In Other News
Forty-nine percent of Germans expect the nation’s ruling coalition to fall apart before its term ends in 2029, according to a YouGov poll of 2,116 Germans published yesterday. Only 34 percent believe it will go the full term; the rest are unsure. Meanwhile, a separate poll for Bild shows Alternative für Deutschland leader Alice Weidel is the favorite to succeed Chancellor Friedrich Merz, with 26 percent saying they’d like her as chancellor. Only 20 percent chose Merz; 12 percent chose the left-wing vice chancellor, Lars Klingbeil. Beating all of them, with 31 percent of the vote, was “none of the above.” It’s one of the “nones” that the Trumpet expects to become Germany’s next strongman, not Weidel. But the strong support for a fringe figure and the “none of the above” frustration highlight Germans’ rejection of the nation’s current crop of politicians. To learn what the Bible says about a coming German strongman, read “A Strong German Leader Is Imminent.”
Zelenskyy presents 20-point peace plan draft: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented to journalists a new peace proposal on December 23. It revises the initial 28-point plan presented by the U.S. that called for Ukraine to make drastic territorial concessions to Russia, limit its military strength, and agree not to join nato. Many felt the plan, as the Kyiv Independent put it, “effectively pushed Ukraine toward capitulation.” The new proposal includes the following clause: “The United States, nato and European countries will provide Ukraine with security guarantees that mirror Article 5 of nato’s founding treaty, the mutual-defense clause.” The new proposal is more favorable to Ukraine, but it also makes a ceasefire far less likely. These negotiations demonstrate that this conflict cannot be resolved through diplomacy. Meanwhile, the conflict continues and the Russian president grows more and more brutal in his warfare.
Jerusalem vulnerable to October 7-scale terrorism? Israeli State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman released a report on Tuesday stating that Jerusalem is vulnerable to an attack from the West Bank. The report says 39 percent of the border between Jerusalem’s Israeli neighborhoods and Muslim neighborhoods, as well as the West Bank, has no security measures. Englman said this could make Jerusalem as vulnerable as the southern area through which Hamas rampaged, terrorized, raped, tortured and murdered on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 men, women and children, and injuring more than 3,000. Englman said the security deficiencies “are so problematic that they should be causing the political-security leadership to lose sleep.” Zechariah 14:1-2 prophesy that Palestinians in the West Bank will conquer half of Jerusalem. Continue to watch Jerusalem closely.
Trump-endorsed Asfura wins Honduran election: After major technical problems, allegations of fraud and weeks of delays, Nasry Asfura was declared the winner of the razor-thin presidential election in Honduras today. Backed by President Donald Trump, Asfura’s conservative National Party candidate won 40.3 percent of the vote, narrowly edging out Salvador Nasralla of the center-right Liberal Party, which won 39.5 percent. Considering that the conservative José Antonio Kast was recently elected president of Chile, and that Nicolás Maduro may soon be ousted from power in Venezuela, Asfura’s election could be part of a conservative revival in Latin America. This isn’t necessarily good news: Conservative Latin Americans are more likely to ally with both the Roman Catholic Church and the European Union, two powers that are prophesied to oppose the United States.
The Chinese now have more than 100 intercontinental ballistic missiles operational across three new silo fields, according to a new Pentagon draft report seen by Reuters. The DF-31 missiles are designed to deliver nuclear warheads to targets up to 7,500 miles away. They are solid-fueled, enabling quicker launches and improved survivability over older, liquid-fueled missiles. Altogether, China now has 600 nuclear warheads, according to the report, and is expected to have more than 1,000 by 2030. Last month, U.S. President Trump announced plans for America, Russia and China to denuclearize. But the new report says China has “no appetite” for arms control discussions. To understand how close mankind is to a stunningly destructive nuclear conflict, read Gerald Flurry’s free booklet Nuclear Armageddon Is ‘At the Door.’
Iran’s supreme leader ordered the development of nuclear warheads, the Italian Institute for International Political Studies reported today, per “sources in Tehran.” The report says Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had resisted constructing warheads or enriching uranium to weapons-grade levels—but changed his thinking after joint Israel-U.S. strikes on its nuclear program in June. Iran could soon become the world’s newest nuclear power.
Israel’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations released a report claiming the UN spends $100 million on different mechanisms to specifically target Israel. Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said, “Sometimes they do it directly, such as through committees that address Palestinian issues. Many times it is disguised under different names and organizations, but the actual activities are pure propaganda against the State of Israel.” The Trumpet has stressed for years that the UN’s disproportionate and even slanderous campaigns against Israel are evil and dangerous: They are among the causes of the October 7 massacre. Even in the aftermath of that horrific event, the UN continues to treat Israelis with deadly hatred.
Yesterday, three Islamic immigrants were found guilty of planning a terrorist attack on Manchester’s Jewish community, with two directly participating and the other failing to report what his brother was about to do. Walid Saadaoui, originally from Tunisia, said he wanted to “run rivers of [Jews’] impure blood,” with any murdered Christians being “a bonus.” Thankfully, the plot was infiltrated by British police and the men are now in prison, but this demonstrates how close the British people are to experiencing prophesied curses of terrorism and race riots.
