• Record-low migrant encounters: Donald Trump’s promise to shut down the border to illegal immigration is being realized in a big way. June set a new record for the fewest border encounters in U.S. history. The total number of illegal border crossings that Customs and Border Protection registered for last month nationwide was 25,243, a 12% drop from the previous record low set in February. Furthermore, this June’s numbers are 89% lower than the average monthly totals for the years 2021-2024. The number of gotaways has also dropped precipitously, with June’s total down 90% from the year prior. And the most significant data point is that the U.S. Border Patrol released zero illegal migrants into the U.S. last month. As has been repeatedly noted, all it took to fix the border crisis was a president willing to uphold American sovereignty and the laws already on the books.

• OBBBA is a win for pro-life: Within the massive One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which the House passed on Thursday and Donald Trump subsequently signed into law on Friday, is a provision that reforms Medicaid to prevent any taxpayer dollars from going to the nation’s biggest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood. While the Hyde Amendment prevents the federal government from directly funding abortions, it does not prevent Planned Parenthood from receiving taxpayer funding for other health-related services. Of course, our tax dollars do subsidize abortions because money is fungible. While this provision is only good for one year, it still serves as a significant hit to Planned Parenthood’s bottom line, further ensuring the abortion provider will have to close more of its abortion mills.

• Supreme Court agrees to take on bans of boys in girls’ sports: In June, the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s ban on “gender-affirming care” gender mutilation for minors. Now, SCOTUS has agreed to take on West Virginia and Idaho’s bans on “transitioned” boys playing in girls’ sports. The Court is currently out of session, with the next term scheduled to begin on October 3, at which time this case will be heard. The West Virginia case was brought by a boy whose malfeasant and malicious parents have denied him his natural body through puberty blockers since third grade. Given his lack of puberty, he cannot compete with the boys, and his lawyers argue that if he can’t compete against girls, he is being denied access to sporting competition altogether. The Supreme Court should see that transitioning children is child abuse; the inability to compete in sports is just one manifestation of that abuse.

• EPA officials pillory Trump agenda: Some 144 Environmental Protection Agency officials have been placed on leave after signing a public letter blasting the Trump administration’s focus on all available resources for energy dominance. The letter, which was also signed by several former EPA officials, most of whom were Democrat appointees, claimed that the Trump administration was undermining public trust in science and promoting a “culture of fear.” That charge is ironic given that climate change alarmism, which these EPA officials espouse, is predicated on promoting fear. EPA Director Lee Zeldin explained that these rogue officials have been put on leave pending an internal investigation. “We have a ZERO tolerance policy for agency bureaucrats unlawfully undermining, sabotaging, and undercutting the agenda of this administration as voted for by the great people of this country last November,” Zeldin stated, adding, “Unfortunately, a small number of employees signed onto a public letter, written as agency employees, using their official work title, that was riddled with misinformation regarding agency business.” The EPA has over 15,000 employees.

• Trump’s tariff ultimatum letters: Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on most of the world on April 2, or “Liberation Day.” Quickly thereafter, most of the tariffs were suspended for 90 days to allow for the negotiation of new trade agreements that would obviate the tariffs. Wednesday, July 9, marks the expiration of the 90-day grace period, and Donald Trump has sent out about a dozen letters to nations or groups, such as the EU, that have failed to negotiate new terms. The letters inform these nations what tariffs they can expect on July 10. So far, only two nations have negotiated new trade agreements that settled the tariff issue: the United Kingdom and Vietnam. Nations that have been slow to negotiate and should probably expect a letter include Japan, Australia, India, Canada, and South Korea.

• Update on Iran’s nuke program: Last week, the Pentagon released its assessment of the impact of the U.S. military’s June 22 MOP bombing of Iran’s most protected nuclear facilities. According to Defense Department spokesman Sean Parnell, “We have degraded their program by one to two years — at least intel assessments inside the Department [of Defense] assess that.” He added, “We believe that Iran’s nuclear capability has been severely degraded, perhaps even their ambition to build a bomb." Parnell also reiterated, "All of the intelligence that we’ve seen [has] led us to believe that … those facilities especially have been completely obliterated.” Meanwhile, the U.S. has also raised sanctions against a network that smuggles Iranian-sourced oil and seeks to pass it off as Iraqi oil. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent explained, “Treasury will continue to target Tehran’s revenue sources and intensify economic pressure to disrupt the regime’s access to the financial resources that fuel its destabilizing activities.”

• Tucker Carlson interviews Iranian president: This morning, Tucker Carlson released an interview he recorded with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Pezeshkian is not the leader of Iran; that remains Ayatollah Khomeini. Tucker’s interview is the latest in a series of interviews he has conducted with world leaders, which have famously included Vladimir Putin. Tucker explained that he chose not to ask questions on the state of the Iranian nuclear sites hit in Operation Midnight Hammer because “there’s no chance he’s going to answer that question honestly.” The questions he asked in the interview include whether Pezeshkian believes the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency was spying on Iran and sharing information with Israel, “Should Americans Be Afraid of Iran?” and, “Are There Iranian Sleeper Cells in the United States?”

• Epstein conspiracies quashed? The Justice Department and FBI have released new information that quashes all that is left of the Jeffrey Epstein conspiracy theories. The release includes video of Epstein’s cell the night of his alleged suicide, both raw and with visual enhancements that show no one entering Epstein’s cell that night. The administration also claims there is no evidence that Epstein kept a client list or blackmailed any prominent individuals. This is meant to be the final word on the Epstein chapter, with the DOJ saying that no further disclosure is warranted, that much of the unreleased Epstein material involves child abuse, and that the DOJ will not permit the release of what amounts to child pornography.

Headlines

• Rep. Mark Green resigns from Congress (CNBC)

• Netanyahu to visit White House as peace talks with Hamas continue (Newsweek)

• Israel carries out strikes on Houthi-controlled power station, ports across Yemen (Times of Israel)

• OPEC+ members agree to larger-than-expected oil production hike in August (CNBC)

• Trump says U.S. “pretty much” has deal for TikTok, talks with China to begin (Fox Business)

• North Carolina governor vetoes Republican-led anti-DEI and -transgenderism legislation (Fox News)

• Xi Jinping’s no-show at BRICS Summit fuels speculation about China’s global standing (Fox News)

• Humor: Millions reported dead as Big Beautiful Bill passes (Babylon Bee)

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