{"id":65548,"date":"2026-07-28T11:38:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T15:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/trump-hosts-zelenskyy-and-netanyahu-amid-shifting-global-conflicts-oil-prices-plunge\/65548\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T11:38:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T15:38:19","slug":"trump-hosts-zelenskyy-and-netanyahu-amid-shifting-global-conflicts-oil-prices-plunge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/trump-hosts-zelenskyy-and-netanyahu-amid-shifting-global-conflicts-oil-prices-plunge\/65548\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Hosts Zelenskyy and Netanyahu Amid Shifting Global Conflicts; Oil Prices Plunge"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>President Trump<\/strong> announced plans to grant <strong>Ukraine<\/strong> a license to domestically manufacture <strong>Patriot missile interceptors<\/strong>, a major shift in U.S. defense policy aimed at bolstering Kyiv&#39;s long-term air defenses.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Crude <a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/energy\/crude-oil\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"12\" title=\"Crude oil\">oil prices<\/a><\/strong> dropped significantly, with <strong>Brent crude<\/strong> sliding over <strong>3%<\/strong> to approximately <strong>$85 per barrel<\/strong> as a fragile pause in U.S.-Iran hostilities eased immediate supply concerns.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Elon Musk<\/strong> confirmed an aggressive roadmap for <strong>xAI<\/strong>, with <strong>Grok 4.6<\/strong> (1.5T model) scheduled for an <strong>August 7<\/strong> release, followed by the more powerful <strong>Grok 4.7<\/strong> (2.1T model) a few weeks later.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Prime Minister Netanyahu<\/strong> met with President Trump at the White House to discuss the ongoing conflict with <strong>Iran<\/strong>, progress on a <strong>Lebanon<\/strong> framework deal, and the expansion of the <strong>Abraham Accords<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>High-Stakes Diplomacy at the White House<\/h2>\n<p>President Donald Trump hosted back-to-back meetings on Tuesday with Ukrainian President <strong>Volodymyr Zelenskyy<\/strong> and Israeli Prime Minister <strong>Benjamin Netanyahu<\/strong>. During the session with Zelenskyy, Trump confirmed discussions regarding <strong>Patriot missile licenses<\/strong>, stating the U.S. would &quot;show them how to do it&quot; to allow Ukraine to produce its own interceptors. Zelenskyy characterized the meeting as <strong>&quot;positive&quot;<\/strong> and &quot;good,&quot; emphasizing the critical need for strengthened air defense as the war enters its fifth year.<\/p>\n<p>Following Zelenskyy&#39;s departure, Prime Minister Netanyahu arrived for his first face-to-face meeting with Trump since the joint U.S.-Israel war against <strong>Iran<\/strong> began in February. A White House official confirmed the leaders are discussing the <strong>Trilateral Framework in Lebanon<\/strong>, regional security, and efforts to scale down the conflict. The meeting comes at a tense moment, as U.S. officials have reportedly expressed frustration over the war&#39;s progression and its impact on global energy markets.<\/p>\n<h2>Oil Markets Retreat Amid Middle East De-escalation<\/h2>\n<p>Energy markets saw a sharp correction on Tuesday as <strong>US Crude Oil<\/strong> dropped to session lows, trading under <strong>$80 per barrel<\/strong>. <strong>Brent crude<\/strong> futures for September delivery fell <strong>3.71% to $85.08<\/strong>, reversing gains from the previous week when prices briefly eclipsed $100. The sell-off was triggered by a sustained pause in fighting between the <strong>U.S. and Iran<\/strong>, raising hopes among traders for a diplomatic breakthrough.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the cooling of immediate hostilities, regional tensions remain high. Iran&#39;s <strong>IRGC<\/strong> recently urged <strong>Saudi Arabia<\/strong> to lift its 12-year blockade on <strong>Yemen<\/strong>, calling it a &quot;humanitarian demand.&quot; Analysts at Goldman Sachs (<a href=\"\/stock\/GS\">GS<\/a>) noted that Brent could moderate further to <strong>$80 per barrel<\/strong> by year-end if the <strong>Strait of Hormuz<\/strong> fully reopens to regular tanker traffic.<\/p>\n<h2>xAI Accelerates Model Releases<\/h2>\n<p>In the technology sector, <strong>Elon Musk<\/strong> announced a compressed release schedule for xAI\u2019s next-generation models via a post on X. <strong>Grok 4.6<\/strong>, a 1.5 trillion-parameter model featuring significantly improved Supervised Fine-Tuning (SFT) and Reinforcement Learning (RL), is set to debut on <strong>August 7<\/strong>. This will be followed shortly by <strong>Grok 4.7<\/strong>, a 2.1 trillion-parameter model described by Musk as &quot;better in every way,&quot; despite a slight increase in serving latency.<\/p>\n<p>The announcement comes as SpaceX (<a href=\"\/stock\/SPCX\">SPCX<\/a>)\u2014which now houses xAI\u2014faces pressure from upcoming share lock-up expirations on <strong>August 6<\/strong>. Recent benchmarks from deepsec.sh suggest that the current <strong>Grok 4.5<\/strong> has already become a leader in price-performance for cybersecurity applications, reportedly operating at <strong>10x lower cost<\/strong> than competitors like Sol. Defense contractors RTX Corporation (<a href=\"\/stock\/RTX\">RTX<\/a>) and Lockheed Martin (<a href=\"\/stock\/LMT\">LMT<\/a>) are also seeing increased attention as the U.S. moves toward licensing advanced tech like the Patriot system to foreign allies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways President Trump announced plans to grant Ukraine a license to domestically manufacture Patriot missile interceptors, a major shift 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