Kelley Paul is no stranger to the American political scene. As the wife of Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and the daughter-in-law of longtime former Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas), she has seen her fair share of the campaign trail, emerging as a powerful surrogate during her husband’s 2016 presidential run.

She is also an accomplished writer, speaker, and public relations professional. As America ushers in its 250th anniversary, Paul saw the perfect opportunity to branch out into the world of children’s literature. Recently she sat down with Fox News Digital in Las Vegas at Freedom Fest to discuss her new book, «Good Night, Young American.»

Paul credits her family for giving her the inspiration for the new project:

«I have to give a lot of credit to my daughter-in-law, Kate. She and our son were over for dinner last summer with our grandson, who was only six months old at the time. And Kate was like, you know, we need more patriotic books for babies. She wasn’t really happy with a lot of the book options she was seeing. And that night at dinner, we kind of played around with some ideas. And I came up with ‘Good Night Young American.’ And a year later, here it is.»

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«Good Night, Young American,» recommended for children ages 4–8, takes kids on a visually and thematically engaging journey through early and colonial history.

«Well, our revolutionary history is such a great adventure, right? So when I came up with the concept that my little boy would start out on the 4th of July with his parents, asking, what is it all about? I knew we’d be celebrating the 250th. Kids ask, what are we really celebrating? 

And his dad describes the Declaration of Independence to him in the signing. So I tried to think what is going to appeal to children in this great adventure of our revolution. So when he falls asleep that night, he’s in the crow’s nest of the Mayflower. He is a pilgrim, he’s a colonist, and then he makes friends with all the great revolutionary heroes that we know. So he makes friends with Sam Adams, he joins the Sons of Liberty, he meets at the Green Dragon. This is so exciting for children, right? 

It’s visual stuff. He makes friends with Ben Franklin, and he’s flying the kite. Dramatically rides on the midnight ride with Paul Revere. He and his dog, his little dog, are with him for all the adventures. And of course, he crosses the Delaware with George Washington. And I wanted to make the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the writing of it something that was dynamic and exciting visually. So I have him swinging on the Liberty Bell when the declaration is signed.»

Paul worked closely with the illustrator, Marika Monesi, to bring the events of America’s founding to life in an engaging and visually appealing way for children.

The Liberty Bell, originally saved from the British by Lynnport farmer Frederick Leaser, sits in its Philadelphia shrine. (iStock)

«She really captured the excitement on the little boy’s face, his personality, but I worked very close with her,» Paul said. «I wanted there to be a lot of movement, a lot of dynamic images. So, for example, with the Liberty Bell, for kids, a bunch of men standing around writing a document…I wanted to bring it to life. So I said, let’s have him running up to the top of the bell tower in Philadelphia at Freedom Hall and swinging on the Liberty Bell. And she was just such a great artist. With the George Washington scenes, he’s crossing the Delaware because that, again, is so visual. I wanted drive home to children the incredible bravery and courage of our founders, how cold and miserable and hard that war was. 

«Also, I love the illustration that she did of the King of England reading the Declaration of Independence. I have to give my husband Rand a little credit there. On the first couple of drafts that she did, Rand was like, ‘He needs to be fatter. King George was famously fat!’ So it was a lot of fun. It was very collaborative.»

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Part of Paul’s motivation for the book was related to the teaching of American history today, and the controversies therein:

«I do think that we’ve gotten away from really celebrating our founders and our heroes. What they were doing in 1776 was incredibly radical, if you think about it. At that time, everyone accepted the divine right of kings. Everyone accepted hereditary rule. And our founders took Enlightenment ideas from John Locke and philosophers, and they turned it into the framework for a government. The idea of self-government and that our rights come from our Creator, that we have inalienable rights that are given to us by God and not from a king. Those were radical ideas of the time.

Historians say an early draft of the Declaration of Independence offered new insight into how Thomas Jefferson refined the nation’s founding document. (Stock Montage/Stock Montage/Getty Images)

I like to say our founders were the first civil rights heroes, the first civil libertarians. And I think our education system has gotten away from that. They don’t view them in the time that they existed, and suddenly now everything is oppressor versus oppressed narrative. And they are labeled more like colonizers or enslavers, and that’s the only view that they’re looked at, and not as human beings who sacrificed their very lives to write the Declaration of Independence, to form this country…it was an incredible, bold, and courageous act, but it was also an act of moral courage and philosophical courage.»

