know or declined to answer.

Then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump railed against “so-called Christians” and “pieces of s—” evangelicals who supported Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in the 2016 Iowa caucuses, according to a forthcoming book. At the time, allies of Cruz had been making hay of Trump’s flub before an audience at Virginia’s Liberty University, a conservative evangelical college, in which he botched a question about his favorite Bible verse and replied that it came from the book of “Two Corinthians,” rather than “Second Corinthians.” “The laughter and ridicule were embarrassing enough for Trump,” Tim Alberta writes in his new book, “The Kingdom, the Power,...

Within days of the Hamas slaughter of Israeli innocents, President Biden issued a veiled warning to Iran and any others who smelled a chance to pile on. As the president put it in a White House appearance Oct. 10, “To anyone thinking of taking advantage of the situation, I have one word: Don’t.” It wasn’t exactly a Clint Eastwood “Make my day” moment, but the point was clear enough. The United States has Israel’s back, so the axis of evil forces better stay on the sidelines. The point was underscored when Biden ordered an aircraft carrier strike group to the...

Donald Trump’s tax broker was forced to admit to authorities in 2020 that Mar-a-Lago had a market value of just $27 million — not the $517 million claimed in other documents, trial evidence revealed Monday. Trump, 77, also allegedly boasted of having a net worth of up to $5 billion — likely more than double what he really had — to land the coveted lease to a New York City golf course in 2010, according to documents. The revelations came during the fifth week of New York state’s $250 million Manhattan Supreme Court civil fraud case against the former president,...

SCRANTON, Pa. — President Biden has long touted his roots in this former coal-mining town, where he was born and lived for the first decade of his life. But a little more than a year before voters will determine whether the 80-year-old commander-in-chief will receive a second four-year term of office, denizens of Scranton’s Biden Street don’t feel so proud of their most famous native son. SCRANTON, Pa. — President Biden has long touted his roots in this former coal-mining town, where he was born and lived for the first decade of his life. But a little more than a...

If you’re kicking yourself for missing the historic moment of a House speaker’s ouster Tuesday because you had to work or get your kids from school, relax: We watched, and all it boiled down to was hot air — sound and fury, signifying nothing except cynical nihilism and likely weeks of chaotic paralysis. Oh, Rep. Matt Gaetz and his fellow rebels talked plenty about high principle and the crisis of the Republic, but all they were really doing was burning down the House, or at least the House Republican majority. Professed conservative hardliner Gaetz got the chaos he wanted, ironically...

The purported value of Ivanka Trump’s Park Avenue penthouse came under scrutiny this week during testimony at trial in the New York attorney general’s $250 million civil fraud case against the former president. Donald Bender, a former accountant for Donald Trump at the accounting firm Mazars USA, testified in Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday that he saw errors between the value listed for the posh pad on financial documents and its potential sale price. Bender explained from the witness stand that, while he wasn’t in charge of auditing the company financials, he “from time to time” would tell Trump Organization...

Former President Donald Trump has drawn outrage from pro-life conservatives after he panned a six-week abortion ban championed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as “terrible.” “I think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake,” Trump, 77, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” when asked about the policy in an interview that aired Sunday. The 45th president’s remarks triggered backlash among anti-abortion activists, including from groups like Live Action and Students for Life,*** “Pathetic and shameful. Trump is actively attacking the very pro-life laws made possible by Roe’s overturning,” Lila Rose of Live Action said on X, formerly...

Donald Trump on Sunday said it was “my decision” to believe that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged” — saying he didn’t respect the aides and lawyers who’d told him he’d lost. The former president, 77, was asked by NBC’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press” why he opted to ignore his “most senior lawyers” and campaign staffers about the election results. “Because I didn’t respect them,” Trump replied. Welker later asked the Republican frontrunner in the presidential primary whether he was “calling the shots … ultimately?” “As to whether or not I believed it was rigged? Oh, sure,” Trump...

The Trump White House issued a warning to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in 2021 urging him to enact mask mandates in the Sunshine State, a letter shows. The directive, dated Jan. 10, 2021, states that “aggressive mitigation must be used” to combat the virus. It advised “uniform implementation of effective face masking” and “strict physical distancing.”DeSantis, 44, released the letter Thursday, as he accused former President Donald Trump, 77, of being a “power-hungry” bureaucrat. “Even in January of 2021, the Trump-Fauci White House Coronavirus Task Force attacked Florida for being open and demanded Florida impose a mask mandate and enact...

***Donald Trump “grossly” exaggerated his net worth on financial disclosure forms for a decade — cooking the books by as much as $2.2 billion in a single year, New York Attorney General Letitia James alleged i*** James’ office asked a judge to rule on parts of her $250 million lawsuit against the ex-president, his company the Trump Organization and kids Eric and Donald Trump Jr. over alleged “staggering” fraud. For instance, Trump’s net worth in 2014 was placed at $5.77 billion on his disclosure form, when ***it was actually $2.2 billion less — or $3.55 billion, the filing claims. The...

Former President Donald Trump lost six percentage points of support in a national tracking poll after skipping last week’s first Republican primary debate, though the 77-year-old is still well clear of the rest of the GOP field.An even 50% of likely Republican primary voters backed Trump in the Emerson College survey out Monday, down from 56% in the poll the outlet released Aug. 19, four days before the showdown at Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gained two percentage points from the previous poll and placed second behind Trump with 12% support. Following the top two were entrepreneur Vivek...