Platner wins
The scandal-plagued, Nazi-tattooed, socialist candidate Graham Platner won Maine’s Democrat Senate primary on Tuesday, easily besting the other candidates in the field. Platner’s road to victory was expected, especially after Gov. Janet Mills suspended her campaign in April. However, as more scandalous information regarding Platner has recently surfaced, including his abusive behavior toward former girlfriends, Democrats may end up rueing his candidacy. As journalist Jasmine Wright warned, “If Janet Mills’ basically defunct campaign gets 20 to 30%, Graham is in trouble come November.” Mills did end up garnering nearly 20% of the vote. Platner will face off against incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November.

Tehran attacks U.S. Apache
Two American soldiers went down overnight on Monday after their Apache AH-64 helicopter was struck by an Iranian drone. Both Americans were recovered within two hours with no injuries and minimal fuss. President Donald Trump posted on social media that the U.S. would “of necessity” respond to the Iranian provocation despite the ongoing ceasefire. On Tuesday evening, the U.S. struck Iranian air defense and radar positions around the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has promised that no American attack will go unanswered, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi added, “Leave our region if you want to be safe.”

Ireland riots
Belfast erupted in fiery riots last night after a Sudanese man attempted to behead a native Irishman in a terroristic attack. Protests occurred across the United Kingdom as the discussion of the effective invasion of fighting-age Muslim men into the country, aided and abetted by the government, has reached a boiling point. On Tuesday night, Irishmen, both Protestant and Catholic, urged women and uninvolved people to stay off the streets. When nightfall arrived, hundreds of men dressed in black and wearing ski masks were seen walking the streets of immigrant-heavy areas. The rioters set buses aflame, as well as invading and setting fire to migrant “Houses in Multiple Occupation,” a form of taxpayer-funded assisted living for asylum seekers. Protesters were urged by Conservative politicians not to attack police, and so far, that advice seems to have been heeded.

May’s inflation report
The consumer price index rose by 0.5% in May, driving the annual inflation rate up to 4.2%. This increase puts the inflation rate at its highest level in three years. The increase came amid the sustained rise in energy costs due to the U.S.‘s ongoing conflict with Iran. The Bureau of Labor Statistics report notes that energy prices jumped 3.9% last month, bringing the total increase over the last 12 months to 23.5%. Not every economic sector saw price increases, as transportation services dropped by 0.6% and new vehicle costs declined by 0.3%. Given this report, it is unlikely that the Federal Reserve will make any changes to interest rates anytime soon.

House passes $70B ICE funding bill, heads to Trump’s desk
As expected, once the $70 billion, three-year funding bill for ICE and the DHS made it through the Senate, passage in the House was a comparatively easy task. On Tuesday, the House narrowly approved the bill in a 214-212 vote, sending it to President Trump’s desk. The vote was slightly delayed because Speaker Mike Johnson hoped to approve the bill by the end of last week, and there was some drama during the vote yesterday. The House Freedom Caucus held up the procedural vote earlier in the day before leadership managed to bring them on board. The final vote was briefly tied at 213-213, though Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) changed from “No” to “Yes,” and the leadership immediately closed the vote.

California gubernatorial race heads to runoff
California Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton has advanced to a runoff election in November against Democrat candidate Xavier Becerra in the state’s infamous jungle primary system. In the crowded field of mostly Democrat candidates, Becerra took 28% of the vote, while Hilton beat out billionaire radical Democrat Tom Steyer for second place, pulling in 25% of the vote. Following the results, Steyer called on Democrats to unite behind Becerra while he, the only billionaire in the field of candidates, ridiculously blasted Hilton as Trump’s handpicked corporate shill. That said, Hilton faces an uphill battle to win the governorship in deep-blue California.

South Carolina primaries
On Monday night, Trump made last-minute endorsements in key South Carolina races of Sen. Lindsey Graham and gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette. Both were tight races with a large number of undecided voters, and both endorsees finished with the largest percentage of the vote after Trump gave them his “complete and total endorsement.” The governor’s race will go to a runoff on June 23, since Evette received 29% of the vote and Attorney General Alan Wilson received 26%. Evette was the only South Carolina gubernatorial candidate to endorse Trump when he launched his 2024 campaign. Rep. Nancy Mace conceded her loss in the race and has backed her rival of the past few years, Wilson, claiming he will “mop the floor” with Evette and be the desired “law and order” governor. Graham was renominated by the voters to a fifth term.

Talarico the flip-flopper
Pay no attention to my beliefs before the general election, insinuates Texas Democrat seminarian James Talarico, who has publicly claimed that God is nonbinary and that there are six genders. As Talarico seeks to win a general statewide race in Texas, suddenly, his truly insane leftist principles no longer apply. When confronted on his support for transing the kids, he now claims to “oppose gender reassignment surgeries for minors.” Unfortunately for Talarico, he’s on record voting against a ban on taxpayer-funded gender reassignment surgeries — or gender mutilation surgeries, as they are more properly called. The man who is as leftist as they come and flipped on his vegan stance to now do photoshoots with turkey legs will have a tough time convincing Texas voters he’s anything but an insane wokester.

Seattle’s World Cup tiny homes for vagrants
With crowds of international World Cup fans soon to be descending on cities across North America, Seattle’s leftist mayor is suddenly concerned about getting the city’s vagrant population off the streets. Katie Wilson, who recently dismissed millionaires fleeing her city’s growing onerous tax policies with a shrug and a “bye-bye” response, has announced a plan for 500 emergency shelter units. These units amount to 70-foot-square boxes on pallets, where vagrants can be placed in order to get them off the streets and out of public view. Of course, this is only a temporary measure, as once the crowds of soccer fans are gone, the vagrants will be let out onto Seattle’s streets again.

Headlines

• The statistical impossibility of LA’s mayoral race (Washington Times)

• Social Security retirement fund expected to fall short sooner, in 2032 (NewsNation)

• Judge finds Zarutska’s murderer incompetent to stand trial “at this time” (Daily Caller)

• New Jersey man allegedly planned ISIS attack on synagogue (NY Post)

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