THE FOUNDATION “Our obligations to our country never cease but with our lives.” —John Adams (1808) EXECUTIVE NEWS SUMMARY DNI Gabbard resigns On Friday, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced her resignation, citing her husband’s recent cancer diagnosis. “I must step away from public service to be by his side and fully support him through this battle,” Gabbard explained. She will stay on as director through June 30 to help ensure “no disruption in leadership or momentum.” President Donald Trump responded on social media, writing, “Tulsi has done an incredible job, and we will miss her.” He also announced that Aaron Lukas, the current deputy secretary, will serve as acting director. Gabbard’s resignation is the fourth departure from Trump’s cabinet. Interestingly, all four have been women.
Iran deal, continued Over the weekend, President Trump announced that negotiations with Iran were “proceeding nicely,” indicating that a potential peace deal could be imminent. At the same time, Trump hedged, “It will only be a Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all.” He then warned that if the deal fell through, it would be “Back to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio also expressed positivity while couching it with cautious language, saying, “I think there’s strong alignment and agreement on what a preliminary draft should look like,” adding that the deal was “95% there.” U.S. hits southern Iran with defensive strikes On Tuesday, the U.S. military hit a number of targets across southern Iran in what U.S. Central Command has termed “defensive” strikes aimed at preventing Iran from threatening shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM added that the action was to “protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces.” The U.S. hit a number of missile launch sites as well as Iranian mine-laying ships that were moving into the Strait.
It’s unclear what impact, if any, this will have on the ongoing peace negotiations. Warsh sworn in On Friday, President Trump’s choice to head the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh, was sworn in as the new chairman. At the White House ceremony, Trump said that he wanted Warsh to be “totally independent,” adding, “Don’t look at me, don’t look at anybody.” For his part, Warsh committed to “lead a reform-oriented Federal Reserve, learning from past successes and mistakes, both escaping static frameworks and models and upholding clear standards of integrity and performance.” Warsh replaces the outgoing Jerome Powell, who plans to remain on the Fed’s board through 2028. Warsh steps into the unenviable position of navigating a stubborn inflation rate that remains above 3% while at the same time facing calls from Trump and others to cut interest rates. 1,500 show up for lone WWII vet’s funeral Memorial Day is for the remembrance of servicemen and women who died in service to this great nation, but all veterans deserve remembrance.
John Bernard Arnold III was orphaned as a child and joined the U.S. Navy during World War II. After leaving the Navy, John never had a family of his own. When he died in May, there was no one left to bury him, so Terrance O'Keefe of Hanover-Hanson Veteran Services sent word out to the community, requesting that Patriots show up to give John a proper send-off.
The community responded in droves. Four veterans saluted Arnold’s casket during the ceremony, with over 1,500 people in attendance. Arnold wished to be remembered as a believer in Jesus Christ. His great-nephew, who saw the coverage and recognized the name, flew to Massachusetts to receive Arnold’s flag and visit the grave.
Chris Kyle’s widow blasts Graham Platner Taya Kyle, widow of American hero Chris Kyle, has denounced Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner for his disparaging remarks about Kyle’s service record. In a podcast appearance in 2024, Platner, a Democrat who was tattooed with Nazi imagery, suggested that Kyle was “less discriminating” with his sniper fire than a “professional” would be, implying that he inflated his record by targeting noncombatants. Mrs. Kyle has responded, saying Platner’s remarks show “a total inability to lead with character.” She added, “For me, he would be out of the running immediately.” For his part, Chris Kyle, after leaving the service, worked to help combat veterans with PTSD until he was tragically murdered during one such session.
Pratt’s power-washing ads Spencer Pratt is challenging Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass in the upcoming June 2 election, and his message is simple: “We don’t have to live like this.” That message is being hammered home with a new series of ads, power-washed into the streets of LA. The ads read, “Imagine if the streets were this clean,” and even include the necessary “Paid for by” disclaimers. Pratt is seeing a surge in support but faces an uphill battle to defeat the entrenched Bass. Pratt launched his campaign after the Palisades fire burned down his home over a year ago.
Due to LA’s red tape, almost no homes have been rebuilt almost 18 months later. Poland offers to build permanent U.S. military base After the Trump administration’s troop movements left many NATO members confused and concerned, President Trump announced that 5,000 more troops would be deployed to Poland. The move showed solidarity with the Eastern European ally after a planned rotation of units from the U.S. Army’s 2nd Cavalry Regiment was unexpectedly canceled.
Polish Deputy Defense Minister Pawel Zalewski is seeking a more permanent deployment and is prepared to take the necessary steps to make it possible. Zalewski offered to build a permanent base for the U.S. troops in Poland, where 10,000 troops are already stationed. The base would effectively be a small city, with the infrastructure to house not just active-duty troops but also their families. Recent Polish-U.S. talks reaffirmed Trump’s commitment not to decrease American engagement with Poland.
