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Will Japan become a military superpower? A landslide election win gives Japan’s hawkish prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, authority to change the nation’s pacifist Constitution. That restriction was imposed by America after the atrocities Japan committed in World War ii. Yet now, America’s president is cheering and facilitating Japan’s remilitarization.

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Quite the turnaround. General MacArthur would be rolling in his grave.

Donald Trump has avidly supported Takaichi, boosting momentum for her campaign. He gave her a rare public endorsement before the election, praised her coalition’s achievements, congratulated her historic two-thirds supermajority, and wished success for her “Peace Through Strength” agenda.

President Trump wants his greatest legacy to be that of a peacemaker. Yet his pursuit of that goal is producing extraordinary unintended consequences.

To recognize them, though, you have to know the outline of end-time biblical prophecy.

That outline shows four major end-time power blocs: 1) America and the English-speaking peoples; 2) “the king of the south,” an Iran-led Islamist coalition; 3) “the king of the north,” a German-led European empire; and 4) “the kings of the east,” an Asian alliance. It foretells a shocking shift in power away from the first of those blocs toward a brutal competition among the other three.

One of the most stunning trends in world affairs—even going back to just after World War ii—is how much the U.S. has been directly responsible for aiding the rise of these powers that are prophesied to attack and conquer it. Think of it:

• Rebuilding Germany after the war through the Marshall Plan
• Facilitating China’s integration into the global economy
• Neutralizing Iran’s top regional competitor, Iraq

Barack Obama and Joe Biden intensified these trends: ignoring Russia’s annexation of Crimea; signing the Iran deal that facilitated Iranian nuclear aims; driving Russia and China into deeper cooperation.

But President Trump is unwittingly shifting things into overdrive. He truly is transforming the world in several ways that align with end-time prophecy. It is especially stunning the way his administration is turbocharging European unification and militarization, even German leadership specifically. This is the Frankenstein monster on an international scale.

Japan is prophesied to be integral to the end-time Asian confederation. It has the technical and industrial capacity to contribute much militarily, and its every step away from pacifism raises the ceiling of just what it could add. The Trumpet has warily watched Japan’s growing militarism as it marches toward its place in the coming world war.

How much responsibility will President Trump bear for Japanese weapons being used in that war?

We’ll only know for sure after all the prophecy flips to history. But it is looking like this would-be peacemaker may end up being, more than any other one man, the catalyst that hastens World War iii.

Death Knell for Japan’s Pacifist Constitution?

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi secured a supermajority in the lower house of Japan’s legislature yesterday, a victory in snap elections that could empower the hawkish leader to officially end Japan’s postwar political era and dramatically accelerate its remilitarization.

• Takaichi’s government has maintained popularity ratings of around 70 percent ever since coming into power in October. By calling the snap election, she aimed to transform her extraordinary approval ratings into more seats for her Liberal Democratic Party.

The victory gave Takaichi’s party a stunning 316 of 465 seats, marking the first time since World War ii that any single party has held a two-thirds majority.

• The victory is due overwhelmingly to Takaichi’s hard-line stance against China and refusal to give in to the Chinese Communist Party’s bullying.
• It enables Japan’s first female prime minister to stay in power until at least 2028.

End of an era: Crucially, this supermajority allows the ldp to override rejections of bills in the upper house and to propose constitutional amendments. It gives Takaichi a mandate strong enough to make her militaristic vision for Japan a reality.

• During her campaign, Takaichi called for a revision to Article 9 of Japan’s Constitution, the so-called pacifist clause that was intended to prevent a return to full militarism.
• She aims to increase offensive capabilities with new cutting-edge drones, missiles and other extended-range weaponry.

Under Takaichi’s leadership, Japan will hit its goal of spending 2 percent of gdp on defense next month—nearly two years ahead of what was already a tremendously ambitious schedule.

“I think we should possess nuclear weapons,” a leading security official in her cabinet told reporters on December 17. “In the end, we can only rely on ourselves.”

In November, Takaichi said in the Diet: “If China invades Taiwan,” Japan would view it as an “existential crisis situation” and possibly deploy its Self-Defense Force.

From adversaries to allies: At present, animosity and fear are rising between Japan and China, driving both economic and military powerhouses to amass extraordinary military power, and fueling the popularity of hawkish figures such as Takaichi. Biblical prophecy shows, however, that these two nations will soon come together, for a brief but pivotal moment. They will align under Russian leadership and turn their firepower against the West, helping unleash the most destructive war in mankind’s history.

Do Sports Still Bring People Together?