“After two years of terrible war, we are still here,” Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, said at a Christmas mass on Sunday at the Holy Family Church, the only Catholic Church in Gaza City. The building was struck in July by the Israeli military during its operations against Hamas. Israel stated that the strike was accidental, but Pizzaballa claimed it may have been intentional. Even though only 100 or so Catholics can live in Gaza, this cardinal seems to harbor greater animosity toward Israel than Hamas. In recent decades, the Catholic Church has disputed Israel’s rule over the Holy Land. It has a centuries-long history of seeking to Christianize the area, by violence if necessary, and Bible prophecy reveals it will happen again.
The Chinese Communist Party expects to be able to seize Taiwan by force by the end of 2027, according to a Pentagon draft report analyzed by Reuters today. The Chinese now have more than 100 intercontinental ballistic missiles operational across three new silo fields, the report notes, which could factor into tactics that could complicate any American response and “could seriously challenge and disrupt U.S. presence in or around a conflict in the Asia-Pacific region.” China has been threatening to take over its small island neighbor for decades, but Taiwan has maintained its independence and freedom thanks to military equipment and a promise of protection from its main partner: the United States. But this new report follows an admission by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last year that in simulations pitting the U.S. against China, “We lose every time.” In 2026, expect more signs that the authoritarian regime in China is actively planning to conquer this democratic nation.
One of the “big three” newspapers in Britain just published a pro-marriage editorial. Marriage rates in Britain have fallen to historic lows after the percentage of married adults in England and Wales dropped below half in 2021. Kara Kennedy writes in the Telegraph that “a generation trained to optimize every decision has lost some faith in action itself. We plan so carefully for the future that we forget the future is mostly made of things you couldn’t have planned for anyway: illness, babies, death, joy. A surprise tax bill or two.” The late Herbert W. Armstrong warned about the destruction of this foundational institution decades ago in his booklet Why Marriage—Soon Obsolete? Gen Z and our nations in general desperately need to preserve, defend, understand and, most importantly, live the marriage relationship as its Creator designed.
A new animated musical from an upstart studio was the second-highest-grossing movie in theaters this weekend. It fell behind Avatar: Fire and Ash, one of the costliest films ever made, but out-earned The SpongeBob Movie, an absurd film that is part of a multibillion-dollar franchise. The David movie’s success exposes the bias and degeneracy of Hollywood executives. They could have made a lot of money putting Bible stories on the big screen, but they intentionally chose to focus on perverted propaganda. Many hail the success of David as another sign of an American religious revival, but as Trumpet executive editor Stephen Flurry discussed on yesterday’s Trumpet Daily, it will take far more than popular movies or musicians to turn America to God.
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday on a “sensitive but unclassified” U.S. proposal to convert Gaza from the bombed-out husk it is today to a Mediterranean paradise of futuristic cityscapes, advanced technology and luxury. “Project Sunrise” is designed to encourage foreign governments to help cover an estimated $112 billion over 10 years, with the U.S. contributing almost $60 billion. Yet as Egypt’s foreign minister noted on Thursday, the U.S. plans do not require an unconditional surrender from Hamas, asking instead for the terrorist group to gradually and voluntarily give up its terrorism and weapons. As the Trumpet reported in our November-December issue, U.S. plans for Gaza “will not bring ‘eternal peace.’”
France will invest $12 billion in a new aircraft carrier, French President Emmanuel Macron announced Sunday. “In an age of predators, we must be strong in order to be feared, and especially strong at sea,” Macron said. The new-generation, 78,000-ton, nuclear-powered carrier is projected to be Europe’s largest warship and will replace the current Charles de Gaulle carrier by 2038. Germany is set to spend twice as much as France on defense by 2029, so France is struggling to remain relevant in an ongoing power struggle over European military leadership. The Bible reveals that France’s military power will become subordinated to Germany.
This was German-Jewish author Michel Friedman’s warning at the Conference of Education Ministers in Berlin on December 18. He highlighted the fact that Jewish children in European educational institutions are insulted, belittled and sometimes even attacked and must either endure it or attend Jewish schools protected by police. Friedman said the latter is reminiscent of the ghettoization in Nazi Germany. Since the savage Hamas massacre of Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel’s resulting war against Hamas in Gaza, anti-Semitism has risen sharply around the world. “Most have allowed an unrestrained surge of overt anti-Semitism in the public sphere,” said Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar at a Hanukkah candle-lighting event in Rishon LeZion on Sunday. He urged Jews worldwide to move to Israel. All of this is a sign of worse to come.
Russia has deployed its entire fleet of nuclear icebreakers to keep Arctic shipping lanes open through the winter. “The deployment sends a clear signal to the West that Russia can sustain year-round Arctic shipping and maintain its natural resource export revenues,” analyst Daniel Ivandjiiski wrote. As the new issue of the Trumpet stresses, Russia is partially isolated from global trade due to its war on Ukraine, but the calculus has changed since Vladimir Putin now leads a war economy.
