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One of the eight peace deals President Donald Trump boasts about was the ending of hostilities between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda last month. The historic breakthrough promised to end decades of strife—with troop withdrawals, disarmament of militias, lucrative American access to critical resources. “We’re succeeding where so many others have failed,” he said at the signing ceremony.

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It was just ink on paper. The killing has continued.

Since the “miracle” peace deal was signed, Rwanda-backed rebels have pressed on, clashing fiercely near Uvira and displacing thousands anew. The Democratic Republic of Congo says they have killed 1,500 civilians. It seems Trump’s self-proclaimed “miracle” is turning into a cruel chapter in the interminable tragedy that is Congo’s history.

Expect such realities to increasingly expose the hollowness of many of the promises made by America’s president. The belief that deep-seated hatreds and enduring violence can be swiftly ended by economic incentives and negotiation is fantasy.

One of the most profound lessons mankind must learn is recorded in the 17th chapter of Jeremiah: “Cursed be the man that trusteth in man” (verse 5). Evidence of this truth is mounting continually, and will prove irrefutable in the end.

Europe skittish after Trump’s Maduro operation: After the United States operation to topple Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, some European heads are reacting in interesting ways that reveal not only their opinion of U.S. President Donald Trump, but their own ambitions for the future.

• Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni deemed the operation legitimate. But German Chancellor Frederick Merz dodged questions by saying, “The legal assessment of the U.S. intervention is complex and requires careful consideration.”
• Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen claimed he is worried that Trump will conduct similar operations in Greenland, effectively ending the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
• Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk issued a dire warning about the future of Europe, saying the Continent is “finished” if it does not unite into a superstate capable of standing up to President Trump.

Trump has made stark statements about the strategic importance of Greenland and his willingness to acquire it.

“We’ll get it … one way or another,” he told Congress in March, telling nbc News that same month, “We’ll get Greenland. Yeah, 100 percent … there’s a good possibility that we could do it without military force—but I wouldn’t take anything off the table.” In the Oval Office in October, he said, “We’ll go as far as we have to go.”

These are dramatic and disruptive statements about a nato ally that the U.S. has signed a treaty promising to defend. President Trump has focused on nonmilitary options, however, offering to buy Greenland and dealing with it much differently than he dealt with Maduro, a narco-terrorist dictator conducting anti-U.S. policy and supported by U.S. adversaries.

But the more important but hidden factor here is that Denmark and the European Union have strategic plans of their own.

• European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on May 29 that she dreamed of a united Europe from “the Western Balkans to Ukraine and Moldova. From Greenland to the United Kingdom and beyond.”
• European Union officials do not want Greenland to secede from Denmark and join the U.S., so they are seizing on Trump’s action in Latin America to make him look dangerous.

This growing enmity between the U.S. and EU is important to watch. The Bible contains over 100 prophecies warning about the end-time nations of Israel (which include the U.S. and Britain) being destroyed by a revived Holy Roman Empire. Rather than expecting President Trump to invade EU territory, we should expect the exact opposite.

Evicting Russia and China from America’s backyard: In removing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power, the United States is attempting to not only destroy an anti-American nexus of drug smuggling and immigration but also reduce the threat from Russia and China. These two U.S. adversaries were among Venezuela’s biggest backers and had invested billions into the country:

• China is Venezuela’s largest creditor. A 2017 estimate suggests China holds more than $23 billion in Venezuelan debt.
• Russia agreed to restructure $3.15 billion of Venezuelan debt in 2017. Venezuela still owes Russia approximately $1.5 billion from state oil company payment defaults.

This is not counting the billions Russia and China have invested in Venezuela’s military and security apparatus over the decades. U.S. President Donald Trump now holds leverage on Venezuela’s ability to repay this debt, especially if he fulfills his promise to confiscate ownership of Venezuela’s oil fields on behalf of American oil companies.

• Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world, estimated at over 300 billion barrels.
• Both Russia and China were major customers of heavily discounted Venezuelan oil.

Maduro’s government technically remains in power in Caracas. But the Saturday raid makes it clear that the U.S. now actively opposes its dealing with Russia and China. This demonstration of American power shows the U.S. is getting control of its own backyard back from foreign adversaries.

Since regaining office last year, President Trump has made American control over Latin America a priority. In the March 2025 print issue, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry commentated on President Trump’s pledge to regain control of another important part of the Western Hemisphere that is heavily influenced by Asia: the Panama Canal.

Delving into prophecies in Genesis and 2 Kings, Mr. Flurry explained that this strategic “gate” was a gift from God that He took away from America because of its sins, but that God could return America’s influence in this part of the world through a national resurgence—not because of repentance of sin, but because of God’s mercy. He wrote:

China is gobbling up much of what belongs to America, and we are letting it happen. That is going to end to a great extent very soon, but only for a temporary time—unless we learn the lesson of fearing God!

Venezuela is not the Panama Canal. But it is extremely strategic territory right next door that China was also trying to take. Regaining influence in this crucial oil-producing nation on the Caribbean Sea—in a raid lasting less than four hours and incurring no American casualties—is still a massive blessing from God. But as Mr. Flurry elaborated, if America doesn’t turn wholeheartedly to God in thanksgiving, faith and obedience, this blessing will only be temporary. To learn more, read “How America Won and Lost the Panama Canal.”

IN OTHER NEWS

Taiwan views Maduro’s arrest as a win against China: Taiwanese officials view Donald Trump’s capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro as a notable deterrent to China’s planned seizure of the island, a senior official in Taiwanese defense told Bloomberg on Monday. Besides confirming President Trump’s willingness to use military force to further U.S. interests, the capture also demonstrated that American airpower can operate with apparent impunity against even advanced Chinese and Russian air defense systems. “The level of sophistication of U.S. equipment, compared with the weapons Venezuela obtained from Russia and China, was fully exposed in this operation,” Deputy Minister of Taiwan’s National Defense Hsu Szu-chien said of the capture. This measure may have bought Taiwan some time, but some fear it could inspire China to attempt its own decapitation maneuver in Taipei. In either case, the Trumpet maintains that Taiwan’s days of freedom are numbered due to America’s weak will in standing up to China.

Doctors Without Borders staffers identified as Palestinian terrorists: Israel announced Friday the identities of two Palestinian staffers with the non-governmental organization Doctors Without Borders who belonged to terrorist groups. Fadi al-Wadiya belonged to Palestinian Islamic Jihad, assisting in rocket technology. Nasser Hamdi Abdelatif al-Shalfouh was a Hamas sniper. On Thursday, the Israeli group ngo Monitor announced the identities of three other Doctors Without Borders employees who had terrorist affiliations. The revelations are shocking but not isolated. The Gaza crisis was in part created by humanitarian concern from the international community.

Walz waltzes out: Tim Walz announced on Monday that he will not seek a third term as Minnesota’s governor. “I can’t give a political campaign my all,” he said, adding that it would distract him from spending time “defending the people of Minnesota against the criminals who prey on our generosity ….” This is a stark reversal from September, when he officially announced his run for reelection. But after Minnesotans found out they have been defrauded of perhaps $9 billion, much of which was sent to Somalia, approval rates for Walz dropped. Media outlets are reporting that U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar is considering running in his stead.