Making America Fit to Fight

Good morning!

It was remarkable to see Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump addressing all of America’s top military leaders in person, boldly declaring an end to political correctness kneecapping America’s military effectiveness. The left-right culture clash is fierce, and it is stunning how much weakness and wokeness have infected the nation’s fighting forces. It is refreshing to see this being confronted.

[BRIEF]

Meanwhile, the U.S. government is shutting down over a budget battle. This administration is showing some backbone to root out the rot within the military—but what would it take to do so within the nation’s finances?

Making America fit to fight: “The only mission of the newly restored Department of War is this: warfighting, preparing for war, and preparing to win,” U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth told over 800 admirals and generals at an unprecedented in-person meeting in Virginia yesterday. He vowed to reverse decades of decline and invited anyone who doesn’t like it to leave.

• Many will no doubt accept the invitation, and many more will be pushed out for failing to meet the new standards—which are actually a return to older, sounder standards.
• The move is certain to rankle leaders who were promoted for pushing social-justice policies and to shock soldiers who enlisted after seeing recruiting ads featuring two mommies.

Hegseth announced 10 new directives, including physical fitness and appearance requirements:

• All troops must be held to sex-neutral physical standards. “If that means no women qualify for some combat jobs, so be it.”
• All personnel, flag officers included, must take biannual fitness tests. He called “fat generals and admirals” unacceptable.
• “No more identity months, dei offices, dudes in dresses, no more climate change worship, no more division, distraction, or gender delusions.”
• Definitions of hazing, bullying and harassment will be tightened so leaders can enforce discipline without being accused of “toxic leadership.”

To hear some retired military leaders and read mainstream news reports of yesterday’s meeting, you would think the demand that soldiers shave their beards is proof of America descending into totalitarianism. I’m more inclined to see the scale of shock as proof of how far America’s military had fallen. The people calling Hegseth an “embarrassment” to the military seemed just fine with a transgender naval secretary and generals wearing dog masks.

The fallout will be fascinating to watch. Since Trump took office in January, military recruiting has gone up, with all branches exceeding or meeting goals ahead of schedule. Trump and Hegseth are swiftly shifting the culture and restoring some pride in the power of America’s troops.

President Trump is working overtime to end global conflicts through diplomacy, some of it utopianist. But in many ways he is a hard-nosed realist, and his determination to confront evil is impressive. Building the military makes sense in the face of a world looking to dethrone this country.

However, to truly reverse the curses that have been plaguing it, the nation will have to confront its sins as well.

Budget impasse shuts down America’s government: An unresolved budget dispute forced a government shutdown at midnight last night for the first time in nearly seven years. Around 800,000 employees will be on unpaid leave; essential workers like air traffic controllers will still work but not be paid.

The dispute highlights America’s inability to bring its bloated budget under control. Even modest efforts to trim spending have created an impasse:

• Democrats wanted to extend health insurance subsidies due to expire this year. Republicans wanted to deal with them separately.
• Democrats opposed Medicaid cuts in the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” When Republicans wouldn’t cooperate, Democrats refused to pass a stopgap spending bill that would have kept the government running until November 21.

President Trump isn’t too worried. “A lot of good can come down from shutdowns,” he said, saying he would use it to “get rid of a lot of things we didn’t want, and they’d be Democrat things” and that he’d be “laying off a lot of people.”

In 2011, during a previous shutdown fight, Joel Hilliker noted that despite the budget chaos,

the basic assumption that it is the government’s duty to provide entitlements like welfare, retirement benefits, health care and an endless list of other benefits remains completely unshaken. No matter how broken the system is—no matter how broke the state and federal governments are—Americans will continue to vociferously demand (and vote for politicians who promise to provide) the generous provision of the government. …

The government gravy train simply will not keep rolling forever. Soon, despite political promises to the contrary, the entitlements will stop. And to a nation deeply addicted to them, you can count on there being some violent withdrawal symptoms.

