Putin Agrees to Ceasefire, Then Breaks It
On a two-hour phone call with Trump yesterday, Russia’s president agreed to a ceasefire proposal—a 30-day pause on strikes targeting energy infrastructure but allowing other military actions to continue. Vladimir Putin said Russia will require a complete halt to foreign military aid to Ukraine before agreeing to a full ceasefire. This limited agreement fell far short of the broad 30-day ceasefire across all fronts that Ukraine had accepted and the U.S. had pushed for. Still, it was enough to make headlines that Trump had talked Putin into a deal.
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But within hours, Russia broke the agreement, launching missiles and drones against Ukrainian civilian targets, including energy infrastructure. Once again the iron-heeled realities of today’s geopolitics are crushing Trump’s hopes and promises of peace through negotiation.
Hopefully Donald Trump wakes up soon and realizes who he is dealing with: the prophesied “prince of Russia.”
A nightmare for Russia? People accuse Donald Trump of favoring Russia and bowing to Putin. But in this morning’s feature story, Jeremiah Jacques argues that by motivating Europe to rapidly arm itself and coalesce politically and militarily, President Trump is actually creating a future nightmare for Russia. Read his article “As Europe Awakens, Putin Is Missing Biden.”
One example underscoring this trend—and more evidence of Europe’s lurch toward militarism—happened yesterday:
Jittery nations want land mines again: Poland and the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia yesterday announced their intent to withdraw from the international convention banning land mines. The four nations on NATO’s eastern flank say the threat from Russia necessitates withdrawing from the treaty, which came into force in 1999. The defense ministers of the four countries said in a joint statement that since the Ottawa Convention banning land mines was ratified, “[m]ilitary threats to NATO member states bordering Russia and Belarus have significantly increased” and thus, “it is essential to evaluate all measures to strengthen our deterrence and defense capabilities.” This after Lithuania withdrew from the Oslo Convention banning cluster munitions earlier this month.
China bullies Taiwan: Yesterday China deployed 59 aircraft around the island nation, including fighter jets and drones, along with nine warships and two balloons. China’s Foreign Ministry called the operation a “resolute response” to “Taiwan independence separatist forces,” specifically citing America removing a statement opposing Taiwan independence from its State Department website. The show of force darkens China’s shadow over the island as fierce geopolitical winds intensify. Truly, “China is steering the world toward war.”
Another day, another judge attacks Trump: Yesterday, a U.S. district judge in Maryland, Theodore Chuang, blocked the Department of Government Efficiency from trying to shutter USAID, calling the effort unconstitutional. Labeling Musk an unelected “shadow official,” Chuang accused DOGE of trampling Congress’s authority without proper oversight, ordering the restoration of its e-mail and computer systems, and halting layoffs. The decision, sparked by a lawsuit from 26 USAID workers, ignited a firestorm: Trump vowed to appeal, branding Chuang a “rogue judge.”
At this point, according to the judges, President Trump isn’t allowed to deport foreign terrorists, curb spending or fire subordinates. What is the commander in chief meant to do? Watch for a Trumpet Brief on this question by Stephen Flurry later today.
Who killed JFK? After an executive order from President Trump, over 31,000 pages of intelligence files related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy were released last night. There’s enough details and nuances in all that information that a range of headlines and stories are emerging. But the bottom line is that JFK was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald, who was backed by the Soviets. There was no inside-job conspiracy, no CIA involvement, no shooter on the grassy knoll. The conspiracy theorists aren’t satisfied, and they never will be. But this is essentially what Herbert W. Armstrong and Gerald Flurry have said all along. Read Richard Palmer’s short analysis of this intelligence drop below.