• Olympic gold: It’s been 46 years since the iconic Miracle on Ice, when the USA men’s hockey team took down the mighty Soviet Union and then went on to win Olympic gold. Since 1980, there had been no gold medals for USA men’s hockey, while our neighbors to the north have taken home the gold three times, defeating the U.S. twice in the championship game. On Sunday, the U.S. gold medal drought ended after Team USA defeated Canada 2-1 in a thrilling game that went wire to wire, won by Jack Hughes’s overtime goal. “This is all about our country right now,” he said in an immediate post-game interview. “I love the USA. I love my teammates. It’s unbelievable. The USA hockey brotherhood is so strong. … I’m so proud to be American today.” Indeed.

• Trump implements 15% tariff: President Donald Trump is nothing if not persistent. After the Supreme Court’s stunning decision to strike down his tariff regime on Friday, Trump immediately took action to reimplement his tariffs. Having been told that the “Liberation Day” tariffs enacted under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act were unconstitutional, Trump immediately enacted a global 10% tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. Despite enacting his backup plan, the president still blasted the SCOTUS decision as “anti-American” and suggested that the justices were influenced by “foreign interests.” On Saturday, Trump raised the global tariff further to 15%. Those hoping SCOTUS would put an end to Trump’s tariff regime will likely be disappointed, as it doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon.

• Mexico kills kingpin, cartel retaliates: Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, or “El Mencho,” was Mexico’s most wanted criminal and the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel until he was killed in a military operation on Sunday. El Mencho was injured during his capture and died in transit to Mexico City for medical attention, and at least nine other cartel members were killed in the operation. Almost immediately, Jalisco thugs struck back, plunging the region into chaos. Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city, saw gangsters burning trucks and cars as well as blocking roads. The tourist destination of Puerto Vallarta also saw violence erupt. The U.S. embassy urged Americans to seek shelter as the Mexican government works to restore order. Although the U.S. provided some intelligence to help with the operation, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum continues to steadfastly deny U.S. military forces permission to target the cartels within Mexican territory.

• Iran’s nuclear project and the U.S. military buildup: Last June, Operation Midnight Hammer saw U.S. B-2s bomb Iran’s premier nuclear facilities, with the White House declaring them “obliterated.” Experts suggested that by destroying centrifuges and burying the sites in rubble, Iran’s nuclear project had been delayed by one or two years. Now, less than a year later, White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff warns that Iran is only a week away from having enough enriched uranium to create at least one bomb. President Trump has suggested that, given the massive U.S. military buildup off the shores of Iran, the mullahs should come to the negotiating table, give up on nuclear weapons, and work out a deal. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and its strike group are already in position, while the approaching USS Gerald R. Ford has reached the eastern Mediterranean.

• Mamdani’s shoveling IDs: New York’s first socialist mayor just can’t seem to catch a break. As the city faces its first blizzard in nearly a decade, he is calling for paid volunteers to shovel snow. The catch for the mayor, endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, is that volunteers must bring photo ID. Just a driver’s license won’t do. No, New York is demanding that volunteer snow shovelers bring two small photos, originals and copies of two forms of ID, and a Social Security card. The DSA has actively campaigned against voter ID laws, calling them a “campaign to reverse the gains of the Civil Rights Movement.” Democrats believe you need copious forms of ID to shovel snow on a volunteer basis, but not to vote.

• California Democrat vulgarly insults Trump: Former U.S. Rep. and current California Democrat gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter spoke at the state’s Democrat Party convention over the weekend. Apparently, Porter is suffering from a raging case of TDS, as she focused her candidacy on her ire toward Donald Trump. During her speech, she held up a whiteboard upon which was scrawled “F*** Trump,” saying, “Yeah, that’s right, f*** Trump.” She added, “Together, we’re gonna kick Trump’s a** in November.” She accused Trump of killing people in the streets, taking away healthcare, and attacking democracy. RNC spokesperson Nick Poche responded, “The good news for Katie Porter is that she can pick up her medication for far less thanks to TrumpRx. … The bad news is her all stunts no substance campaign just came in a distant fifth, and no amount of abusing her staff will change that she won’t be governor.”

• Could two GOP candidates win California’s gubernatorial primary? There’s still a long way to go before the June 2 jungle gubernatorial primary in California, but the current situation has Democrats worried. Emerson College polling shows that the leading candidates are Republican Steve Hilton with 17%, and tied at 14% are Republican Sheriff Chad Bianco and Democrat Eric Swalwell. Other leading Democrats include Katie Porter at 10% and Tom Steyer at 9%, with the rest of the candidates struggling to break through. For Democrats, the situation doesn’t look promising since their jungle primary system will advance the top two candidates regardless of political affiliation. If the Democrat field stays this crowded and split, both Republicans could theoretically advance to the general election, giving the deep-blue state its first GOP governor since Arnold Schwarzenegger left office in 2011.

• Uber won’t let violent felons drive: Following a bit of investigative journalism by The New York Times, Uber was exposed for having allowed in 22 states those with criminal records, including violent felonies, to work for the company as drivers. While Uber had a policy banning drivers who had murder, sexual assault, kidnapping, and terrorism convictions, the company did permit drivers who had other violent criminal records, so long as their convictions were at least seven years old. Since the Times’s report, Uber has changed its policy and now bars all individuals convicted of violent felonies, sex offenses, and child or elder abuse from driving for the company.

• Qatar’s spending influence: Qatar continued to expand its influence and lobbying by tripling its funding for U.S. universities in 2024-2025, making it the largest foreign financier of higher education, with China in second place. As The Washington Free Beacon reports, “The five biggest recipients of Qatari money over the years, according to the Department of Education, are Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, Georgetown University, Texas A&M, and Northwestern University in that order.” All of these universities and others across the U.S. have negotiated contracts with the Gulf state and have opened satellite campuses, including a medical branch, in Qatar. Is the increasing culture of antisemitism on these campuses connected to their financial ties to Doha? Qatar is one of the biggest financial backers of Hamas and still harbors its leaders. Despite increased scrutiny over its influence deals and support for terrorism, Qatar continues its funding efforts.

• Universities shuttering women’s and gender studies over Trump’s anti-DEI order: A growing number of colleges and universities across the country are ending their women’s and gender studies programs in an effort to comply with the Trump administration’s mandate against schools promoting DEI ideology. Prominent schools like the University of Iowa and the University of California, Santa Cruz have nixed their women’s studies programs, while Texas A&M University is phasing out its program this year. The question is just how thoroughly schools are dumping these programs. As University of South Florida professor Marc Defant observed, “In many places, it looks less like a full rollback and more like a ‘wait-and-see’ posture and a shift to less visible or differently labeled programming.”

Headlines

• Federal judge blocks release of Jack Smith report’s second volume (Fox News)

• Man shot dead by Secret Service at Mar-a-Lago was obsessed with Epstein files (NY Post)

• U.S. evacuates non-emergency personnel from Beirut embassy (NewsNation)

• DC police sweep labor secretary’s office over allegations against her husband (RedState)

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