The Soviet Union never fell, according to a senior Kremlin adviser. In that case, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not an invasion at all, merely internal policing action. It’s clearly nonsense, but it shines an important light on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ambition to rebuild the ussr, as our main story today discusses.

Receive a free news briefing in your inbox each weekday—the Trumpet Brief.

Los Angeles explodes: Los Angeles has been rocked by three nights of anti-deportation riots. Protesters waving Mexican flags burned police cars and driverless Waymo cars, shut down the freeway, and looted shops. At least 56 were arrested over the weekend. President Donald Trump called 2,000 members of the California National Guard into federal service to protect federal officers and others. Around 500 marines are also ready to deploy.

The riots kicked off after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ice) arrested illegals at a job site on Friday. The next day, they tried to arrest illegal immigrants in Paramount, a majority Latino area southeast of Los Angeles. Protesters faced off against ice and Border Patrol agents outside an industrial park.

According to the left, this is all Trump’s fault. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass blamed President Trump for provoking chaos. California Governor Gavin Newsom opposed Trump’s National Guard order, posting on X, “We didn’t have a problem until Trump got involved.” Sen. Cory Booker said they were “peaceful protests … generated because the president of the United States is sewing chaos and confusion.” cnn characterized the violence as “lawful protests” with “some unrest.”

Migration was the subject of two Trumpet covers last year, so it’s unsurprising that it continues to be a major issue as President Trump tries to get control of America’s borders and send home some of the millions who flooded into the U.S. in recent years. “Look how much damage a few thousand George Floyd rioters did in 2020,” Andrew Miiller wrote last year. “Imagine how much worse it would be if millions of illegal aliens revolted. America has entered a truly dangerous period in its nearly 250-year history.” The events of this weekend give us an idea of what that could look like.

Israel is dealing with its own illegal immigrants in the form of Greta Thunberg and her small boat full of activists. She posted a video saying she was about to be “kidnapped” by Israel. The Israelis stopped what they called her “selfie yacht” with its dozen “celebrity” activists, promising to transfer the “tiny amount of aid” they carried “to Gaza through real humanitarian channels.”

“While Greta and others attempted to stage a media provocation whose sole purpose was to gain publicity—and which included less than a single truckload of aid—more than 1,200 aid trucks have entered Gaza from Israel within the past two weeks, and in addition, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has distributed close to 11 million meals directly to civilians in Gaza,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry posted on X. They said they would play her a video about the October 7 attacks before sending her home.

It’s a bit of a nonstory, but that’s kind of the point. A bunch of misguided social media stars wanted to make Israel look bad—but not much ended up coming of it. In this case, even the virulently anti-Israel UN has confirmed that Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza is legal. But the great and the good of this world instinctively side against Israel. Our article “Truth and Lies About Anti-Semitism” explains why.

Egypt and Iran are talking. Normally I try to differentiate between “talk” and “news.” Talk is cheap—anyone can talk about doing something—it’s action that counts. But when two countries hate each other so much they’ve barely spoken for 40 years, talk is itself news.

Terrorists likely sponsored by Iran assassinated Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1981. Iran openly celebrated the murderers. But in recent years, the two countries have gradually been moving past this history. Last week, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian spoke over the phone. It followed Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s visit to Cairo a few days before.

This is leading to the fulfillment of a very specific prophecy. Daniel 11:40-44 describe a European “king of the north” who conquers the “king of the south,” radical Islam led by Iran. He goes on to conquer Egypt, Libya and Ethiopia—implying these three are allies with the king of the south. Based on this prophecy, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has made the “impossible” forecast that the breach between Iran and Egypt would heal. It’s now happening before your eyes. You can learn more about this in our free booklet The King of the South.

IN OTHER NEWS

Russia launched its largest-ever overnight drone attack last night, according to Ukrainian officials. They said they shot down 460 out of 479 drones launched against Ukraine.

Violence continues in Germany: An Iraqi national drove his car into his wife, 5-year-old daughter and several others on Saturday in Passau, southern Germany—perhaps motivated by a custody dispute. On the same day, a 30-year-old woman tried to stab passersby in Munich before being shot dead by police. That evening, a Slovenian man bought a knife near Hamburg before attacking a man at the same shop.

NATO officials are in a round of pre-meetings right now. A big summit is scheduled for June 24–25, and it looks bad if national leaders get together and fail to agree. So the real work is happening right now as lower-level officials prepare the agreement for their bosses to sign. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Europeans not to rely on America last week—as our In Brief explains. nato looks on course to increase its minimum spending level from 2 percent of gdp to 3.5 percent.