Update on Trump’s Peace Efforts, Trump Won’t Support Attack on Iran, Hamas Is Broke
Update on Trump’s peace efforts: The president is restarting nuclear negotiations with Saudi Arabia, Mihailo Zekic reports in our feature story this morning. Trump’s strengthening ties with Saudi Arabia—he plans to make the first foreign trip of his second term there next month—is part of his broader Middle East strategy. He views the U.S.-Saudi partnership as central to the goal of regional stability. Again I refer you to our latest Trumpet issue for biblical perspective on these peace plans.
Trump to Israel: Don’t attack Iran: Yesterday the New York Times reported that earlier this month, President Trump, to pursue talks with Iran over its nuclear program, waved off an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities for now. Reports say Iran already is only a week or two away from having enough highly enriched uranium to make six or more nuclear weapons. But honestly, no one really knows for sure.
Israel was pushing for an attack and reportedly needs America to join in with its 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs and B2 bombers capable of penetrating Iran’s underground nuclear facilities. But, the Times states, after long debate among Trump’s cabinet, the president informed Netanyahu that America would not back the attack. The Times says Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who opposes any American intervention in the Middle East, presented a new intelligence assessment that helped scuttle Israel’s attack plan.
Some, like the Jerusalem Post, believe the Times article was intended to help the negotiations with Iran, to show how close Trump was to attacking Iran, but it called off the attack instead. In reality, the Times article will intensify the anti-Israel sentiment currently dividing America’s right wing by painting Israel as the warmonger trying to get America to fight all its wars on its behalf.
It’s one more factor adding tension to the U.S.-Israel relationship, prophesied at some point to break.
Hamas is broke, or so the Wall Street Journal claimed yesterday. Since Israel restarted its ground invasion of Gaza earlier this month, the Israel Defense Forces have been assassinating important figures in Hamas’s finance network. They have also enforced a blockade of humanitarian goods to Gaza—goods that Hamas has been selling to refill its coffers. These factors have combined to squeeze Hamas financially. According to the Wall Street Journal:
Salary payments to many Gaza government employees have ceased, while many senior Hamas fighters and political staff began receiving only about half of their pay midway through last month’s Ramadan holy period, the intelligence officials said. Rank-and-file Hamas fighters’ pay had been averaging around $200 to $300 a month, they said.
Is it true? Hamas has a well-established propaganda network. Much of the outside media accepts its narratives that Israel’s war effort is causing unnecessary hardship. Yet this may also mean that the screws are tightening on Hamas’s leadership.
What happens after it leaves? “Gaza the Day After” from our January issue shows what the Trumpet is watching for.
Terrorists try to target Jordan: Jordan’s government announced on Tuesday they had arrested 16 people on threats to national security. The foiled plot had involved missiles, drone manufacturing in Jordan’s borders, and recruitment both at home and abroad in an attack on the government. Reuters reported possible links to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Being the only country to border the West Bank, Jordan has been prime territory for smuggling routes bringing weapons to Palestinian terror groups. But the government is backed by the U.S. and Britain. Jordan has become a battleground between radical Islam and pro-Western interests.
A prophecy in Daniel 11:40-43 describes radical Islam under the name “the king of the south” to take over many countries in the Middle East. The Trumpet does not expect Jordan to be among them. Our editor in chief, Gerald Flurry, details why in his booklet Jordan and God’s Church in Prophecy.
Non-jihadist Islamist terrorism rising in Europe: The Continent’s problem with Muslims committing violence isn’t limited to acts committed by terrorists with links to groups like the Islamic State or al Qaeda. “Islamist terrorism has taken on a new, insidious form,” CapX.co reports—that is, non-jihadist Islamist terrorism, where individuals commit violent acts motivated by anger, moral disgust and a hatred of Western societies.
These attacks are often indiscriminate. Authorities have a terrible time preventing these attacks since they come out of nowhere. The increase in such attacks is certain to stoke Europeans’ frustration and anger at the Islamic presence in their midst and to hasten a biblically prophesied religious-based clash between a European superstate and an Islamist coalition.
Three cheers for Germany’s military! Since Russia invaded Ukraine, the German government, media and military have pleaded with the German people to take responsibility for the country’s security. As a result, the German military and arms industry, long viewed with suspicion, are now celebrated. Bundeswehr recruitment is surging: Applications jumped 20 percent between 2023 and 2024—from 43,200 to 52,100.
This is good news for the coalition partners in the new German government, as they want to create “a new, attractive military service that is initially based on voluntary service.”
But while interest in the military rises, something else is notably decreasing:
Three jeers for Germany’s economy: The world’s third-largest economy is in trouble. A monthly survey of the zew Indicator of Economic Sentiment, published on Tuesday, plummeted to -14 points from 51.6 in March, marking its lowest level since July 2023 and falling far below the consensus forecast of 9.5. This sharp decline reflects drooping investor confidence, primarily driven by escalating global trade tensions.
America’s abrupt imposition of tariffs on key imports such as steel and aluminum has heightened economic uncertainty, which has walloped Germany’s export-oriented economy in particular. As Deutsche Welle wrote yesterday: “Trump’s Trade War Upends Germany’s Economic Model.” On top of that, political uncertainty stemming from potential coalition-building difficulties makes Germans even more pessimistic.
Don’t forget: Unhappy Germans are dangerous Germans.
EU chooses China: The EU has rejected U.S. demands to cut ties with China, Ezekiel Malone reports, risking increased tariffs to maintain trade relations with Asia. Another rebuke to President Trump’s economic dealing.
2024 was Europe’s worst year of flooding in over a decade, our In Brief reports. And the natural disasters hitting the world in 2025 are already piling up.
Britain defeats drone swarms with a radio-wave weapon: Drone swarms are a rising threat in warfare. In Ukraine, over 18,000 drones were used in attacks last year. Dozens of countries are searching for ways to neutralize these deadly weapons, Britain among them.
The British Army successfully tested a Radio Frequency Directed Energy Weapon (rfdew) against drone swarms, Defense News reports today. The rfdew, developed by a Thales UK-led consortium, uses high-frequency radio waves to disrupt or damage drone electronics, causing them to crash or malfunction. In the exercise, the weapon simultaneously neutralized multiple drones nearly instantly, defeating two swarms in a single engagement and over 100 drones across all trials. Each shot costs about 13 cents, a fraction of other missile-based defenses.
Of course, drone manufacturers are looking for ways to outsmart this defensive technology. Already, drones using fiber-optic connections or advanced anti-jamming systems may be less vulnerable to rfdew. But considering the Bible’s descriptions of the destructive potential of the next world war, the pace at which nations are boosting their militaries and developing new weapons and counter-weapons—even as the diplomats say “peace, peace”—is riveting to witness.
Trump vs. Harvard intensifies: Yesterday the Trump administration requested the irs to revoke Harvard University’s tax-exempt status, escalating a feud after Harvard rejected White House demands to overhaul its policies. It is a bold jab in a broader effort to shake up moneyed institutions long shielded by privilege; institutions that, whatever their other accomplishments, have incubated some truly horrific moral and ideological sickness.
