• Machado gives Peace Prize to Trump: On Thursday, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado met with Donald Trump at the White House, where she took the opportunity to give him the Nobel Peace Prize she had received last year. She explained her gesture “as a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom.” Trump thanked Machado, saying that meeting her was a great honor and that “she is a wonderful woman who has been through so much.” Machado would currently be the president of Venezuela without the election-rigging efforts of the now-ousted Nicolás Maduro. Now, Venezuela’s acting president is Delcy Rodriguez, who has been cooperating with the Trump administration on its demands. The White House has determined that stabilizing Venezuela and eventually holding free elections is a better course than attempting to completely remove the Maduro regime from the government now. Thus far, no timeframe for future elections has been set.

• Senate sends three spending bills to Trump: Like the House on Wednesday, the Senate on Thursday approved funding bills that last through the end of fiscal year 2026. In an 82-15 vote, three funding bills were approved in a minibus and sent to President Trump’s desk. The bills provide funding for the Departments of the Interior, Commerce, and Energy. Congress has struggled to pass funding without omnibus bills in recent years, so these smaller packages are a hopeful sign. A funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security is likely to face steeper challenges thanks to Democrats doing everything they can to protect illegal aliens from deportation. At the same time, a proposal to extend the expired ObamaCare subsidies has stalled in the Senate. Republicans insist that enhanced subsidies cannot be renewed without closing loopholes that some states are using to fund abortions in violation of the Hyde Amendment.

• Khalil update: In a win for the Trump administration, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz lacked “subject-matter jurisdiction” when he ordered the federal government to stop its deportation efforts against anti-Israel agitator Mahmoud Khalil. Last June, Farbiarz ordered Khalil released from detention, where he had remained after his arrest by DHS in March. “Mahmoud Khalil was given the privilege of coming to America to study on a student visa he obtained by fraud and misrepresentation,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson observed. “Those who lie to the government to obtain entry into the United States will face justice.” The ACLU expressed its disappointment with the ruling but noted that it does not take immediate effect, thereby preventing the Trump administration from re-detaining Khalil while he seeks an appeal.

• Biden illegals attack ICE: ICE was conducting a targeted traffic stop in Minneapolis on Wednesday when an illegal alien from Venezuela who entered the country under Joe Biden fled in his vehicle before crashing into a parked car. The suspect, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, ran on foot before an ICE agent caught up with him, leading to Sosa-Celis resisting arrest and struggling with the agent on the ground. Two other Venezuelan illegals emerged from a nearby apartment and began assaulting the agent with a snow shovel and a broom handle. He defended himself with his weapon, shooting Sosa-Celis in the leg. State Senator Bobby Joe Champion supported the illegals, saying their use of weapons didn’t change his opinion. The New York Times headline says this was an ICE shooting but fails to mention the assault by the illegals.

• Doxxing within DHS: A DHS employee upset by the shooting of Renee Good has allegedly handed over personal information of more than 4,000 ICE and DHS agents to Dominick Skinner, an Irishman living in the Netherlands, who then informed the left-wing outlet The Daily Beast of the planned leak. The ICE List is a six-month-old website run by a Netherlands-based third party. Skinner reportedly said that the “whistleblower” gave him “the personal information of roughly 2,000 agents working on the frontlines of immigration enforcement and another 2,500 employees who work in supporting roles.” Skinner, who is not an American, told The Daily Beast, “It is a sign that people aren’t happy within the U.S. government, clearly.” The leak has not been published yet, but perhaps we ought to onshore websites containing personal American data?

• Unrest continues in Iran: Iranian protests apparently continue, with firsthand reports hard to come by due to that nation’s ongoing internet shutdown. Earlier this week, President Trump told Iranian protesters to keep up the pressure, promising that help was on the way. That help has not materialized beyond diplomatic pressure, with any U.S. military action likely still a week away from operational readiness. Trump was evidently informed that even a significant bombing campaign may not cause the regime to collapse. Despite that, he is expected to order the USS Abraham Lincoln, a Nimitz-class carrier, to the Middle East from its current post in the South China Sea. Trump promised Iranian leaders that he would respond if they killed protesters, which they have done. Evidently, though, an execution of 800 was stopped on Wednesday for fear of provoking Trump too far.

• Verizon outage: “This was a software issue, not a cyber event,” a Verizon spokesman said of the outage that left hundreds of thousands of customers with no cellphone service for most of Wednesday afternoon and evening. Law enforcement agencies investigated the possibility of a cyberattack but ultimately ruled it out, blaming a server-related network issue in New Jersey. Despite the official explanations, some rumors continue to fly, suggesting a probing attack from a foreign adversary, with China the likeliest suspect. Verizon released an official statement saying it “did not meet the standard of excellence” customers expect and issued a $20 account credit to affected customers. The company said that the credit can’t make up for the loss of coverage, but it demonstrates the significance Verizon places on its failure.

• DOJ stops China from getting U.S. flight simulator tech: Two shipping containers from South Africa that were headed to China were blocked by federal authorities on Thursday. They contained “mission crew trainers” flight simulators programmed with American software and U.S. defense tech data. The DOJ said that the confiscated simulators were “intended to assist the PLA to train personnel on the use of airborne warning and control system (AWACS) and antisubmarine warfare (ASW) aircraft, focused mostly on the capabilities of the U.S. ASW maritime patrol aircraft (‘MPA’) P-8 Poseidon, manufactured by Boeing.” The Test Flying Academy illegally purchased the U.S. flight simulator software. John A. Eisenberg, assistant attorney general for national security, stated, “TFASA masquerades as a civilian flight-training academy when in fact it is a significant enabler of the Chinese air and naval forces and a pipeline for transferring NATO aviation expertise, operational knowledge, and restricted technology directly to the People’s Liberation Army.”

• Mortgage rates drop to three-year low: Freddie Mac noted on Thursday that the average mortgage interest rate has fallen to 6.06%, the lowest level in over three years. A year ago, the average rate on a fixed 30-year mortgage was 7.04%. Furthermore, the interest rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, which is popular with homeowners refinancing, is even lower at 5.38%. Last year it was 6.27%. Despite the encouraging mortgage rate news, homes in America remain at historic highs, with the national median price holding at roughly $365,000. That price is simply unaffordable for too many Americans. Housing prices have risen 54% over the last five years; over that same time span, Americans’ typical wages have risen just 29%.

Headlines

• Minnesota “ICE Watch” declares “time is ripe to embrace militancy” (Free Beacon)

• Trump threatens to invoke Insurrection Act in Minnesota (Daily Signal)

• FBI ends protection detail for romantic partner of alleged Charlie Kirk assassin (Just the News)

• Humor: U.S. offers to trade its liberal women for Iranian women (Babylon Bee)

The Executive News Summary is compiled daily by Jordan Candler, Thomas Gallatin, Sterling Henry, and Sophie Starkova. For the archive, click here.