France Open to Sharing Nukes With Germany, Trump’s ‘Last Warning,’ and Iran Races for the Bomb
We send the April Trumpet to press today, with a cover on how rapidly Europe is militarizing in response to Donald Trump’s foreign policy. Dramatic developments are unfolding daily, and we are making last-minute copy revisions to reflect them. The latest occurred last night, when:
[BRIEF]
France said it is open to sharing nuclear weapons with Germany: In a televised address, President Emmanuel Macron dropped a bombshell, at least figuratively. He said that in the face of escalating global threats, he is open to sharing France’s nuclear deterrence with European allies, backing a call from Germany’s soon-to-be chancellor, Friedrich Merz. Macron expressed concerns about the reliability of U.S. military support and stressed the need for Europe to step up its defense spending and take greater control of its own security. It is stunning how quickly this prophetically pivotal trend is leaping forward—one we have warned of for decades. Read our Trends article: “Why the Trumpet Watches Europe’s Push Toward a Unified Military.”
President Trump’s “last warning”: Hamas still holds 59 hostages, including five Americans, the only surviving of whom is believed to be 21-year-old Edan Alexander. Yesterday, after meeting with eight Israeli former hostages, Donald Trump sent an ultimatum to Hamas on Truth Social: “Release all of the hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you. … This is your last warning! … Also, to the people of Gaza: A beautiful future awaits, but not if you hold hostages. If you do, you are dead! Make a smart decision.”
Similar past declarations have been bluster. But in this message he wrote, “I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job; not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don’t do as I say.” This is quite a turnaround from the man who pressured Israel to accept the ceasefire agreement in January. This is truly significant.
That deal benefited Hamas at the expense of Israel’s security; if fully implemented according to the January terms, it would leave Hamas in charge of Gaza. At the time, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry said, “What Mr. Trump has done here is going to plague him for the rest of his tenure in office! Just watch and see if it doesn’t happen that way—unless he dramatically changes course.” This ultimatum to Hamas is the strongest indication yet that President Trump has changed course and has swung solidly behind Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. We will soon find out.
Iran racing for the bomb? Iran appears to be shifting back to its hard-line policy after recent political shake-ups, including the impeachment of Economy Minister Abdolnasser Hemmati and the resignation of Vice President Mohammad Javad Zarif. Hemmati, known for his pragmatic economic stance and efforts to reduce foreign tensions to stabilize the economy, was dismissed by a parliament dominated by hard-liners. Zarif, who supported renewed negotiations with the U.S., complied with demands from Iran’s chief justice that he resign.
“The sacking highlights a change of direction in the regime’s foreign policy,” wrote Shay Khatiri for Middle East Forum. “Gone are efforts to improve prosperity; back in fashion is the ‘resistance economy,’ which emphasizes patriot austerity and domestic production of foodstuffs and military goods.” Austerity is certainly reality in Iran now: Since Trump’s victory, the Iranian rial has lost one third of its value relative to the U.S. dollar.
“Iranian hard-liners do not revert to the ‘resistance economy’ for its own sake; it usually presages an effort to defy the world,” Khatiri wrote. “In this case, expect Iran to accelerate its nuclear weaponization process. … Rather than deal, it now appears Khamenei only allows diplomacy in the hope it will delay a military attack long enough for Iran to complete its nuclear project.”
Supreme Court upholds USAID aid: In a 5-4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court denied President Trump’s emergency request to block $1.9 billion in foreign aid overseen by USAID. The amount of waste, corruption and absurdity in the USAID budget is shocking. So too is the defense of it by Justices Barrett and Roberts, who joined the majority—marking yet another instance of these conservative-appointed justices aligning with leftist positions. The Trumpet continues to follow the rulings of what prophecy calls “the kingdom’s court,” an indication of its being behind President Trump. Rulings like this, however, show continued resistance to his efforts to reform a bloated, corrupt government.