The United States approved the largest-ever arms sale to Taiwan on Wednesday, worth more than $11 billion. The package includes short-range ballistic missiles, self-propelled howitzers, portable anti-tank missiles and, perhaps most notably, 82 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems. These have proved to be vital in Ukraine’s defense against Russia, even with Ukraine receiving fewer than 40 units. China’s long-threatened invasion of Taiwan across 100 miles of ocean would be a logistically nightmarish and costly campaign, and it would be even more challenging against these advanced systems. The Chinese Communist Party issued a statement that essentially said: We are outraged that you would dare to complicate our planned and grossly illegal invasion. The question now is about the delivery times and whether the news prompts China to make a move before this new kit is delivered and operational. In either case, the Trumpet maintains that Taiwan’s days of freedom are numbered.
The draft of a new law gives Germany’s foreign intelligence service authorization to launch counterattacks and sabotage operations to disable enemy weapons systems, an investigative report by wdr, ndr and Süddeutsche Zeitung reveals. Modern forces have become heavily reliant on technology; cyberattacks could cripple a nation’s ability to wage war.
The unit would consist of about 2,500 personnel, the Jerusalem Post reported yesterday. The proposed initiative comes in response to Turkey’s recent military and strategic activities in the eastern Mediterranean. The plans include air and naval support, with potential deployment areas including Rhodes, Karpathos, Cyprus and bases in Israel. Bible prophecy reveals that Cyprus will take on increased military importance in the region—but instead of helping secure Israel, it will serve as a launchpad for an attack against it.
Yesterday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez urged EU leaders to support a contentious free-trade pact with the South American bloc mercosur. The pact would create one of the largest trade zones on Earth, encompassing 9 percent of the world’s population and 25 percent of world economic output. French President Emmanuel Macron says the deal, which has been in negotiation for more than 26 years, is “not ready” and worries that cheap agricultural produce from mercosur countries will hurt French farmers. Austria, Hungary and Poland also say the deal should be delayed. Denmark, Finland, Spain and Sweden support Germany. Italy could emerge as the swing vote, and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed readiness to sign the agreement in January if a few concessions to European farmers were added. For more information on the significance of this particular trade deal, read “America Is Being Besieged Economically,” by Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry.
Donald Trump reclassified marijuana, signing an executive order yesterday to make it a less dangerous drug. Changing it from a Schedule i to a Schedule iii controlled substance “will make it far easier to conduct marijuana-related medical research, allowing us to study benefits, potential dangers and future treatments,” he said from the Oval Office. “It’s going to have a tremendously positive impact.” Following compromises on abortion, homosexual “marriage” and other grave cultural battles, caving in on marijuana is another reminder that even American conservatives are morally weak.
The United States will increase its military presence in Australia, it announced on December 8 during the Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations in Washington, D.C. The U.S. will upgrade infrastructure at Royal Australian Air Force bases Darwin, Tindal and Amberley to support increased rotations of U.S. military fighter planes, bombers and surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft. The announcement came after U.S. President Donald Trump said the aukus security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the U.S. is moving “full steam ahead.” America seeks to counter China’s growing military presence in the Indo-Pacific, and is also pressuring Europe and nato partners to increase their military spending. China is a real danger, but biblical prophecy warns that encouraging Europe to arm is a deadly trap. To see why, read our recent article “America’s New Military Strategy: Make Europe Great Again.”
A recent report from German geodata compiler Michael Bauer International shows a record-high 1,450 global conflicts between January and September, an increase of 52 over last year. And other conflict trackers showed 2024 set a new record for conflict, and 2023 did before that. While leaders like U.S. President Donald Trump brag about making peace, the data indicate otherwise, and Bible prophecy warns that violent conflicts are about to spread worldwide.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced yesterday that the government will further restrict and prosecute people who promote violence, including preachers who promote hate speech, and will add further provisions for canceling or rejecting visas of people it finds to be spreading “hate and division.” This comes in the wake of two radical Islamists murdering 15 people, including a child, at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach. The increase in government power may allow Australian police to better combat Islamic extremism, but it may also be used against other religions and ideologies that the already overbearing federal government finds inconvenient.
Fbi Deputy Director Dan Bongino announced yesterday that he will step down in January after less than a year in office. Bongino thanked President Donald Trump, fbi Director Kash Patel and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi “for the opportunity to serve with purpose,” but did not specify why he was leaving. Political commentator Mark Bradman opined on the Conservative Treehouse blog that “Bongino faced a big challenge with Director Patel refusing to accept institutional corruption was the biggest issue. You cannot correct problems of great consequence until you admit the core of the problem.”
Yesterday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said a “clear signal” from the German government caused the EU to shelve plans to ban the internal combustion engine by 2035. German and European vehicle manufacturers are not ready to transition to electric vehicles, and Chinese electric cars threaten to destroy the entire business model. The European Commission is instead calling for a 90 percent reduction in emissions compared to 2021. “More openness to technology and more flexibility are the right steps to take in order to better align climate targets, market realities, businesses and jobs,” Merz said. This is another clear signal that Germany rules the EU.
