Creating “the strongest conventional army in Europe” is one of Friedrich Merz’s top priorities, the new chancellor said in his first major speech to the German parliament yesterday. “Our friends and partners also expect this from us, and what’s more, they are actually demanding it,” he said. In a first reaction to his speech, Bild wrote: “It is probably the most important sentence in German defense policy for decades, if not since the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany. … The partly ailing, long underfunded German armed forces, which are still in urgent need of personnel, are to become the ‘strongest in Europe.’”

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In some ways, this isn’t new. Germany is already the EU’s largest military spender and the constitutional reforms already enacted will see Germany become even more dominate. But it’s one thing for Germany to create the strongest military—it’s another to declare it proudly.

The rest of the world is no longer alarmed by such a prospect. As Merz said, they are enthusiastic supporters of Germany’s rearmament.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said today that Germany would give in to U.S. pressure and boost its defense spending to 5 percent of its economic output. That would mean more than doubling the German military budget to around $250 billion per year.

Merz also highlighted how he wants Germany to lead a rearmed and united Europe. “In this historic moment of decision, Europe must stand closer together than ever,” he said. “As the German federal government, we will focus our energies on taking Europe a major step forward at a time when we as a continent must reassess and defend our position in the world. Germany will take initiatives to revitalize the European ideal of freedom and peace so that Europe lives up to its claim and significance in the world.”

“This Europe is looking to Germany today,” he said. “Europe expects something from us. The new German government accepts this responsibility.”

Herbert W. Armstrong warned for decades of this military union. In May 1953, he wrote that “10 powerful European nations will combine their forces.” In August 1978, he warned: “The Europeans are far more disturbed about their safety in relying on United States military power to protect them than Americans realize! … Europeans want their own united military power! They know that a political union of Europe would produce a third major world power, as strong as either the United States or the USSR—possibly stronger!”

The day Russia invaded Ukraine, Mr. Flurry sent out an e-mail warning, “The most important nation to watch right now is Germany. How will it respond to [Vladimir] Putin’s war on Ukraine? This Ukraine war is going to speed up the rise of the prophesied German-led Holy Roman Empire!” Germany’s aim is a massive fulfilled prophecy.

Iran and the U.S. “sort of” have a nuclear deal, President Donald Trump said this morning. “Iran has sort of agreed to the term,” he said, adding: “We’re not going to be making any nuclear dust in Iran.”

Insiders say that the U.S. presented Iran with a written proposal in Oman on Sunday. There are few consistent details in the media about what the deal is. An Iranian adviser told NBC that Iran is willing to reduce its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium in exchange for looser sanctions. But the Iranians are unwilling to do any more than Obama’s nuclear deal required them to.

President Trump is moving on to more peace deals. He told U.S. troops that he could bring peace to India and Pakistan. “They have been fighting for about a thousand years in all fairness,” he said, “so I said I could settle that up. I can settle anything.”

The truth is, he can’t. The front cover of our latest Trumpet issue focused on “the fatal flaw” in Mr. Trump’s peacemaking. It’s a flaw he has to see before the nation can repent and receive blessings from God. You can read it here.

China could destroy the U.S. energy grid at any time, thanks to traps smuggled into equipment it has sold the U.S. Reuters reported yesterday that “rogue communication devices not listed in product documents have been found in some Chinese solar power inverters by U.S experts who strip down equipment hooked up to grids to check for security issues ….”

“Using the rogue communication devices to skirt firewalls and switch off inverters remotely, or change their settings, could destabilize power grids, damage energy infrastructure, and trigger widespread blackouts, experts said,” wrote Reuters. It quoted one of those experts saying, “That effectively means there is a built-in way to physically destroy the grid.”

So China can bring the U.S. to a halt any time it likes. If energy equipment has these built-in backdoors, how much other equipment sold by China has them? Could smart cars, security cameras and computers turn against the U.S.?

Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has warned that “we have a very vulnerable point in our military—our own Achilles’ heel. It is so dangerous that I am amazed it hasn’t received more publicity.” He quoted a Bible passage with a startling message: “They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready; but none goeth to the battle: for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof” (Ezekiel 7:14).

“The trumpet of war is to be blown in Israel—mainly America and Britain,” he wrote. “… It seems everybody is expecting our people to go into battle, but the greatest tragedy imaginable occurs! Nobody goes to battle—even though the trumpet is blown! Will it be because of computer terrorism?”

You can read more about the potential for such an attack in his article “America’s Achilles’ Heel—and Germany.”

IN OTHER NEWS

President Putin will not come to peace talks in Turkey. This isn’t surprising; he was noncommittal about them. It’s yet more proof that he does not want peace—though he is willing to use peace talks as a weapon.

President Trump continues his dealmaking in the Middle East. He signed $244 million worth of agreements with Qatar, including Boeing’s biggest-ever jet sale. Qatar Airways agreed to spend $96 billion on 210 Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 777X planes. Biden administration officials told Axios they were “awed” by President Trump’s quick actions. Rob Malley, who conducted nuclear talks with Iran under Biden and Obama, said, “It’s hard not to be simultaneously terrified at the thought of the damage he can cause with such power, and awed by his willingness to brazenly shatter so many harmful taboos.”

Gathering the errant daughters: Pope Leo XIV is already drawing the Greek Orthodox world closer to the Catholic Church. He met with leaders of the Eastern Catholic Churches yesterday (not Orthodox, but churches in the East in communion with Rome). He said the Catholic Church has a “great need to recover the sense of mystery that remains alive in … liturgies that engage the human person in his or her entirety.” He praised the “immense” contribution Christians in the East can make to the world, as well as their “Eastern spirituality.” Pope Leo has also said he’s “preparing” to visit Constantinople for the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. This pope may be able to bring the Greek Orthodox Church fully back to Rome. To understand why this is prophetic, read “Returning to the Fold” in our free booklet He Was Right.

Russia targets Europe: German authorities said Wednesday they had arrested three pro-Russia Ukrainians in Germany on suspicion of conspiring with Moscow to mail packages containing explosives to Ukraine.