Good morning!

I greatly respect Donald Trump for what he has accomplished in his five years as president. But he is making a catastrophic mistake that is hastening America’s fall.

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God works through men. And I don’t believe He could have effected this American resurgence in one short year through any other man. The Obama-Biden years threw the country into a seemingly irreversible death spiral of wokeness, degeneracy, corruption and decline. President Trump somehow turned back the toxic tide of transgenderism, eliminated DEI, punished woke higher education, reversed illegal immigration, exposed corrupt federal bureaucracies, slapped down a leftist press, and much more. He made patriotism great again.

He has also done much to mend America’s broken pride in its power (Leviticus 26:19). He withdrew the U.S. from disastrous climate pacts, degraded Iran’s nuclear capabilities, and overthrew the dictator of Venezuela. He has used his considerable leverage to reset massive trade imbalances, challenge the failed status quo on diseased international alliances, and jump-start peace efforts in intractable global conflicts.

It is truly jaw-dropping. It forces you to see just how far America had fallen, what a potent superpower the nation still is, and what a blessing to the world it could still be.

But while restoring the pride in our power, President Trump is falling victim to another, very dangerous form of pride.

He has always been a prideful man. Lately this has been erupting into unbridled arrogance and hubris. Boasting of his accomplishments, scoffing at any and all criticism or naysaying, elevating himself beyond history’s greatest luminaries. Meanwhile insulting other nations, humiliating and bullying them into doing his bidding, expecting them to snap into step at his mercurial whims. With just a handful of bafflingly boorish remarks, President Trump is undermining and squandering whatever positive effects his policies could have. Why? For what purpose?

“Only by pride cometh contention,” Proverbs 13:10 says. Besides stirring him to pick fights with allies like Canada, Trump’s pride is riling up Europe, it seems, more than Russia’s invasion of Ukraine did. He truly is “uniting states against America,” provoking hostility and bitterness, begging for retribution.

And he is going to get it. Bible prophecy assures us.

Many prophecies show it is Europe that will bring America down. In his overconfidence, President Trump believes he is scoring a brilliant victory by kicking the hornet’s nest and forcing Europe to defend itself. He is unwittingly doing the opposite.

“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall,” Proverbs 16:18 warns. It appears this Trumpian chapter in American history could serve as the supreme example of this bitter truth in the history books of the future.

EU to Open Fire on U.S. in Trade War?

As world leaders gather in Davos for the annual World Economic Forum meeting, leaders in Germany, France and other European nations are pushing for trade retaliation against the United States and President Donald Trump.

President Trump is scheduled to speak at Davos today and will likely address the tariffs he announced on some European nations for opposing his plans to annex Greenland.

“We have a set of instruments at our disposal, and we agree that we do not want to use them. But if we have to use them, then we will,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday.

The European Union’s “trade bazooka,” the Anti-Coercion Instrument, was created in 2023 to prevent other nations, namely the U.S. and China, from using economic means to pressure EU nations.

• If triggered, it will allow the EU to cut American companies out of the European market, which would especially affect its tech companies; block American companies from bidding on European government contracts; restrict technology exports to the U.S.; and introduce new tariffs.
• The EU is considering retaliatory tariffs on over $108 billion worth of American goods.

On the surface, the EU’s strong response to America’s annexation comments may appear justified; however, this is leading to a trade war prophesied in the Bible (see Deuteronomy 28:52 and Isaiah 23), followed by a hot war.

Germany and France’s push to use the Anti-Coercion Instrument is just one of several trends in which nations are uniting against the U.S. This past weekend, the EU signed the largest trade agreement in history with key South American nations, a move that endangers the U.S. even without the triggering of the instrument.

Bible prophecy shows that Europe, Latin America and Asia will work together to starve the U.S. of international trade, triggering widespread shortages, unrest, suffering and death. To learn about these dire and sure prophecies, read “America Is Being Besieged Economically.”

Pizzaballa Attacks ‘Christian Zionism’

Religious leaders in Jerusalem condemned “Christian Zionism” as an example of “damaging ideologies” that “mislead the public, sow confusion, and harm the unity of our flock” in a letter released January 17. Prominent anti-Semitic influencers used the statement on social media to attack Christians who support Israel.

• The letter came in response to the Israeli government inviting 150 American evangelical journalists and 1,000 pastors to conferences in Jerusalem from Dec. 3-7, 2025—the largest group of American Christian leaders to visit Israel since its founding.
• The Catholic Church hated it and issued this letter in conjunction with the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Lutheran and Episcopalian churches.
• The most prominent cleric in this group is Catholic Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem.

Pizzaballa and these church leaders see Christian support for Jewish life in the Holy Land as a repellent to Christian unity. The letter reads:

The patriarchs and heads of churches in the Holy Land affirm before the faithful and before the world that the flock of Christ in this land is entrusted to the apostolic churches, which have borne their sacred ministry across centuries with steadfast devotion. … The patriarchs and heads of churches in Jerusalem reiterate that they alone represent the churches and their flock in matters pertaining to Christian religious, communal and pastoral life in the Holy Land.