Ultimately, Paul hopes that her books will stimulate the natural curiosity of America’s youth to learn more about their rich history:

Participants carry the City of Cumberland’s «America 250» parade banner down Baltimore Street during the America 250 parade in downtown Cumberland, Maryland, on June 27, 2026. Spectators line both sides of the street as American and Maryland flags lead the procession. (Fox News Digital/ David Marcus)

«Well, I hope that my books, especially with America’s 250, will spark a lot of questions and that they will give a framework for parents to talk to their kids about the founding of this country. And I hope children from a very, very young age will come away with this idea that they are a part of America’s story, that they as Americans can take pride in the heroism of our revolutionary founders. That as Americans, this is all of our story. So that’s really my goal with the books.»

One of the biggest challenges Paul faced was taking big ideas that may be hard for a four or five-year-old to grasp, like the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution, and distilling them down into an accessible format for kids:

«Well, I try to use language that kids could understand, and very much use simple terms. But if you think about it, it is simple. Our rights come from God. And when he makes friends with Thomas Jefferson, he says, Thomas Jefferson has written this amazing document that says that we can all be free to live our lives the way we choose, and no government can take our rights to, you know, to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness away from us. 

He also talks about James Madison and the Bill of Rights and the most important right is freedom of speech. That is that no government can tell you what to say or what not to say.»

Rand Paul, who famously puts Constitutional principles front and center in the public square, also played a key role in the book’s thematic development.

Kelley Paul and her husband Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul. (Courtesy Kelley Paul)

«Rand has been incredibly supportive. I’m just so grateful and blessed to have had an amazing, now 36-year marriage to Rand Paul. And he was very involved. He would read over the drafts and gave me a lot of, like I said, good advice about things in history that he thought I should include. 

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And I’m also just very grateful to be the daughter-in-law of Ron Paul. And so, I wanted these books to be there for our little grandson who I call ‘my favorite little American’ and help him from an early age be educated in the legacy that, the Paul family has in this country.»

La Dirección General de Aduanas (DGA) de República Dominicana reportó un incremento en sus ingresos durante los primeros seis meses de 2026, alcanzando RD$129.236 millones (USD 2,209 millones), lo que representa un aumento absoluto de RD$3,290 millones (USD 56.2 millones) respecto al mismo periodo del año anterior.

Este desempeño se produce en un contexto internacional marcado por tensiones geopolíticas que han impactado el comercio exterior, según detalló la entidad recaudadora.

De acuerdo con la información oficial de la DGA, los resultados de junio muestran un nivel de cumplimiento de 100.9% en sus metas de recaudación, con un superávit de RD$218 millones (USD 3.73 millones).

En ese mes, la institución registró ingresos por RD$24,162 millones (US$413 millones), lo que equivale a un crecimiento interanual de 15.4%, es decir, RD$3,225 millones (USD 55.2 millones) adicionales en comparación con junio de 2025. Esta cifra marca un avance relevante para la gestión aduanera dominicana.

Un dato destacado por la institución es que durante el periodo analizado se registró el día de mayor recaudación en la historia de la entidad, con RD$1,880.91 millones (USD 32.1 millones), superando el récord anterior de RD$1,853.72 millones (US$31.7 millones) alcanzado en 2022. Este hecho refuerza la tendencia positiva de los ingresos aduaneros en el país caribeño.

El director de la DGA, Nelson Arroyo, atribuyó estos resultados al compromiso de impulsar medidas para facilitar y agilizar el despacho de mercancías en los principales puertos y aeropuertos del país. Según sus palabras, “este aumento en las recaudaciones de la entidad que dirige es producto del compromiso que asumimos de continuar impulsando iniciativas dirigidas a facilitar y agilizar el despacho de mercancías en los puertos y aeropuertos del país”.

Arroyo precisó que, entre enero y junio de 2026, los contenedores importados bajo el régimen de consumo aumentaron en 1.5% respecto al mismo periodo del año anterior, una variación que consideró relevante dadas las condiciones internacionales adversas.

