• U.S. soldier charged with insider trading: “Prediction markets” is the euphemism for gambling services like Polymarket and Kalshi that have exploded in popularity as people have placed bets on everything from presidential elections to a potential confirmation of alien life. One savvy gambler won $400,000 on bets related to the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro by American forces. As it turns out, however, those bets are believed to have been placed by U.S. Army Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke, who was a participant in Operation Absolute Resolve. Van Dyke has been indicted for insider trading based on classified government information. President Donald Trump bemoaned the situation created by prediction markets, saying, “The whole world, unfortunately, has become somewhat of a casino.” Van Dyke faces charges of theft of government information, wire fraud, and more, which could land him in prison for up to 60 years.

• Trump directs Navy to “shoot and kill” any mine-laying boats in Strait of Hormuz: A ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. remains in effect as President Trump offers Iranian leaders time to craft a peace proposal. Despite that, Trump announced on social media Thursday that the U.S. Navy has orders to shoot on sight any vessel placing mines in the Strait of Hormuz. The effort to clear the Strait of mines is ongoing, and Trump maintains that reopening the Strait to maritime traffic is of the highest priority. He reiterated that the U.S. blockade of the Strait is ongoing, saying that until Iran makes a deal, it will remain “Sealed Up Tight.”

• Who’s leading Iran? “We don’t know who the leader is in Iran because, remember, regime change,” President Trump stated on Thursday. This is part of his rationale for extending the ceasefire indefinitely, with the U.S. demanding that the Iranian regime end its nuclear enrichment efforts and turn over some 1,000 pounds of highly enriched uranium. “There’s obviously a lot of internal division” within the Iranian regime, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt explained. “This is a battle between the pragmatists and the hardliners in Iran right now, and the president wants a unified response.” Meanwhile, disfigured Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has yet to make a public appearance. Furthermore, due to fears of Israel targeting him, Khamenei has been unable to directly communicate with regime officials and has had to employ an elaborate strategy of obfuscation to send handwritten notes. Hence, the lack of cohesive and unified regime leadership.

• Operation Gangster’s Paradise: Dozens of accused members of the infamous Mexican Mafia, known as La Eme, were arrested by federal agents in a number of predawn raids across Orange County, California, on Thursday. Agents labeled the action “Operation Gangster’s Paradise.” The violent La Eme is responsible for controlling most of the Hispanic street gangs in California. Federal prosecutor Bill Essayli called the Mexican Mafia “the most powerful, prolific gang that operates out of state prisons.” In total, local police working with federal agents conducted 30 raids, resulting in the arrest of 43 suspects. Twenty-five firearms, tens of thousands in cash, and illicit drugs, including fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin, were also seized. “We’re here to clean up our communities from violent and organized crime,” Essayli explained. “That’s the bread and butter of the FBI and the Department of Justice.”

• California Democrat gubernatorial candidates support CDLs for non-English speakers: At a San Francisco debate on Wednesday, California gubernatorial candidates had a chance to explain their stances on English language requirements for truckers. Former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, a leading candidate, called the California Highway Patrol’s enforcement of the policy “reckless.” Billionaire Tom Steyer, another leading candidate, suggested the enforcement was racially motivated. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan outright rejected the need for English requirements for commercial driver’s licenses, saying it’s about how safe a driver is, not their ability to understand English. Former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter suggested she would fight the Trump administration and that the job of the California governor is to protect residents from President Trump.

• Over 24,000 potential noncitizens on U.S. voter rolls: The Department of Homeland Security has flagged 24,000 new names on voter rolls as possible noncitizens for investigation by the department’s investigative division. The names were determined after voter rolls were processed through the department’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said the SAVE process’s manual verification, which kicks in when the automated process can’t determine an answer, has a 98% accuracy rate. President Trump wants to run voter rolls from every state through the SAVE database, but only some GOP-led states have cooperated so far. The Justice Department has filed over two dozen lawsuits to force compliance; the five cases that have thus far reached a judge’s verdict have all gone against the department.

• Ukraine loan: The European Union has approved a $105 billion loan to Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky, who had long sought the funding, welcomed the decision, stating, “This package will strengthen our army, make Ukraine more resilient, and enable us to fulfill our social obligations to Ukrainians, as set out in law.” Zelensky also called on the EU to impose more sanctions against Russia to pressure Vladimir Putin to end the war. The loan will be disbursed to Ukraine over the next two years. Ukraine plans to spend the majority of the loan on its military, while allocating roughly $20 billion to handle the nation’s civil needs. Approval of the loan had been delayed for months because former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had vetoed it. Hungary’s new PM, Peter Magyar, has reversed course, approving the loan.

• Meta cuts 10% of workforce: Big Tech giant Meta announced that it will lay off 8,000 employees, roughly 10% of its workforce, as part of its Artificial Intelligence development plans and to improve efficiency. Fellow Big Tech firm Microsoft also announced it will offer voluntary buyouts to roughly 8,750 workers, or 7% of its U.S. workforce. None of these cuts comes as a surprise, as industry experts have warned that as AI expands, it will eliminate jobs. Wedbush analyst Dan Ive sees Big Tech’s embrace of AI tech as a benefit, as it will “automate tasks that once required large teams, allowing the company to streamline operations and reduce costs while maintaining productivity, driving an increased need for a leaner operating structure.” As it turns out, “learn to code” was not the solution to job losses that politicians pretended it was.

• Will low weapons stockpiles inhibit U.S. defense of Taiwan? Military officials are warning that the U.S. is running low on weapons stockpiles, which could impact our ability to defend Taiwan. Replacing the expended stockpiles could take up to six years, officials estimated, and that could place American troops at greater risk if a conflict with China arises. Adm. Samuel Paparo, the commander of U.S. troops in the Pacific, disagreed with that assessment in his congressional testimony on Tuesday, saying, “For now, I don’t see any real cost being imposed on our ability to deter China.” Other U.S. officials concurred with Paparo and said that the U.S. is increasing its weapons production exponentially. Defense companies like Lockheed Martin have signed contracts with the Pentagon to quadruple production of THAAD and PAC-3 Patriot interceptors, and RTX is accelerating deliveries of Tomahawks and Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles.

Headlines

• Trump says Israel and Lebanon ceasefire will continue for another three weeks (Just the News)

• DHS bigwig put on leave after ex-boyfriend accuses her of sugar baby scheme (NY Post)

• Congressional candidates caught betting on their own races (Daily Signal)

• California taxpayers reportedly funding an NGO that imports illegal aliens with AIDs (Not the Bee)

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