Good morning!

One of the biggest stories in the world today is Germany’s rapid rearmament and militarization, the biggest since World War ii. Herbert W. Armstrong warned for decades that this would happen! Now weekly headlines show it is a reality.

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• Anyone who has heard Mr. Armstrong’s message or followed the Trumpet has to be astounded at the power and prescience of biblical prophecy.

The latest eye-popping example is in today’s Telegraph: “Europe’s Sleeping Giant Rearms.” That language sounds very much like Revelation 17, which foretells of an end-time military juggernaut emerging from underground to shock the world.

The Telegraph was given access to a secretive arms factory for Heckler & Koch, which is maximizing its capacity to help fulfill Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s goal to forge Germany into Europe’s “strongest conventional army.”

• The famed manufacturer is churning out assault rifles to try to keep up with the expanding soldiery, as well as anti-drone weapons for special forces.
• It is hastily constructing a new 75,000-square-foot production plant and absorbing other machinery firms to boost its output capacity. Its arms orders have doubled over the past year.
• It is recruiting skilled workers from Germany’s tanking automotive sector, which is shedding 15,000 manufacturing jobs a month. These laid-off workers’ “expertise in welding and engineering can be transferred to churning out guns and missiles.”

The Telegraph writes: “After decades of being scorned as the German economy’s dirty little secret, the defense industry may be key to its survival, and that sudden reversal has surprised even people inside the arms sector.”

• Some rightfully view this shift as an ominous reminder of their nation’s guilt in World War ii. But “if younger generations can look beyond those shadows from the past, Heckler & Koch is waiting to welcome them with open arms.”

Arms giant Rheinmetall is also seizing the moment, churning out tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, long-range missiles and air defense systems.

• It opened a $590 million ammunition plant in Lower Saxony last year, the largest in Europe. One Rheinmetall executive “claimed this week that Germany was now producing ammunition at a faster rate than the U.S., after his firm quadrupled annual production,” the Telegraph writes.

AI-based tech firms are part of the arms movement.

• One drone company this article speaks of, Helsing AI, has built a system that enables any military vehicle, including tanks, to become self-driving and remotely operable. This would transform entire fleets of existing vehicles into intelligent, interconnected armadas.

The Almighty God who foretold of a fearsome German war machine in our day did so for a crucial reason: to warn us of the brutality this machine is about to unleash. Many people are cheering Germany on in this effort. But those who heed God know better.

To get a taste of the accuracy of Herbert W. Armstrong’s prophetic forecasts that went beyond Germany’s ominous militarization, read our feature story this morning, “He Was Right About ….”

Iran War Update

• Iran seized a Chinese-operated vessel, the Ocean Koi, Friday. China is the largest market for Iranian oil and a key military partner. Iran poking at China this way suggests that it is pushing for more support against the U.S.
• Israel has been operating a military base in Iraq to strike Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported May 9. Located in Iraq’s barren western desert, Israel apparently set up the base without the Iraqi government’s knowledge. Iraq and Israel do not have diplomatic relations.
• Iran’s offer “totally unacceptable”: United States President Donald Trump told Axios yesterday that the most recent Iranian counteroffer to end the war is “inappropriate” and more “tapping along.”

Virginia Supreme Court Blocks Dems Redistricting Plan

On Friday, the Virginia Supreme Court struck down last month’s narrow voter-approved redistricting referendum in a 4-3 decision.

• The ruling blocks Democrats’ aggressive plan to redraw Virginia’s congressional districts mid-decade. The new maps would have applied to the November midterm elections and were projected to transform the state’s delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives from a competitive 6-5 Democratic edge into a commanding 10-1 Democratic advantage.
• Democrats pushed the referendum as a necessary response to Republican gerrymandering in other states. Republicans labeled the effort illegal and hyperpartisan, and they took the case to court.

The dispute centered on timing. Virginia’s constitution requires constitutional amendments to pass two separate sessions of the General Assembly—one before and one after a House of Delegates election.

• Republicans argued Democrats improperly advanced the measure after early voting for the 2025 elections had already started. Democrats countered that “election” referred only to Election Day in November.
• Virginia’s Supreme Court sided with Republicans, ruling that Virginia’s “general election” includes the full early voting period. The justices said this procedural violation “incurably taints” the referendum and nullifies the results. Democrats are considering an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Virginia is a classic purple swing state. Republicans routinely capture about 45 percent of the statewide vote. Yet the rejected Democratic map would have packed most Republican voters into a single district, leaving them with only one seat out of 11. Critics called it one of the most extreme gerrymanders attempted in recent years.

America’s political divisions are deeper and more dangerous today than at any time since the Civil War. Both parties are engaged in intense legal warfare to gain every possible advantage ahead of the upcoming elections.

Bible prophecy warns that such bitter internal conflict will not remain confined to courtrooms. It foretells a time of escalating violence and national breakdown (Isaiah 1:7; 3:5-8; Ezekiel 5:12). Events in Virginia show how far the nation has already drifted toward that prophesied point of crisis.