President Trump is trying to cut back some parts of the government—but he’s still nowhere close to balancing the budget; his “big, beautiful bill” creates even more debt. A much bigger, more radical change to America’s government is necessary to avoid disaster. Read more in Mr. Hilliker’s article “Would a Better Budget Solve America’s Problems?”

Germany wins the fight for Bosnia: The president of Republika Srpska, a part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, resigned yesterday in what Deutsche Welle called a “complete capitulation” to Germany. It is the latest sign of Germany’s domination of the Balkans, a prophetic trend the Trumpet has followed for decades.

President Milorad Dodik had a long-running dispute with the German high representative, Christian Schmidt. Schmidt is a modern equivalent of a colonial governor, chosen by an international committee. In 2023, Schmidt blocked two of Dodik’s bills. Dodik ignored his veto, and in February, Dodik was sentenced to a year in prison and banned from Srpska’s presidency for six years. In August, the Central Election Commission stripped him from office.

This raised the prospect of a major showdown, or even civil war, with the possibility that Srpska might try to split from Bosnia and Herzegovina to rejoin Serbia.

nato broke up Yugoslavia on the principle of self-determination—the belief that each nation-state should decide for itself its system of government and what state it is part of. Polls in Republika Srpska indicate that a clear majority want to secede from Bosnia and Herzegovina and unite with Serbia. But apparently, self-determination doesn’t apply to the Serbs.

Dodik’s resignation signaled that his party, the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats, decided to give up the fight.

Republika Srpska will hold new elections on November 23. Dodik still leads his party, so he’s not completely out of the picture.

Earlier this month we wrote:

Germany wants to keep control of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its position on the Adriatic Sea is crucial. But now the anti-German movement in the nation seems more powerful than it has been since 1991. Worse, this movement is backed by Russia.

This is significant in the context of Bible prophecy. Scripture shows that Germany is trying to unite Europe under its rule—partly due to fear of Russia.

There may be more to the story to unfold, but Germany’s dominance of the Balkans continues. Germany’s takeover of this region reveals a thirst for power that they have worked hard to keep hidden. You can read more about it in Mr. Flurry’s booklet Germany’s Conquest of the Balkans.

IN OTHER NEWS

Hamas seems inclined to reject President Trump’s peace deal, Reuters reported yesterday. Its anonymous Hamas source said the peace plan is “completely biased to Israel” and imposes “impossible conditions.” If Hamas does reject the deal, President Trump has promised Israel his full support in finishing Hamas. However, parts of the deal, such as the creation of a multinational peacekeeping force in Gaza, could still proceed. For more on the deal and its flaws, listen to yesterday’s Trumpet Daily show.

China has expanded its missile bases on its coast near Taiwan, according to recent satellite imagery. Brigade 611, a base 440 miles from Taiwan, has doubled in size, now complete with dozens of missile launchpads. Another base, Brigade 616, is being equipped with the Dongfeng-17, a missile capable of carrying conventional or nuclear warheads at least five times the speed of sound. Based on Bible prophecy, the Trumpet has warned that Taiwan is destined to become part of China. These missile bases will likely be used to make that a reality.

EU ships intervene after Houthi attack: Frigates from the EU-led naval mission Aspides rescued the crew of a Dutch freighter yesterday morning after it was attacked by a Houthi missile in the Gulf of Aden. The Yemeni rebels are believed to have fired the shells to hinder European trade and show support for Hamas. It is one more provocation among many between the EU and radical Islam, which are prophesied to clash spectacularly.

Russia may build a nuclear power plant in Vietnam, Russian media announced Sunday. Nikolai Shulginov, a Russian official, said he hoped an agreement would be signed later this year. This move highlights the continually tightening relationship between Russia and other nations in Asia, a trend that is clearly prophesied.

OK to marry your cousin? Britain’s National Health Service published a controversial report supporting first-cousin marriage last week. The report, which has since been removed, claimed the practice had upsides like “stronger extended family support systems and economic advantages,” while downplaying the risk of birth defects. Its initial release was a clear effort to accommodate Islamic groups in Britain and to push back against efforts to ban the practice.