“Like no other human activity, sport is about bringing people together in the spirit of friendship and respect,” said Thomas Bach, former president of the International Olympic Committee. “Sport always builds bridges; it never erects walls.” But little friendship and even less respect was on display during the major sporting events this weekend.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance was booed when he appeared on the big screen during the opening of the Winter Olympics in Milan on Friday. The same day, a new YouGov poll by the British government was published that indicates a sharp decline in the number of people abroad who consider the U.S. to be a friend or ally:

TRUMPET

Resentment toward the U.S. had already caused controversy before the Olympics even began, since the U.S. government sent Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to support U.S. diplomatic security during the games. Europeans generally consume the output and bias of the U.S. mainstream media, so they mostly think of ice agents as a modern version of Hitler’s Gestapo.

• It wasn’t just foreign countries expressing contempt for America. Hunter Hess, an American freestyle skier, said it was a “little hard” to represent his country and remarked, “Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.” President Trump hit back at the veiled criticism, calling Hess “a real loser.”

The halftime performance of the American football Super Bowl game in San Francisco also showcased America’s divisions. The rapper Bad Bunny—known for promoting party culture, sensuality, homosexuality and politics and emphasizing Puerto Rican, Cuban and Latino culture—performed almost entirely in Spanish. Surrounded by people waving flags from other nations in North America and South America, he held a football prop with the words “Together, we are America,” as the stadium screen displayed the message “The only thing more powerful than love is hate.”

• Reminiscent of pro-illegal immigration protesters waving Mexican flags, this moment implied that ice agents who deport foreign drug dealers, assaulters, rapists and other criminals have the power of hate, but those who support illegal immigration have the power of love.

Major sporting events like the Olympics have courted controversy for decades. Yet they usually maintain at least a mask of unity. This year, the mask is slipping. Even in Italy, the political divide is mostly about American culture wars.

“National unity is now returning to America,” President Trump claimed during his inauguration. “Our power will stop all wars and bring a new spirit of unity to a world that has been angry, violent and totally unpredictable.”

Just over a year later, the divisions are more obvious than ever. These are deep divisions that cannot be easily healed. Time is running out for the nation to turn to God for help.

IN OTHER NEWS

Iran insists on enriching uranium: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated on Sunday that his country will not stop uranium enrichment, even if it means war with the United States. “Why do we insist so much on enrichment and refuse to give it up, even if a war is imposed on us?” he asked. “Because no one has the right to dictate our behavior.” The assertions come after Friday’s meeting with Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s special envoy for peace missions. Trump said the talks were “good,” but it is clear that the threats Iran poses, even its nuclear threat, won’t be dissolved in negotiations. In fact, even the threat or reality of military action won’t stop Iran. The Bible prophesies that the U.S. will be irrelevant when Iran clashes with German-led Europe in all-out war.

Ten European nations are planning to stockpile raw materials used in defense, aerospace and digital technology. Germany will source the materials, France will cover the financing, Italy will store them, and certain other European nations will have access. The EU currently imports almost all its rare earth minerals and relies heavily on China. This is another significant strategic move for Europe to become more self-sufficient, more wealthy, more powerful and more aggressive.

France opens embassy in Greenland: On Friday, France and Canada opened their consulates in Nuuk, Greenland. France is the first EU nation to do so. France’s Foreign Ministry said the consulate will “deepen existing cooperation projects with Greenland in the cultural, scientific and economic fields, while strengthening political ties with local authorities.” The consulate was announced in June, and French Consul General to Greenland Jean-Noël Poirier claimed it is not designed to signal opposition to U.S. control of Greenland. Nevertheless, developments like this show that Europe is resisting U.S. strategy and wants to retain control of Greenland for its own purposes.

North Korean military sharpening skills in Ukraine: North Korean soldiers are carrying out much more advanced military missions in Ukraine today than they were 15 months ago, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. The first North Korean units to arrive were entrusted with lower-level missions, but now they are receiving and completing missions that require significant skill. North Korea’s alliance with Russia is helping its immediate war goals—but it is also preparation for a much larger war prophesied in Ezekiel, Revelation and other books in your Bible.

Italy won’t join Board of Peace: On Saturday, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani confirmed that his country would not join the Board of Peace, which is personally controlled by Donald Trump, largely due to a clause in Italy’s constitution stating that Italy can join international organizations only as an equal member. Britain, France and other traditional U.S. allies have also declined to join. These decisions highlight a flaw in America’s foreign policy.

Epstein files bring down chief of staff: Morgan McSweeney, chief of staff to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, resigned yesterday. McSweeney was involved in Starmer’s appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States. Mandelson has been understood as a secretive and corrupt yet powerful figure in British politics for decades, but his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein—the late serial rapist, pedophile and child sex trafficker—was more fully exposed in recent document releases by the U.S. Justice Department. The resignation of the highest-ranking member of the prime minister’s office is significant, but many continue to insist that Starmer himself must resign. This is a striking example of how British moral decadence among the common people and the elites directly connects to power, politics and, as the Bible warns, national security.