Patriot missiles for Ukraine
At the NATO summit in Turkey on Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced that Ukraine would be granted a license to build its own Patriot missile interceptors. Trump made the announcement perhaps a bit early, saying that current Patriot manufacturers Raytheon and Lockheed Martin did not yet know. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made the case for the license in a “Face the Nation” interview in May, in which he confirmed that he had asked the Biden administration as well. Trump also suggested that the U.S. would make a deal to purchase Ukrainian drones — defensive technology that Ukraine has used far more successfully than analysts expected.

Trump warns communism is massive threat to U.S.
“I think this country, with this thing that’s going on around, is in more danger than it was during World War I, World War II,” President Trump stated yesterday of the growing appeal of communism in America. He further compared the threat to 9/11 and the attack on Pearl Harbor, saying, “I think this is [bigger].” A number of radical leftists from the Democratic Socialists of America have won Democrat primaries across the country, prompting the president to warn, “When you go communist, you never go back. You die in squalor; you die a horrible death … and it gets very evil and very nasty.” Calling these DSA candidates “lowlifes,” Trump added, “When I see what they are talking about, I think they’re very dangerous in many ways.”

Is McConnell non compos mentis?
A question on many lips in DC this week is whether former Senate Majority Leader and senior Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell is on his deathbed. The 84-year-old McConnell was hospitalized on June 14, and some speculate he may be brain-dead. Friends like Scott Jennings and fellow Senator John Thune report having had extended conversations with him, which contradicts the rumor. However, since McConnell has had several on-camera health issues in recent years, and the reason for his hospitalization is still unknown, rumors continue to fly. Ordinarily, if a senator dies in office, the state’s governor — in this case, Democrat Andy Beshear — can nominate a temporary replacement; however, Kentucky recently passed legislation that would require an immediate special election instead.

Hochul’s anti-ICE quid pro quo
Democrat New York Governor Kathy Hochul is making her policing stance clear: police can have high-tech upgrades that improve their ability to do their jobs, or they can help ICE catch criminals, but not both. New York is offering $100 million in grants to police departments across the Empire State, but $75 million will be tied to New York’s “Local Cops, Local Crimes Act.” This act prohibits police from participating in 287(g) agreements in which local authorities voluntarily work with federal agents. Hochul’s offer comes with this Orwellian statement: “I’m committed to keeping this state as safe as possible.” No, Ms. Hochul, keeping criminals from around the world safe does not make your state safe. New York Republican Representative Claudia Tenney called this “a reckless policy,” and Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin vowed to continue to cooperate with ICE.

No jail for Wisconsin judge who aided illegal alien
Former Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan was convicted of felony obstruction in the arrest of an illegal alien from her courthouse by helping him temporarily evade federal immigration agents last year. However, she was given a $5,000 fine and avoided any prison time. U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman justified her light sentence, saying, “I think this is a situation where an otherwise good person, upset by immigration policies in this country, made a bad decision in the moment.” It doesn’t sound like a crime of passion, as Dugan remains unrepentant, saying, “My acts that day were consistent with community concerns at the courthouse. My judicial acts were not done with any malicious intent or to advance any personal interests.” The illegal alien Dugan sought to shield from ICE arrest has since been deported.

U.S. women’s soccer purloins chunk of men’s World Cup earnings
The 2027 U.S. Women’s World Cup soccer team members will receive half of the U.S. Men’s World Cup soccer team’s winnings, which comes to roughly $246,000 per player when split between the two teams, even though the women’s team has yet to play a single match. This equity-based system is the result of the 2022 collective bargaining agreement, in which U.S. Soccer agreed to the ridiculous gender-gap equal-pay narrative. Because the U.S. men’s team made it to the round of 16, they earned $16 million in prize money. If and when the U.S. women’s team plays in the World Cup in Brazil next year, their team will give half of their (significantly smaller) winnings to the U.S. men’s team.

DOGE officially shuts down
On July 4, President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency officially shut down. Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought told Congress that no formal review of DOGE was underway, as it was unnecessary. DOGE estimates that it saved taxpayers $215 billion, or $1,335 per taxpayer. While trumpeted by Trump and others like Elon Musk, who temporarily led DOGE, as a significant cost-cutting initiative, the national debt did not shrink under DOGE; it actually grew. Despite DOGE failing to live up to its government cost-cutting branding, it did expose widespread waste across the federal government and helped lead to the shuttering of USAID, a department that had effectively been used to spread leftist ideology across the globe under the guise of humanitarianism.

Apple’s big chip investment
Apple is partnering with American semiconductor giant Broadcom to invest over $30 billion in U.S. chip manufacturing. The Trump administration lauded the announcement as “another major win for America,” commending Apple for taking steps to strengthen the supply chain. The partnership aims to produce 15 billion chips at Broadcom’s Fort Collins, Colorado, location, creating hundreds of new jobs. Trump personally appealed to Apple CEO Tim Cook to make a big investment in American jobs at the beginning of his second term, and Cook appears to be making good; this is one part of Apple’s commitment to invest $600 billion in the U.S.

California activists push “black English” in schools
Ashley Williams, cofounder of the nonprofit Black Californians United for Early Care and Education (BlackECE), is leading the charge to have schools acknowledge and accommodate the dialect known as “black English.” Williams, a lecturer in the Doctorate in Educational Leadership for Social Justice and Equity program at San Francisco State University, says that the view that black English is inferior causes “a lot of shame and embarrassment for black kids,” and that constant correction isn’t helpful when they’re still learning the language, even though that’s the norm for all children being taught to speak English properly. BlackECE’s website includes examples of typical black English phrases, such as “she be working” and “they happy.” The nonprofit advocates for the California school system to include black English speakers in the Dual Language Immersion Program, which teaches in multiple languages with the goal of English proficiency.

Headlines

• Secret Service advised Trump to not fly Qatari-gifted Air Force One (The Hill)

• Three illegal immigrants carrying rifles arrested at U.S.-Mexico border (NY Post)

• FTC announces settlement with John Deere to let farmers fix their own equipment again (Not the Bee)

• Planned Parenthood defunding expires, pro-life groups call for Congress to act (LifeNews.com)

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