Free Republic

Donald Trump’s rambling speeches and stream-of-consciousness press briefings could be symptoms of his “cognitive decline,” according to one of America’s top rhetoric experts. The warning comes as Trump and his aides are seeking a congressional probe into Joe Biden’s mental state during his one-term presidency. The extent to which Biden, now 82, hid his capability has led to major questions over whether he was fit to lead the country.

Has any American company run away from a public commitment faster than Target?In an Aug. 19, 2020, conference call, Target Chief Executive Brian Cornell forthrightly put his company in the forefront of the quest for racial and ethnic justice. George Floyd had been murdered by Police Officer Derek Chauvin, abetted by several other officers in Minneapolis, Target’s home city, only about three months earlier. Calls for recognition of the racism exposed by the killing were still reverberating nationwide.“Our team is passionately demanding equity and justice for our Black colleagues and guests,” Cornell said. “We are united in that passion and...

Representative Gregory Meeks (D-NY) said Wednesday on CNN’s “News Central” that President Donald Trump was trying to destroy the “fabric of America” so he could be a king. Meeks said, “This is about retribution. This is about individuals as we’ve seen again and again, universities, law firms, any individual that Trump perceives to be his enemy, it’s about retribution. It’s about him wanting to be a king. This is a danger and a violation of the Constitution of the United States of America, which does give individuals the freedom of speech and the freedom of standing up and educating individuals...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump wants the world to know he’s no “chicken” just because he’s repeatedly backed off high tariff threats.The U.S. Republican president’s tendency to levy extremely high import taxes and then retreat has created what’s known as the “TACO” trade, an acronym coined by The Financial Times’ Robert Armstrong that stands for “Trump Always Chickens Out.” Markets generally sell off when Trump makes his tariff threats and then recover after he backs down.Trump was visibly offended when asked about the phrase Wednesday and rejected the idea that he’s “chickening out,” saying that the reporter’s inquiry was...

A federal court has determined that President Donald Trump does not have the authority to unilaterally impose tariffs, dealing a sweeping blow to the president's main weapon in his ongoing global trade war. A panel of judges on the U.S. Court of International Trade found the tariffs were unlawful and permanently vacated them.

French President Emmanuel Macron slap memes just broke the internet😂 A combined collection of the 25 funniest memes in one thread 🧵

Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “All In” that if Republicans passed President Donald Trump’s spending bill as is, they would “get smoked” in the 2026 midterm elections. Host Chris Hayes said, “Josh Hawley, Republican, Missouri, wrote a big op-ed in The New York Times saying Medicaid cuts are a bad idea. Does that end up mattering in the Senate?” Murphy said, “I think it’s a great question, Chris because the Republican Party still does essentially operate like a cult. And that’s not fundamentally different in the Senate than it is in the House. I mean, yes, you’ve...

In his speech to the Canadian Parliament, the King sent a stronger-than-expected message to Donald Trump today. In the face of the US President’s goading, imposition of tariffs, and threats to annex his northern neighbour, Charles III warned Canada was facing unprecedented challenges in the postwar era in a world that has never been more dangerous and unstable. But he insisted Canada would protect their self-determination, forge new economic relationships with allies based on free trade, strengthen their military, and in a pointed signal to his old friend in the White House, a big fan of the Royal Family, he...

Moscow’s advantage on the Ukraine battlefield is waning, experts say. But President Donald Trump seems disinclined to ramp up pressure on the Kremlin to engage in ceasefire talks.Russia’s battlefield strength in Ukraine has started to wane and it could run into serious shortages of manpower and weaponry by next year, even as President Donald Trump retreats from pressure on Moscow to end the war, according to senior U.S. and European officials and military experts. In recent days, Trump appears to have abandoned the threat of harsh financial sanctions he repeated as recently as two weeks ago if Moscow doesn’t agree...

ATLANTA (AP) — The billionaire heir and the former bartender.Many Democrats have been in and out of the spotlight as the party looks for effective counters to President Donald Trump and his second administration. But two disparate figures, Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, have seen their national profiles rise by delivering messages that excite a demoralized and fractured party. The governor, a 60-year-old heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, and the congresswoman, the 35-year-old with working-class roots, both won their first elections in 2018. Both have urged mass resistance and accused their party...

PAINTSVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Janet Lynn Stumbo leaned on her cane and surveyed the two dozen or so voters who had convened in a small Appalachian town to meet with the chair of the Kentucky Democratic Party.A former Kentucky Supreme Court justice, the 70-year-old Stumbo said the event was “the biggest Democratic gathering I have ever seen in Johnson County,” an enclave where Republican Donald Trump got 85% of the presidential vote last November.Paintsville, the county seat, was the latest stop on the state party’s “Rural Listening Tour,” a periodic effort to visit overwhelmingly white, culturally conservative towns of the...

In a sharp escalation of trade negotiations with the European Union (E.U.), Trump took to social media. on Friday and announced that he is “recommending a straight 50% tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025.” “The European Union, which was formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage of the United States on TRADE, has been very difficult to deal with,” Trump claimed. “Their powerful trade barriers, VAT taxes, ridiculous corporate penalties, non-monetary trade barriers, monetary manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits against Americans companies, and more, have led to a trade deficit with the U.S. of more...

During an interview with Telemundo 47 on Friday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) argued that the state is going to lose money under the Republican tax and spending bill and people will lose health care and responded to if she’ll have to cut services to some immigrants by saying, “I don’t want to go there.” And “This is something we have to look at very seriously for how we can not leave these people without essential care.” Hochul said that “no state will be able to make up those kind of cuts. We just don’t have enough money. And...

The Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reports that Hamas is facing a severe financial crisis amid ongoing fighting with Israel across Gaza. Sources within the terror group revealed that Hamas is struggling to pay salaries — not only to government employees, but also to members of its military wing and staff in other affiliated bodies at all levels. The sources added that the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, have not paid salaries to terrorists for approximately three months and are facing serious financial difficulties in acquiring essential equipment...

During the 12 months leading up to March, more than 6,000 US citizens have applied to either become British subjects or to live and work in the country indefinitely – the highest number since comparable records began in 2004, according to data released on Thursday by the UK’s Home Office. Over the period, 6,618 Americans applied for British citizenship – with more than 1,900 of the applications received between January and March, most of which has been during the beginning of Donald Trump’s second US presidency. The surge in applications at the start of 2025 made that the highest number...

Democratic National Committee (DNC) Vice Chair David Hogg said during a Friday interview that Democratic Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett is an ideal role model for their party. Crockett has rapidly surged to prominence with her racially-charged tirades and inflammatory anti-Republican attacks, such as calling wheelchair-bound Texas Gov. Greg Abbott “Governor Hot Wheels.” When radio host Charlamagne Tha God requested Hogg’s thoughts on Crockett, the DNC vice chair gushed about the congresswoman, saying she delivers the “authenticity” that Americans desire. “Jasmine Crockett — I love her. She is amazing. I think that people want to see somebody who fights and calls...

What are the origins of “Trump Derangement Syndrome”? House Republicans would like scientists to find out. Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) introduced a bill directing the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to conduct or support research to “advance the understanding” of the phenomenon characterized by “intense emotional or cognitive reactions” to President Donald Trump. The bill, titled the “Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) Research Act of 2025,” says “early documented references” emerged during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, including “certain media coverage amplifying polarized responses” to his rhetoric. However, the bill notes that its “precise origins remain understudied.” One of the research objectives...

Cyril Ramaphosa must have prepped for an awkward meeting. After all, just a week earlier the Trump administration chartered a Boeing 767 to fly 59 Afrikaner farmers out of his country so they could claim refugee status amid allegations that the white population faced a genocide. But he may not have reckoned with Donald Trump’s sense of theatre. “Turn the lights down and just put this on,” he directed his aides in the Oval Office. “It’s right behind you.” Ministers, reporters, two of the greatest golfers of all time, and the world’s richest man craned their necks to watch as...

As President Donald Trump attempts to muscle his GOP agenda through a narrow House majority, Rep. Chip Roy is perhaps the most important holdout to win over. He may also be the toughest. Speaker Mike Johnson and his team have been confident they can pass Trump’s massive reconciliation bill, because they don’t believe any Republican will want to stand in the way and face Trump’s wrath. But Roy, the unapologetic fiscal hawk, is the rare GOP lawmaker willing to publicly challenge the president. He has already survived multiple calls by his own party to oust him — including from Trump...

Donald Trump used videos of a Marxist firebrand politician to highlight the alleged persecution of white farmers in South Africa as the country’s president sat beside him. The US president dimmed the lights at an Oval Office meeting to play clips of Julius Malema, known for his anti-white rhetoric, who was this month blocked from visiting Britain. Mr Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party won just under 10 per cent of the vote at last year’s general election with a platform feeding on the disillusionment of many young black voters who have not seen their lives improve, despite the abolition...