Minnesota pays criminals Just when you thought Minnesota couldn’t get any worse… Marvin Haynes was convicted in 2004 of first-degree murder during an armed robbery of a Minneapolis flower shop. His conviction was upheld by the Minnesota Court of Appeals in 2006 and the Minnesota Supreme Court in 2007. Twenty years later, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty joined the Great Northern Innocence Project (GNIP) petition to re-litigate Haynes’s conviction. The judge signed off on vacating it, and Haynes was free that day.
He then filed a lawsuit against the state of Minnesota, seeking compensation under the Imprisonment and Exoneration Remedies Act. Gov. Tim Walz signed the claims bill last week, which approved the compensation payments. A convicted murderer is now out on the streets and receiving $4.5 million of taxpayer money, the largest compensation in state history.
A clear message was sent to criminals in Minnesota: Crime pays. Jacob Frey criticized for remembering George Floyd on Memorial Day (Fox News) Secret Service shoots, kills man who fired shots outside the White House (Washington Times) Ivanka Trump targeted in Iranian assassination plot (Washington Examiner) U.S. Army hits 2026 recruiting goal four months ahead of schedule (Not the Bee) GOP secures agreement from North Carolina election officials to clean up voter rolls (The Federalist) The Executive News Summary is compiled daily by Jordan Candler, Thomas Gallatin, Sterling Henry, and Sophie Starkova. For the archive, click here.
Comment | Share FEATURED ANALYSIS Fighting Over Memorial Day “We have to make this country worthy of that sacrifice,” said Vice President JD Vance, rising above the political rancor that marked the early part of Monday. Nate Jackson What is it with Democrats? They hate President Donald Trump so much that they can’t even mark Memorial Day appropriately. “Today, we honor the American heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice in Trump’s war with Iran,” the official Democrat Party account posted on X, along with a picture of the 13 American service members who have been killed this year. Whatever adolescent runs the account deleted the post after well-deserved criticism.
They replaced it with a far more appropriate post to “remember and honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our country and defend our freedoms.” Even other Democrats came down hard on the original post. “It is incredibly distasteful to use our heroic dead for a political attack on Memorial Day,” said Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran and Purple Heart double-amputee. “I’m a Democrat and I condemn this post by the DNC.” Colorado Democrat Representative Jason Crow, a former Army Ranger, agreed: “If we want the moral high ground, we have to be better. I fought for our country and served with those who made the ultimate sacrifice. It’s wrong to politicize this day. I won’t hesitate to call out my own team when we fall short.” Unfortunately, I also have to ask, what is it with Donald Trump?
He hates Democrats so much that he can’t even mark Memorial Day appropriately. His first Truth Social post early Monday morning was a screed against “Dumocrats, RINOS, and Fools” who oppose him, while spiking the football over Bill Cassidy and Thomas Massie after their primary losses last week. A few minutes later, he followed up with another post that read: Happy Memorial Day to all, including the Dumocrats, who disrespect our Military and all of the tremendous success that it has had over the last year. God Bless those that have made the ultimate sacrifice.
I love you all! President DONALD J. TRUMP Sigh. “Happy” is not an appropriate word for Memorial Day because it, well, disrespects our military. Trump did the same thing last year, and our Mark Alexander took him to task.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Trump often behaves like a Democrat. Back to the Democrats, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey remembered the dead yesterday, too, but with a twist. “Today,” [he posted in the first of a long thread, “we remember George Floyd, who was murdered by a former Minneapolis police officer six years ago.” Floyd’s death did indeed result in the conviction of Officer Derek Chauvin, but it wasn’t murder. Chauvin was just the scapegoat to appease the Democrats’ violent Black Lives Matter mob. I know Floyd died on May 25, but it wasn’t until hours later that Frey remembered, “Oh yeah, it’s Memorial Day.” There is hope, though.
Back to President Trump, later in the day, he took part in the traditional Memorial Day observances at Arlington National Cemetery, along with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “We lost 13 wonderful souls, wonderful, special people,” Trump said of the Americans killed in action against Iran, but he noted that Tehran “will never have a nuclear weapon.” Vance, a Marine Veteran, struck a particularly poignant note in a video message: “Every time we lose somebody, every time somebody goes overseas and sacrifices their life, every time that a person gives the ultimate sacrifice to the United States of America, we often read about it as a line on the newspaper or online, but there’s a father, there’s mother, and there’s grandma and aunts and uncles and a whole crew of people who love them the same way that we all love every single member of our family,” he said. “You consider the balance that all of us owe because on the other side is we have to meet their sacrifice by carrying something forward that they can’t carry forward. We have to make this country worthy of that sacrifice.” Well said, Mr. Vice President. Thank you for the heartfelt reminder of what Memorial Day is really all about — the sacrifice of America’s finest Patriots.
I’ll say the same for our own Andrew Culper, who spent Saturday morning placing flags at Chattanooga National Cemetery, and paid tribute in a video worth watching. Follow Nate Jackson on X. Comment | Share MORE ANALYSIS Douglas Andrews: Hegseth Congratulates the Cadets — The war secretary may have been speaking to the Corps of Cadets, but he was speaking to all Americans when he pronounced an end to the “slow slide” at West Point. David Harsanyi: Jeff Bezos Is Right About Capitalism, Wrong About Taxes — The problem with zeroing out taxes for around 70 million Americans isn’t only about balance sheets.
