Good morning!

Ah, Europe! Divided, squabbling Europe. Impotent, bureaucracy-laden, over-regulated Europe. For decades the Europeans have sought to rouse themselves to unified, robust action, and for decades, they have proved incapable.

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But the times increasingly demand that this change. With Vladimir Putin assailing Ukraine and buzzing Eastern Europe with drones, and with Donald Trump taking an ax to nato and withdrawing American security guarantees, the need is urgent.

Dr. Anton Friesen, yesterday on the American Conservative, proposed a solution: Europe should become an empire. As in, the Holy Roman Empire.

Friesen is a former Alternative für Deutschland M.P. and still works in the Bundestag. This article, or certainly the thinking behind it, could be quite influential.

The AfD started as an anti-EU movement. Now there are similar parties across Europe, and they want to find a way to work together. Friesen proposes a new European empire that is simultaneously weaker and more powerful. Really, it’s a vision of an EU that doesn’t boss Germany around. He wrote:

Europe is built on three metaphorical hills, namely Calvary (Christianity), the Capitoline Hill (Roman law), and the Acropolis (Greek philosophy). One concept that brings unity to this diversity is the European idea of empire. … The Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy, for all their shortcomings, coped with internal diversity for centuries under the rule of the emperor.

Our book The Holy Roman Empire in Prophecy describes these shockingly bloody “shortcomings” and the violent means by which it “coped with internal diversity.” It also shows how the Habsburg monarchy was actually the fourth of seven prophesied resurrections of the Holy Roman Empire. The sixth was the Hitler-led Axis powers of World War ii, and the seventh is forming in Europe right now.

Aspects of Friesen’s proposal are remarkably close to the description in biblical prophecy of exactly what Europe is about to become. Among them:

• It is led by a president “rather like the Holy Roman emperor.” Prophecy foretells one strongman leading the 10 “kings” of this empire.
• It cooperates with nato in the short term but works toward independent security: united armed forces with nuclear capability, focusing on securing borders, controlling migration and terrorism, and protecting trade routes. Prophecy’s description of Europe’s military might is unmistakable.
• Rather than a centralized EU, it is a confederation that preserves national sovereignty, cultural diversity and traditional identities. No single language, no forced cultural uniformity, no excessive subsidies, no mandatory “woke” policies, no overbroad anti-discrimination and censorship laws. Prophecy describes 10 “kings” in a “partly strong, and partly broken” empire of iron and clay.
• For cultural cohesion, all students in higher education must take a compulsory course on its Catholic and Roman heritage. Prophecy shows religion being the glue that binds this modern “Holy” Roman Empire.

Watch for Dr. Friesen’s proposals to gain traction. As Stephen Flurry covered in yesterday’s Trumpet Daily, there is nothing new in this “Proposal for a New European Order.” Bible prophecy foretold these details millenniums ago. “Tomorrow’s news today” indeed!

King’s Brother Arrested

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (formerly Prince Andrew) was arrested today on suspicion of misconduct in public office—suspicion that arose due to revelations from U.S. Department of Justice files on the late serial pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

To have the King’s brother arrested for selling out his country to a child-sex trafficker must be one of the most humiliating moments in the royal family’s long history.

The police did not give more details on the charges, but material in the files suggests he:

• Asked his official police bodyguard to dig up dirt on a girl who accused him of rape
• Passed on confidential documents to Epstein while working as Britain’s trade envoy, including information on the British government’s 2008 bailout of the Royal Bank of Scotland and the results of a trade mission to China
• Gave Epstein the wherewithal to increase his fortune by millions

Mountbatten-Windsor has also been accused of working with Epstein in sex trafficking. However, that is unlikely the grounds for this morning’s arrest.

He has faced accusations of insider trading before, with many believing he passed on confidential information to wealthy bankers or Middle Eastern royalty. Politician and author Norman Baker wrote in the Daily Mail earlier this week:

Treason is a strong word. But how else would you describe the actions of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor? … It seems that the British national interest counted for little when weighed against Andrew’s wish to stay cozy with his close friend Jeffrey Epstein and his lucrative connections in the world of finance. … The closer to the center of Andrew we get, the more putrid the stench. And now comes compelling evidence that he has been selling out his own country.

