Full Steam Ahead on German Rearmament
Full steam ahead on European rearmament: What a difference a day makes! Obstacles to Germany’s rearmament are quickly evaporating. Reuters reports that Germany’s incoming coalition government has negotiated a deal with the Greens to change the constitution and boost defense spending. The Greens will drop their block on the deal in exchange for an extra €100 billion in environment spending. If true, the deal could quickly move through the German parliament.
At the European level, the Dutch have dropped their objection to the defense spending package. Three out of the four members of the coalition voted against it, but Prime Minister Dick Schoof browbeat them into line.
As I wrote yesterday, it will still require a strongman for Europe to overcome all its political squabbles. But there is clearly a massive level of urgency behind this increase in defense spending, and they’re finding ways to push onward fast. Our Trumpet Brief from last night, “Up in Arms,” shows how Europe is quickly transforming, and Herbert W. Armstrong’s signature prophecy is being fulfilled before our eyes.
Poland wants nuclear weapons, President Andrzej Duda told the Financial Times on Wednesday. He asked the U.S. to station the weapons in its territory. Poland is more dependent on the U.S. than Germany. In the shadow of Russia, Poles want something to deter an invasion. Their preference is generally to rely on the U.S. for defense, but they increasingly believe Germany may be more reliable. If they can’t get U.S. nuclear weapons, Poland may join with a Europe-wide nuclear deterrent.
“Now one of the great things that is urging Europe on, and perhaps the greatest thing that will cause them to hurry and get together on this, is their fear of what’s going on in the Kremlin and the Soviet Union,” said Herbert W. Armstrong in 1982. “… They are losing confidence in the United States as having a military umbrella over them to protect them, and they want their own military force to protect themselves. That’s the way they feel over there. Now that is a chief incentive to unite them, and that is taking place.”
President Donald Trump receives more setbacks in court. Last night, a San Francisco judge ordered six government departments to rehire workers fired last month. Thousands of workers in their probationary period were laid off by the Office of Personnel Management. The judge ruled that the office lacked the authority to fire workers in other departments.
And on Wednesday, a federal judge blocked the president from removing law firm Perkins Coie’s security clearance. The firm had worked with Hillary Clinton to manufacture attacks on President Trump. Mrs. Clinton was fined $100,000 for campaign finance violations for the work. Perkins Coie argued that Mr. Trump’s actions violated its rights to free speech, free association and due process. District Judge Beryl Howell granted a temporary restraining order.
President Trump is the elected official in charge of the executive branch. If he can’t take control of it and fire people, who can? These kinds of rulings are anti-democratic, setting up an unelected administrative state beyond voters’ control.
In the long run, these courts are unlikely to be successful. “Hundreds of Obama-aligned judges and politicians are attacking President Trump, Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency,” wrote Trumpet executive editor Stephen Flurry and Andrew Miiller in our latest Trumpet issue. “However, Bible prophecy indicates they will have much less success than they did under Obama and Biden and during President Trump’s first term.” They point to a key prophecy that shows the Supreme Court will help President Trump. That has already been fulfilled, and the court is likely to continue to empower the president.
The Trump administration issued an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court yesterday, so that help could come very soon. He asked the court to address three lower court judgments striking down his executive order on birthright citizenship, and a ruling could restrict lower court powers more broadly.
“Years of experience have shown that the executive branch cannot properly perform its functions if any judge anywhere can enjoin every presidential action everywhere,” said acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris. Mr. Flurry and Mr. Miiller’s article “President Trump vs. the Bureaucratic State” shows where this fight is leading.
President Trump got his way in the Senate yesterday after Senator Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he would vote for a continuing resolution, staving off a government shutdown and funding the government for another six months. It needs 60 votes to pass, so Republicans need Democrats’ support. Schumer said he didn’t like the resolution but would support it to avoid a government shutdown. We’re used to seeing the opposite—Republicans caving to Democrats’ hardball tactics. The bill trims government spending by a relatively tiny amount, so America’s debt remains an existential threat to the nation.
