The News You Need, Friday, July 10th, 2026
Zelenskyy laughs along with Trump at NATO Summit, a possible bump in the road for Paramount-Warner Bros , ICE a form of "Secret Police," Trump bombs funeral
NATO Summit Blends Farce With Serious Comedy
Süddeutsche Zeitung
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump at the NATO Summit in Ankara
Scott: Before he was president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy was his country’s best known comedian, playing the role of President of Ukraine in Sluga Narodu, Servant of the People, a smash hit comedy now on Netflix. His skills as a comedian were shining brightly throughout the NATO summit, but particularly in a farcical sitdown with Trump in which the delusional US president introduced him as “President Putin” and offered a stream of meandering and generally incoherent remarks. Süddeutsche Zeitung saw the meeting as the center point of the whole NATO summit, and a demonstration of how the NATO leaders now laugh along with grandpa Trump, while giving him the romper room treatment.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy smiles even when Trump calls him “President Putin.” The Ukrainian president managed to secure a crucial promise from the US president at the NATO summit in Ankara.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy smiles. He smiles past all the errors, the verbal slips, and the incoherent sentences of his counterpart. He smiles when Donald Trump addresses him as “President Putin”—twice—and when he refers to Iran as the “Islamic Republic of Japan.”
There is a good reason for Zelenskyy’s friendly demeanor. Amidst all the blunders, Trump drops a sentence that the Ukrainian president is more eager to hear than anything else at that moment: “We will grant you a license to manufacture Patriots,” Trump said during a press briefing with Zelenskyy at the conclusion of the NATO summit in Ankara. “That’s really cool, isn’t it? That way, you can’t complain that we aren’t giving you enough of them.”
Zelenskyy smiles. He had repeatedly asked for this license. After all, only the high-performance Patriot interceptor system allows Ukraine to fend off the ballistic missiles Russia fires at the country— including at civilian targets.
Ukraine has, however, managed to solve other problems in recent months: it has stabilized the situation at the front and is currently inflicting heavier losses on Russian forces than Vladimir Putin can recruit men for his army. Using medium-range drones, Kyiv is destroying Russian logistics behind the front lines, while the Crimean Peninsula—crucial to the Russian military—is being isolated bit by bit. Furthermore, Ukraine is using long-range drones and cruise missiles to inflict devastating damage on Russia’s oil infrastructure. Donald Trump has taken note of these successes and, in recent weeks, has adopted a much friendlier tone toward Zelenskyy. It is well known that the US President does not like to be on the losing side.
However, the Ukrainians have yet to find a solution to counter Russia’s ballistic missile attacks. This was brutally demonstrated by two waves of attacks on July 2 and 6, which claimed the lives of more than 50 people in the Ukrainian capital and the surrounding area. Zelenskyy stated that the “inadequate supply of interceptor missiles” to Ukraine had contributed to these heavy losses, making Patriot missiles a “top priority” for the country at present.
While the vast majority of drones can be reliably intercepted, Ukraine failed to shoot down even a single one of the 29 Russian ballistic missiles launched on July 6. This suggests that stocks of the modern PAC-3 Patriot interceptor missiles are nearly exhausted. Only these missiles are capable of reliably shooting down ballistic missiles, which are difficult to counter due to their high speed.
And one last thing. “Are you willing to go to Moscow,” asked Trump. “I don’t know. I think it’s very dangerous. Lots of Ukrainian drones flying around,” responded Zelenskyy, not breaking character.
A Bump In the Road For Paramount-Warner Bros?
Reuters
Charles: A long-rumored antitrust lawsuit to prevent Paramount from devouring Warner Bros could be filed as early as next week by attorneys general from California and New York among other states, according to Reuters.
Because Larry and David Ellison own Paramount and they have spent tens of millions of dollars supporting Donald Trump, approval of the merger by the Justice Department was always a foregone conclusion.
But if the states find a sympathetic Federal judge they could substantially delay the Paramount-Warner Bros deal, and possibly even kill it.
The most successful recent state antitrust suit was filed by thirteen attorneys general to prevent the merger of Nexstar and Tegna. The suit was combined with another one filed by DirecTV and it has already delayed the merger for many months. California Attorney General Rob Bonta is one of the leading plaintiffs in this case and the expected suit against Paramount. Yesterday a trial date for Nexstar was announced for July 2027, which probably means that merger will be delayed for at least another year.
Budding media titan David Ellison
Reuters explained that a similar delay for the Ellisons could be very costly:
If the deal is delayed because of a court challenge, costs could mount for Paramount, which is already expected to carry around $80 billion in debt after the transaction closes.
Ellison has agreed to pay Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders a 25-cent-per-share “ticking fee,” amounting to about $650 million in cash each quarter, if the deal does not close before October.
Oil Giants Mutter ‘Be Careful What You Wish For’
Financial Times
One of the largest oil supply disruptions in history was triggered by the Iran war, and it has allowed the fossil fuel giants to reap unprecedented windfall profits. Photo: Robyn Beck/AFP
Scott: For the fossil fuels industry, Donald Trump has been a gift from God. He appointed their lobbyists to top cabinet and regulatory positions, freed them from the burdens of regulatory oversight, made already-assessed fines simply disappear, granted them huge state subventions, and is doing all he can possibly do to suppress their renewable energy competition. And beyond all of this, Trump launched a massive war in the Gulf. It may look menacing from the industry’s perspective, but it also means inflated oil prices and profits the likes of which Big Oil has never seen before. But can this be too much of a good thing? Elections are approaching, and the price of gasoline at the pump is threatening to be a politically devastating issue for the GOP. Which has Trump thinking about price fixing.
America’s Big Oil groups are set to post record profits stemming from Donald Trump’s Iran war, setting them on a collision course with the US president, who has accused companies of price gouging at the pump.
ExxonMobil and Chevron are expected to announce second-quarter net income of $15bn and $9.7bn, respectively, later this month — more than three times the previous quarter — as high crude, diesel and jet fuel prices trigger a wartime windfall.
American refiner Marathon is expected to join the supermajors in posting its highest profits since 2022, when Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine helped set off a global inflationary spiral, according to forecasts compiled by FactSet. Valero, another refiner, is also in line to report a bumper quarter.
The Big Oil profit gusher would spark a reaction in Washington, where Trump has already accused companies of profiteering just months ahead of the US’s midterm elections, said analysts.
“Investors will see returns, governments will see red,” said Kevin Book at ClearView Energy Partners. “The administration is clearly eager for some sort of fuel price relief ahead of the election but the industry did not cause prices to rise, the war did.”
The average US petrol price is up almost a quarter compared to a year ago, to $3.8 per gallon, while diesel is 30 per cent higher at $4.8 per gallon, according to motoring group AAA.
Trump last month ordered a Department of Justice probe into energy companies over price gouging, a tactic that was also employed by then- president Joe Biden when prices surged after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“Gasoline Retailers must get their Prices down, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “If Retailers don’t do this, big problems lie ahead!”...
Months of higher petrol prices have been painful for Americans — and a growing threat to Trump’s Republicans as they fight to keep control of both chambers of the US Congress. The fuel inflation has reverberated through the US economy as rising transportation costs drive up prices for everything from plane tickets to groceries.