Por su parte, según la DGA, las tensiones geopolíticas internacionales han condicionado el desempeño del comercio exterior dominicano durante este semestre. A pesar de dicho entorno desafiante, la DGA sostuvo su capacidad recaudatoria y mantuvo la eficiencia en el control aduanero, según las declaraciones recogidas en la comunicación oficial.

La entidad aduanera también enfatizó la importancia de las estrategias implementadas para mejorar la gestión y el control tributario en las fronteras, aspecto que contribuyó a sostener y elevar los niveles de recaudación. El balance presentado por la institución indica que las metas propuestas para el semestre no solo se cumplieron, sino que se superaron, lo cual refuerza la confianza en los procesos internos adoptados por la administración actual.

Los datos publicados por la DGA reflejan, además, el impacto que las decisiones administrativas y operativas han tenido sobre el flujo de mercancías y el ingreso fiscal. El incremento en la entrada de contenedores, aunque moderado, se percibe como un resultado positivo dadas las circunstancias internacionales que afectan el comercio global. Las autoridades aduaneras han reiterado su intención de seguir fortaleciendo los mecanismos de supervisión y facilitación del comercio, con el propósito de mantener el ritmo de crecimiento observado hasta la fecha.

Abdul El-Sayed, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan, called dinations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) a form of «bribery.»

«Next week, AIPAC is set to spend at least $3,847,990 against me. Why? Because [Haley Stevens] is more committed to the future of a foreign country than keeping your tax dollars here to provide schools and healthcare for you and your kids,» El-Sayed said in a post to X.

«Legalized bribery at its worst.»

The post, which comes a little under a month before a primary against Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., a pro-Israel and establishment candidate, raises questions about foreign interests represented in American elections and whether El-Sayed’s criticisms could be applied to other groups.

JOSH SHAPIRO WARNS THAT ATTACKS ON AIPAC ARE BEING USED TO ‘SILENCE CERTAIN VOTERS’

«Does that apply to PAL PAC and Arab American PAC?» Chuck Ross, an investigative reporter, wrote in a post to X, referring to two pro-palestine groups.

El-Sayed’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital along those lines.

Israel and its influence in American politics have been key themes for the Michigan Senate primary. Stevens, a member of the House of Representatives, endorsed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has heavily criticized El-Sayed for questioning the U.S.-Israel alliance amid the conflict with Hamas.

«I can say that Israel has a right to peacefully exist alongside the people of Palestine and Gaza,» Stevens said at a debate on Tuesday evening.

DEMOCRATS’ CIVIL WAR HEADS TO MICHIGAN WHERE PROGRESSIVES FACE BIGGEST TEST YET IN HIGH-STAKES SENATE SHOWDOWN

Rep. Haley Stevens of Michigan, right, and former Wayne County Health Department Director Abdul El-Sayed are facing off in the August 4, 2026, Democratic Senate primary in the Great Lakes battleground state. ( )

El-Sayed, for his part, has maintained that the Israel lobby has amassed too much power in U.S. elections, preventing candidates from questioning the partnership or under what circumstances the U.S. should withhold its assistance.

«For too long our foreign policy has been handed to us by the likes of the state of Israel and AIPAC, who has made sure that both Democrats and Republicans are doing their bidding,» El-Sayed said on Tuesday.

Notably, El-Sayed has a modest foreign asset.

In response to criticisms that he had yet to release his tax returns, El-Sayed acknowledged that his family had been holding the evaluations abroad, delaying the process.

«Taxes get complicated,» El-Sayed replied when asked about the topic on a recent programming appearance. «My wife and her family own property abroad and getting all those tax forms is a thing.»

DEM CIVIL WAR HITS PRIMARY DEBATE STAGE IN FIERY BATTLEGROUND SHOWDOWN: ‘WHAT ARE YOU HIDING?’

Abdul El-Sayed, candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan, speaks before U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., takes the stage at Mumford High School on May 3, 2026, in Detroit, Michigan. (Sarah Rice/Getty Images)

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As a part of his candidate report disclosures filed on June 2025, El-Sayed has reported a number of holdings. Among them: a salary from Wayne County worth $278,900 and an assortment of other assets totaling a net worth somewhere between $580,000 and $1.7 million.

As a part of that report, his wife reported holding up to $15,000 in real estate in India.