Musk the trillionaire
Elon Musk’s company SpaceX went public on Friday, with shares at $150 on the Nasdaq exchange and rising above $160 by market close. SpaceX’s market capitalization quickly surpassed $2 trillion, making it the largest IPO in history. Even more headline-grabbing was the IPO’s impact on Musk’s overall wealth, as he became the first person in history whose wealth surpassed $1 trillion. But Musk was far from the only person to see their wealth jump, as thousands of investors in the company saw their share values increase. “He’s trying to make space open for everybody,” said SpaceX COO Gwynne Shotwell, highlighting Musk’s vision for the company. “He wanted this IPO, he wanted regular people to be able to buy the stock, and a lot of folks participated at the retail level.”

Knicks fans wreck the streets
The New York Knicks won their first NBA Championship in 53 years on Saturday night — though New Yorkers may not wish for another title anytime soon. Thousands of revelers took to New York’s streets, climbing onto vehicles to party. The party quickly turned into a riot as Spurs fans took cover inside police vehicles. Partiers went from climbing atop school buses to ripping them apart. Five buses were set ablaze or destroyed, the windshields of five NYPD vehicles were smashed, and several personal vehicles were damaged. By the end of the night, more than 60 people were arrested for crimes ranging from assault on a police officer to criminal possession of a gun to disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. One 17-year-old boy was shot in the foot but was rushed to the hospital in stable condition. Go Knicks?

TdA boss killed in U.S. strike
In a social media post on Friday, President Donald Trump revealed, “The United States Southern Command delivered a swift and lethal kinetic strike to successfully execute Niño Guerrero, the infamous leader of Tren De Aragua, one of the most bloodthirsty Terrorist Organizations on Planet Earth.” Included with Trump’s post was a video of the strike that destroyed a building where Guerrero was presumably present. Trump noted that the operation was done in coordination with the current Venezuelan government, whom he called “our friends.” Trump also stated, “As a result, Tren de Aragua terrorists no longer have safe haven in Venezuela or anywhere else and, under my leadership, we will find these vicious murderers and drugs lords anytime, anyplace, and send them to the depths of hell where they belong.”

LA Times unwittingly uncovers voter fraud
Two writers for the Los Angeles Times set out to prove former mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt was wrong when he suggested that residents of Skid Row were being paid to vote for socialist Nithya Raman, and they succeeded by proving that residents of Skid Row were being paid to vote for Karen Bass. The Times writers explain how “unfounded” claims of ballot farming among the homeless in LA were spreading on social media, so they spoke to 20 Skid Row residents themselves and found one woman who said no payment for ballot petition signatures was offered to her, and a “handful” of residents who saw workers offering cash for signatures. Three people confirmed that they had accepted cash to sign, with one claiming to have signed under multiple names for a total of $10. According to the LA Times, this means voter fraud did not meaningfully occur.

Trump demands voter ID inclusion in FISA extension
On Friday, lawmakers failed to renew the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a law that permits the U.S. government to monitor foreigners’ communications overseas without a warrant. Democrats, objecting to President Trump’s initial choice of Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, refused to vote to extend FISA. Trump responded, “A few Dumocrats are against FISA with or without Bill Pulte going to DNI as Acting. What kind of deal is that? Besides, I’m against FISA if it doesn’t come with The Save America Act (Full version!) firmly attached to it.” Trump has been pushing to pass the election integrity bill, but thus far, Democrats have successfully thwarted those efforts. It’s difficult to see how tying the SAVE Act to the FISA extension would serve to get either passed.

Dangerous biolabs funded by taxpayers
Unsurprisingly, Anthony Fauci and other Biden officials “lied repeatedly to the American people about the existence of U.S. funded and supported biolabs,” according to outgoing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. “Not only did they lie, they threatened those who attempted to expose the truth.” Gabbard announced on Friday that she is releasing documents proving the existence of 120 U.S. government-funded biolabs across 30 countries that are or were involved in gain-of-function research and in the study of dangerous, highly contagious pathogens. The ODNI release revealed that one of those taxpayer-funded biolabs containing dangerous pathogens is in Ukraine, where it is vulnerable to Russian attack and seizure. Gabbard confirmed that her department will continue to investigate all labs in an effort to end government-funded gain-of-function research per Trump’s EO and to increase accountability and transparency.

Judicial activist orders DEI plaques restored
Judge Angel Kelley of Massachusetts has ordered the White House to reinstall every DEI plaque removed by President Trump in the three remaining weeks before America’s 250th anniversary. As has become apparent in the last 17 months, the judicial branch believes it has ultimate authority in the United States and exists not just as a check to the power of the executive but as its master. Kelley sided with the plaintiffs against the Department of the Interior, saying that woke plaques, which presented a lopsided view of American history as uniquely evil, must be restored. Blue-state judges ought not be able to countermand the executive branch at every step; it is a shame on Chief Justice John Roberts’s judiciary that Judge Kelley believes she possesses this authority.

EPA won’t set nationwide environmental AI standards
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, speaking at the Politico Energy Summit last week, noted that bureaucrats in Washington don’t know what’s best for different localities across the country. He stated, “You can’t just across the board act as if every data center project is equal, like they’re all following the same exact model in how they power their project in various ways, or how they cool their data center, so it really depends on how the deal gets done.” Zeldin then explained that the EPA under the Trump administration would not set national environmental standards for AI data centers, but he did note that the agency would be “happy to engage as much as we possibly can to share that technical expertise and the best practices from what we’re seeing elsewhere around the country.”

Americans are hopeful with falling gas prices
With gas prices falling by almost a dollar in some parts of the country, consumer sentiment domestically rose in early June. The University of Michigan released its preliminary index last week, showing that positive economic sentiment rose 9.2% from the previous month to 48.9%. This is still a fairly weak historical marker, but it exceeded expectations, possibly on the hope that a peace deal with Iran would be finalized (such a deal has now been announced). Lower gas prices drove much of the improved sentiment, showing up across the board, particularly among lower-income households, which spend more on gas relative to income. In another hopeful sign, expected year-ahead inflation fell slightly from 4.8% to 4.6%. The May core inflation rate was only 0.2%, half of the April rate.

Headlines

• Jane Fonda, “No Kings,” communists roll out rival spectacle to Trump’s 250th (Fox News)

• Judge blocks DOJ “anti-weaponization” fund for longer, wants guarantee it’s dead (CNBC)

• Trump’s name removed from Kennedy Center (Washington Times)

• Republican lawmakers seek to impeach Atlanta federal judge identified in sex scandal (Reuters)

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