In other words: If you don’t believe in Catholic teaching, you have no right to call yourself a Christian and operate in the Holy Land. These Catholic and Catholic-derived religious leaders assert that centuries of “devotion” make them the sole Christian authorities in Israel.

In truth, those centuries have entailed Catholics warring against, killing and executing Muslims, Jews and other Christians.

• As Terry Jones and Alan Ereira write in Crusades, Jerusalem was open to visitors just before the arrival of the Crusaders in the First Crusade. With “the triumph of the Latin Christians, however, things were going to change. They had come to rid Jerusalem of all other religions and to make it a purely Christian city—and, what’s more, Christian in their terms.”
• Encyclopedia Britannica states that Arnulf of Chocques, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem (Pizzaballa’s predecessor), “forced all local Christians to conform with the Latin rite.”

This January 17 letter was written in the same spirit.

Anyone who bases his beliefs on something other than the Bible and simultaneously claims to be the sole authority on Christian religious matters is practicing the same religion that led to the Crusades and the Inquisition, including the torture and killing of those who disagree.

The Bible reveals that we will again enter such an era of religious assertiveness and bloodshed. Read “The Last Crusade” in Gerald Flurry’s The Eternal Has Chosen Jerusalem.

IN OTHER NEWS

Brakes put on EU-mercosur deal? The European Parliament slowed down the approval process for the recently signed EU-mercosur trade deal today by voting, 334 to 324, to refer it to the Court of Justice of the European Union to assess whether it is compatible with EU treaties. The court could take over a year to rule—a significant delay for the massive and controversial treaty. However, the European Commission can put the deal into force provisionally without waiting for the court to rule. The deal continues to face significant opposition within Europe, but elites and powerful nations are determined to push it through. Bible prophecy shows that such a trade alliance will lead to a comprehensive and sophisticated economic siege against the United States. Decades ago, the Plain Truth under Herbert W. Armstrong identified these prophecies as pointing to “two gigantic trade blocs, Europe and Latin America ….” Continue to watch the approval process for the EU-mercosur deal. It may encounter yet more resistance, but Germany is committed to putting it into effect.

Italy will not join President Trump’s Board of Peace, the Corriere della Sera newspaper reported today. Italy’s constitution states that it will join international organizations only “on equal terms with other states,” and American dominance of the board fails that test. Of all the major European powers, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is on the best terms with Donald Trump, so if her nation declines to join the board, who in Europe will? This is yet another sign that Europe has turned against America.

With U.S. volatile, China offers world trade alternative: Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng used his speech at the World Economic Forum yesterday to call on the nations of the world to boost trade with China. “We encourage businesses from around the world to seize the opportunities presented by our expanding domestic demand, provide more and better products and services, and further explore China’s consumer market,” said He, adding that “China will open its door still wider to the world.” The statement comes during a time of increasing tensions between the United States and many of its trade partners in Europe over American threats to seize Greenland—tensions China is eager to exploit. In an indirect criticism of U.S. President Donald Trump, He said, “The unilateral acts and trade deals of certain countries clearly violate the fundamental principles and rules of the [World Trade Organization] and severely impact the global economic and trade order.” They threaten to send the world back into “the law of the jungle, where the strong bully the weak,” he added. Biblical prophecy shows that a China-led economic alliance will soon emerge to systematically shut the U.S. out of global trade.

Catholic archbishop of U.S. armed forces calls for soldiers to disobey orders: Timothy Broglio, the Catholic archbishop of the United States armed forces, said during a bcc interview posted on Sunday that if the U.S. orders servicemen to invade Greenland, it would be difficult for them to disobey such orders, but “strictly speaking, he or she would be—within the realm of their own conscience—it would be morally acceptable to disobey that order. But that’s perhaps putting that individual in an untenable situation, and that’s my concern.” Matters of faith are sensitive subjects, but Broglio’s comments can be interpreted as license to reject orders from the current administration. More importantly, this is symptomatic of a deeper division between the Vatican and the Anglo-American tradition. Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry’s article “Should the King Pray With the Pope?” explains.

Democrats suspicious of Democrats who are Jewish: Media released excerpts on Sunday from Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s upcoming memoir, Where We Keep the Light. In 2024, Shapiro was a top contender for presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s vice-presidential pick. In his book, he claims that one of Harris’s staff members vetting him for the vice presidency asked him if he had ever “been a double agent for Israel” and if he had “ever communicated with an undercover agent of Israel.” Shapiro, who is Jewish, was also asked if he would walk back his criticism of university rioters who supported Hamas. Harris ended up choosing Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate instead. Shapiro’s experience further indicates one can’t be a pro-Israel Jew in the modern Democratic Party.