The King had already evicted Andrew from his residence on the grounds of Windsor Castle and stripped him of his title. Had he not taken these steps, this would be an even greater crisis for the monarchy. Stephen Glover wrote in the Daily Mail:

No member of that family since Edward viii—who gave up his throne in 1936 and later hobnobbed and colluded with the Nazis—has done the monarchy more harm than Mountbatten-Windsor.

The Trumpet warning: “What is wrong with Britain and the royal family?” asked Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry in his cover article for our September 2017 issue. “… Britain has become an immoral cesspool, and the royal family is going right along with it.”

That cesspool looks a lot more disgusting in 2026.

Today, King Charles “is married to the woman he left his wife for,” wrote Mr. Flurry. Later in that article, he wrote: “Family is the most sacred of all institutions. Strong families are the backbone of a nation. When families fall apart, nations fall.”

Queen Victoria worked hard to have a monarchy that set an example of family life that the rest of the nation could follow. Today, if the latest accusations are true, the King’s own brother sold out his nation in return for illicit sex.

• That article forecast that the “rapid decline” we already saw in the royal family would “get much worse.” Looking back today, no one can doubt that this has proved true.

God wants to bless Britain and other nations. Bible prophecy is a record of how He did that on the grandest of scales. But He can only bless those who live the way of life—especially family life—that causes blessings. To save our nation from our own self-destructive sins, God is punishing the nation and the royal family. To learn more about this punishment and how God is preparing to turn Britain and the world around, read The New Throne of David.

Germany’s Spies: The Real ‘Rising Threat’

The German government is considering abolishing laws that have restricted its foreign intelligence service, the bnd, since just after World War ii. On Tuesday, Politico cited German officials saying the restrictions “are no longer justified, especially in light of the rising threat of Russian sabotage.” Left unspoken was what they consider “the rising threat” of America.

• The Bundesnachrichtendienst (Federal Intelligence Service) is under the strict control of the legislature. Now legislators want to unshackle it from restrictions originally imposed to prevent German spies from repeating their abuses of the 1930s and 1940s.

Marc Henrichmann, chairman of the Parliamentary Control Committee for the bnd, told Politico that if America chooses to act “alone without the Europeans … then we must be able to stand on our own two feet”:

Those who are working against us—Russian state actors, Russian cyberfactories—are working in the same way as the Nazi intelligence services did back then. In a game without rules, we cannot stand by and impose artificial restrictions on ourselves.

The reasoning here is that Germany needs to effectively revive the ruins of its Nazi spying operation to protect the world from the modern Nazis, the Russians, because relying on America to do it poses an existential threat to Germany.

“Old certainties have been devalued, tried-and-tested rules no longer apply,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told bnd spy chiefs in September. “Given the responsibility we bear in Europe in view of our size and economic strength, it is therefore our aspiration that the bnd should operate at the very highest level in terms of intelligence.”

Germany built the world’s largest intelligence headquarters facility for the bnd in 2017 and increased its budget this year by 26 percent to $1.8 billion. Merz and other legislators now want to relax data protection regulations and allow the bnd to use artificial intelligence and facial recognition technology.

• Germany’s leaders also want the bnd to be capable of perpetrating acts of sabotage, conducting offensive cyberoperations, and carrying out more aggressive espionage. Legislative votes on these measures are planned for later this year.

After Germany’s defeat in World War ii, it was not only the victors but also the German people who feared what could happen if the new postwar spy agency was granted too much power. Politico wrote:

Germany’s bnd was founded in 1956 with legal limitations intended to prevent a repeat of the abuses perpetrated by the Nazi Gestapo and SS—though, at the time, many of its agents were former Nazis.

That’s right: This spy service was founded largely by former Nazi spies. This is one reason Germany’s spies have more legal restrictions than those of other nations. But that could change dramatically before the year is out.

An unrestrained German spy agency will not be limited to countering Russian hackers. It will pose frightening dangers to the German people and Germany’s current allies, especially the United States.