Putin Reaches Out to an Old Friend

Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to talk peace—and this time he might actually mean it.

As Russia held its VE Day celebrations on May 9, Putin announced that the war in Ukraine was heading toward a settlement, founded on a new relationship, not with the U.S. but with Europe. He said he wanted the negotiator to be his old friend, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder.

• Whether or not Putin gets his way, the statement “indicates something very important,” wrote Geopolitical Futures founder George Friedman. “Putin wants to return to the period in which Russia seemed to be preparing for a role within the European system.”

The war in Ukraine has been costly for Russia. Now, writes Friedman, “The relationship between Europe (specifically, nato) and the U.S. has deteriorated to a point where a new geopolitical system must emerge.”

• Putin is offering Europe an earthshaking deal: If you’re really fed up with Donald Trump and America, we can help you make a clean break very quickly.

The choice of Schröder alone is a message, as Friedman points out. He played the key role in setting up the Nord Stream pipelines, which tied Germany and Russia together at the expense of the rest of Europe and the U.S.

• Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote at the time, “The fact that these two are working so closely together strongly indicates that they agree on a plan to destroy nato.”

Putin wants to get that plan back on track.

Some in Germany are minded to accept.

• The German government initially rejected the plan. But the Social Democrats, part of the ruling coalition, want to accept. Their foreign affairs spokesman, Adis Ahmetović, said the idea should be “seriously considered” and “not dismissed outright.”
• The Telegraph reports on a rumor spreading around Berlin that the government may agree to send Schröder, if former Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier joins him as a partner.

“Many elite Germans feel their nation has now gotten all it can from the U.S. and they are ready to move on,” Mr. Flurry wrote in his 2018 article. He continued:

Some powerful Germans today are thinking more and more about the Holy Roman Empire, and they want modern Germany to assume more power of its own in the spirit of that empire. They want to establish Europe as a mighty, German-led superpower.

Those Germans know that they’ll need a deal with Russia to make that break. And so Mr. Flurry has watched Schröder and other Germans closely. For more on that dramatic break, read Mr. Flurry’s article “Germany and Russia’s Secret War Against America.”

IN OTHER NEWS

Spain becoming urgent for an EU Army: Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares told the Politico Brussels Playbook that the EU must get its own military. “This is the moment of the sovereignty and independence of Europe. The Americans are inviting us to that,” he said, referring to U.S. pressure on Europe during the Iran war. “We have to be free of dependence. Free of dependence means to be free of coercion, whether it comes to tariffs or the use of military threat. And free of the consequences of someone else’s decisions.” Albares has made similar calls before, but his calls are becoming more urgent after Spain denied U.S. military planes access to its air bases for the war and the U.S. threatened to exclude Spain from nato. We are witnessing the death of nato and the emergence of a European superpower.

Péter Magyar was sworn in as Hungary’s new prime minister on Saturday, ending 16 years of rule by his predecessor, Viktor Orbán. Claiming extensive corruption, he has demanded the resignations of Orbán’s appointees, including President Tamás Sulyok. Magyar has been in office for only a few days and is already showing a strongman streak. He could be one of 10 strongmen the Trumpet expects to dominate Europe.

German defense start-up has the attention of investors: German drone and AI start-up Helsing is in advanced stages to raise $1.2 billion in its latest funding round, which would value the company at $18 billion, the Financial Times reported Saturday. This would significantly increase the $14 billion valuation ascribed to it less than a year ago. Even more, according to the Financial Times, this fundraising round was “oversubscribed multiple times.” This shows that Germany’s defense start-up scene is attracting investor attention, which will contribute to Germany’s efforts to arm for war.

Far-right AfD has first Brandenburg mayor elected: For the first time, a candidate for the Alternative für Deutschland has won a mayoral election in the east German state of Brandenburg. René Stadtkewitz took 58.4 percent of the vote in Zehdenick, a town of roughly 13,000 people just north of Berlin, on Sunday, far above the runner-up’s 28.6 percent. This win is just another sign of the far-right AfD’s popularity, a symptom of the nation’s desire for strong leadership—which it will soon have.

German vice chancellor visits Canada—an ‘ideal partner’ nation: German Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil visited Canada Friday and Saturday to deepen cooperation in raw materials, defense and artificial intelligence. Klingbeil said, “We’re looking to boost the intensity of our cooperation,” and he called Canada “an ideal partner” to cut Europe’s dependencies on world superpowers like the United States. It could also serve as the ideal partner in a trade war against the U.S. Based on anonymous sources, Bloomberg wrote on May 4 that Germany is considering weaponizing K+S, a German company in Saskatchewan. K+S owns a major potash factory, a key ingredient for fertilizers that the U.S. requires for its agriculture. To utilize the company as a geopolitical weapon against the U.S., Germany needs the cooperation of the Canadian government. Canada may believe that allying with Germany will bring safety; however, Bible prophecy reveals that Germany is building a giant trade bloc against the United States and that Canada will also fall victim to Germany’s imperialistic plans.