It’s about feeding an existing moral hazard. Emmy Griffin: The BBC Peddles Disinformation on Afghan Child Brides — The UK news service attempted to paint fathers in Afghanistan as sympathetic figures, as they are “forced” to sell their young daughters. Victor Joecks: Why Anti-Trump Republicans Keep Losing — Trump isn’t controlling GOP voters. He’s using his platform and political organization to point them in the direction they were already trying to go.
Michael Swartz: Getting Less for More: An American Economic Primer — The federal debt doesn’t matter much to most people, except that it matters to everyone because it fuels inflation and economic struggles. Thomas Gallatin: Trump’s Law Enforcement Agenda Sees Results — The violent crime rate had its biggest single-year drop since 1937, thanks in large part to the Trump administration’s efforts to combat crime. Rich Lowry: An Autopsy as Malpractice — The DNC autopsy is a thoroughly unimpressive, unfinished document that says more about the low state of the Democratic Party than any of its analysis does. Gregory Lyakhov: The Green Agenda Became Politics, Not Science — Renewable energy itself is not necessarily the problem, but many politicians and activists insist an immediate, government-directed transition is the only acceptable option.
Mailbag: Reader Comments — “Democrats do not want a colorblind country but rather want us divided by race, creed, and faith.” Shot/Chaser “Today, we honor the American heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice in Trump’s war with Iran.” —Democratic National Committee “It is incredibly distasteful to use our heroic dead for a political attack on Memorial Day. I’m a Democrat and I condemn this post by the DNC.” —Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) “Today, we remember George Floyd, who was murdered by a former Minneapolis police officer six years ago.” —Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Memorial Day The BIG Lie “There were very limited destruction of property and violence during the [Black Lives Matter] uprising.” —"The View" cohost Sunny Hostin Dumb & Dumber “MAGA and Zionism is religious overtaking of government. … I never said I want Jews in internment camps. Literally never said it.
I said I want to close all detention centers … and put billionaire American Zionists who are funding the genocidal prison systems involved in trafficking into prison.” —Texas congressional candidate Maureen Galindo (D) “I trust Texas women to make decisions about their own bodies, to shape their own destinies. … I don’t believe that’s a place for government. … That’s a belief I hold not despite my faith, but because of my faith. Jesus never talks about abortion. The Bible is silent on abortion.” —Texas Senate candidate James Talarico (D) Lack of Self-Awareness Award “Democrats operate in an ecosystem defined by reason even in cycles when the electorate is defined by rage.” —DNC autopsy report “YMCA in liberal city finally cracks down with new rules after trans woman exposed pre-op privates [read: penis] in female locker room.” —Daily Mail headline Re: The Left “A new Fox News poll finds that … 65% say America is winning [in Iran]. Only 34% say Iran is winning.
Diving deeper into the details of the poll, only four demographic groups believe Iran is winning, and they strongly overlap: Democrats, liberals, Harris voters, and college-educated white women. … The same poll found that half of Democrats believe the assassination attempt against President Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was staged.” —Gary Bauer “A shocking new poll shows that just 16% of men support the Democratic Party. I can’t imagine why. I mean, they have people like James Talarico in Texas, a vegan who wants to take your meat and thinks there are 6 genders. It’s truly a mystery.” —Scott Jennings “The progressive left & Islam work together because they have a shared goal.
They both want to conquer the west. The left thinks they can use Islam. Islam knows the left is too arrogant to realize they will also be conquered.” —Nick Freitas Political Futures “Older voters have seen foreign policy success, but all younger voters know on the world stage is failure. The solution is to alter the entire paradigm, and flip the script on its head, by demonstrating unambiguous success on the world stage.” —Josh Hammer “The challenge facing the West today is not whether immigration should exist.
Immigration will always exist. The real question is whether leaders still possess the wisdom and courage to preserve social cohesion while remaining humane, lawful and fair. Because compassion without order eventually produces chaos. And order without compassion eventually produces cruelty.
Great nations require the discipline and maturity to uphold both simultaneously.” —Armstrong Williams “If you want to lower the price of housing for Americans, the conversation should start with lowering demand by deporting the illegals who shouldn’t be here and severely restricting immigration.” —Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) For the Record “Iran is trying to set up a tolling system in international waterway. That’s just not acceptable. It can’t happen.
If that were to happen in the Straits of Hormuz, it will happen in five other places around the world.” —Secretary of State Marco Rubio “Going to war without France is like going hunting without an accordion.” —Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf (1934-2012) Comment | Share Comment | Share Explore the full range of The Patriot Post on our website: in-depth Analysis, Alexander’s Columns, Right Opinion, Videos, and our latest Cartoons and Memes. Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray for the protection of our uniformed Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families.
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