IN OTHER NEWS

Has Xi convinced Trump to cancel arms sale to Taiwan? A large weapons sale to Taiwan is in question after Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping cautioned U.S. President Donald Trump not to approve it, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. Xi has repeatedly vowed to acquire Taiwan and has spent years preparing a military capable of conquering it by force if necessary. He aims to further tilt any future conflict in China’s favor by leaving Taiwan inadequately armed, and he is using a trade deal to entice Trump into aligning with this objective. Following a February 4 phone call between Xi and Trump, an unnamed U.S. official described Trump’s advisers as “vacillating” on the decision, the Journal said. A second official said Trump wished to safeguard a trade truce with Xi ahead of his planned visit to Beijing in April and characterized the weapons sale decision as being “carefully considered” in internal discussions. The Trumpet has warned for decades that America’s lack of resolve will be the primary factor enabling the Chinese Communist Party to absorb Taiwan.

Will Germany acquire Israel’s most important shipping company? Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd, the world’s fifth-largest container shipping company, has signed a deal to acquire the world’s 10th-largest: Israel’s Zim Integrated Shipping Services. Zim’s board of directors approved the $4.2 billion deal. It now awaits Israeli government approval, though some Israelis hope the government will reject it. Zim has helped Israel in emergency logistics during wartime. Israel’s port authority called the sale an “existential threat,” while 800 of Zim’s workers staged a strike. The Bible warns that Germany will build a massive commercial empire that will ultimately shut Israel, Britain, America and other nations descended from the ancient Israelites out of world trade. Germany acquiring Israel’s largest shipping company could simultaneously help it build that empire, develop a closer relationship with Israel, and give it the means to besiege it economically. Chapter 5 of Ezekiel—the End-Time Prophet explains more.

Another turncoat Tory brings Mark Carney closer to majority government: Canadian Member of Parliament Matt Jeneroux of the Conservative Party has switched allegiance and joined Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal caucus. He is the third Conservative M.P. to defect to the Liberals since November. Carney’s government now controls 169 members of Parliament, two shy of a majority government. The Liberals are close to gaining even more power to continue their fundamental transformation of Canada.

U.S. continues to weigh strikes on Iran: Oil prices are spiking to their highest levels since last summer as United States President Donald Trump reportedly convenes with advisers for possible military action against Iran. Sources speaking with Axios claim preparations are underway for a potential “joint U.S.-Israeli campaign that’s much broader in scope—and more existential for the regime—than the Israeli-led 12-day war last June.” President Trump and his staff may feel that they can remove or drastically change Iran’s leadership, but Bible prophecy indicates that Iran’s Islamist clerics will not only survive this crisis but ultimately grow even stronger and even more belligerent.

U.S. attempting to stave off monster EU-Latin America trade deal: The United States signed a trade deal with Argentina on February 5 that threatens to weaken a much larger trade deal 25 years in the making. It follows the January 17 signing of the EU-mercosur Partnership Agreement, which is now subject to ratification. Argentina is mercosur’s second-largest economy. “Whichever agreement is ratified first could give the EU or the U.S. a first-mover advantage, with the runner-up possibly being told that Argentina has already made a commitment on the matter,” Politico wrote on February 16. Stefano Bonaccini, an Italian Member of European Parliament, said, “If Europe wants to be a geopolitical giant, it must be able to decide without wasting time.” The EU is prophesied in your Bible to become a “geopolitical giant” and to wage and win the largest and worst trade war in human history.

Democrats push to give sexual deviancy flag the same honor as the American flag: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat representing New York, filed legislation on February 15 to grant what is known as the lgbtq+ pride flag the same federal legal protections as the American flag and U.S. military flags. This move comes just after a Trump administration directive to remove the unauthorized rainbow-style lgbtq+ flag from the Stonewall National Monument in New York City, the site of 1969 riots by homosexuals against police at the Stonewall Inn bar. The bill is unlikely to pass without bipartisan support, but Democrats’ actions—let alone the fact that a site defined by homosexuality, prostitution, exploitation and rioting is officially an American national monument—show that America has barely addressed its deep sexual sickness and depravity.