In Other News
Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping pledged during his annual New Year’s Eve speech in Beijing to bring Taiwan under control of the Chinese Communist Party. The speech came just as China concluded its “Justice Mission 2025” military drills at locations around Taiwan, with its forces operating closer to the island than in any previous exercises. It also follows a Pentagon report published last month saying China will attain the military capacity to capture Taiwan by the end of 2027. Xi’s speech made clear that he feels emboldened by the gains of his ally Russian President Vladimir Putin against Ukraine and by the decision of the United States not to halt Putin’s imperialism. “The reunification of our motherland, a trend of the times, is unstoppable,” he said. The Trumpet maintains that due to America’s weak will, the Chinese Communist Party will make good on its pledge to seize Taiwan.
On Tuesday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued a notice that all imports will “be subject to an additional ad valorem rate of 10 percent” with exceptions for certain products covered by preexisting exemptions. The notice did not explain why the percentage differs from the 15 percent global tariff President Trump announced on Saturday. Since the Supreme Court ruled President Trump’s tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act unconstitutional last week, these new tariffs are being implemented under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. Absent an extension from Congress, these tariffs will remain in effect for only 150 days. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has acknowledged that members of Congress are currently unlikely to vote for an extension.
The Chinese Coast Guard disrupted the Starlink Internet connection of several Philippine government ships and an aircraft on Monday, the Philippine Coast Guard announced. They were operating near Scarborough Shoal, just 120 nautical miles from the Philippines coast, and well within its maritime zone as defined by international law. But China rejects international law and claims almost the entire South China Sea, including sections belonging to the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam. Chinese forces routinely harass vessels from these nations to assert control over the vast region. This is the first known instance of China’s disruption of Starlink. “[W]hen our Starlink Internet connectivity is jammed,” said Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela, “it delays the transmission of information and also compromises the communication of the vessels.” Mr. Flurry has said China’s belligerence in this vital region is heading toward dramatic escalation. “China is intimidating the nations of Southeast Asia into submission to its will,” he wrote in 2016. “It is forcing these countries to do what it wants. Everything is headed in the direction of war.”
France’s lower house has voted to have the nation’s medical industry assist people who want to kill themselves due to terminal disease. It approved the legislation in May, but it was rejected by the Senate and sent back to the National Assembly. Now the Senate will again be asked to legalize “euthanasia,” as it is euphemistically called, which has been horrific in countries where it has been introduced. Canadian news regularly reports stories of people with minor ailments who have been pressured to kill themselves. Because such “compassionate” laws violate God’s law, they will always lead to increasingly worse depravity.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded a visit to Israel today, during which he received warm welcomes from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog. “I must tell you, Narendra, my dear friend, I am deeply, deeply moved by your visit today,” Netanyahu said. “Since I must be diplomatic, I won’t rank it: That would get me into trouble. But I have never been more moved than by your visit with us.” Netanyahu went on to say, “In a world where anti-Semitism is rising, India stands out: A civilization where Jews were never persecuted by the state, only welcomed.” Isolation of Israel, largely due to surging anti-Semitism, has left the Jewish state uncertain of its allies, including the United States. Modi’s visit shows Israel is looking for new partners. The Bible says Israel will get one—and that it should be careful what it wishes for.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is visiting China, the first time since taking office, to establish what he called a “balanced, reliable, regulated and fair” relationship. Merz, accompanied by 30 German business representatives, will meet General Secretary Xi Jinping and tour Chinese robotics company Unitree during the two-day visit, the latest of several high-level visits over the past two months as Germany seeks to replace the United States as an economic partner.
China’s Commerce Ministry announced yesterday that it will block the export of all “dual-use” products with potential military applications to any Japanese organization connected to the defense industry. The 20 blocked entities include Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the National Defense Academy of Japan. The new restrictions may include a ban on “rare earths,” metals used in a wide range of technologies. “These measures aim to prevent Japan’s ‘remilitarization’ and nuclear ambitions and are fully justifiable, reasonable and lawful,” the ministry’s statement said. This further escalates China and Japan’s diplomatic conflict over the former’s threat to conquer Taiwan, but the Trumpet expects these two Asian giants to put aside their differences and join forces soon in an alliance biblical prophecy calls “the kings of the east.”
Yesterday, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates admitted to the staff of the Gates Foundation that he committed adultery with two Russian women and apologized for his years-long association with the late pedophile and convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. According to the Wall Street Journal, files on Epstein released by the U.S. Department of Justice indicate that Gates continued meeting with Epstein after the latter’s 2008 conviction of soliciting and procuring a child for prostitution, and that Epstein threatened to reveal Gates’s adultery unless he continued meeting with him, ostensibly to discuss philanthropic efforts. The Epstein files continue to reveal that many elites in America and Britain are sexually depraved.
Slovakia halted its emergency power supply to Ukraine yesterday. This is the culmination of recent rising tensions between the two and exacerbates Russia’s weaponization of winter. Bible prophecy shows that Russia will soon become extremely powerful, so expect it to succeed in its attempts to regain control over several former Soviet states.
Yesterday, Dutch King Willem-Alexander swore in a new minority coalition government led by Rob Jetten, who is not only the youngest prime minister in the Netherlands’ centuries-long history but also the first to be openly homosexual. In 2000, the Netherlands became the first nation in the world to legalize same-sex “marriage,” and Jetten is “engaged” to another man. Our booklet Redefining Family explains in detail that sexual rebellion against the laws of the Bible is destructive not only to individuals and families but also to nations.
Former British Ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson was arrested yesterday and two of his houses were searched on suspicion of misconduct in public office. His arrest follows newly released documents from the U.S. Department of Justice that suggest he supplied convicted criminal Jeffrey Epstein with sensitive government information, such as tax plans and planned bailouts. In September, after Mandelson’s ties with Epstein were initially exposed, Prime Minister Keir Starmer removed him as ambassador. But evidence of his Epstein relationship kept growing, and earlier this month, a Starmer spokesman called for his title of “lord” to be stripped in a likely effort to distance himself from Mandelson. The arrest, along with that of former Prince Andrew last week, highlights the decline of Britain’s rulers.
Nasa’s new moon mission will not be taking off next month as we reported yesterday. The Artemis 2 rocket wet dress rehearsal was completed on February 19-20, but the flow of helium that is used to pressurize the liquid hydrogen fuel and the liquid oxygen oxidizer was interrupted overnight on February 21. The launch date for this mission to orbit the moon, a chance for mankind to again look to the stars, will be delayed until at least April.
According to a senior U.S. official speaking with Axios, United States President Donald Trump may be prepared to back off his ultimatum for Iran to stop all nuclear enrichment. Axios claimed on February 20 that the Trump administration could tolerate “token” nuclear enrichment if “it leaves no possible path to a bomb.” This comes as the U.S. has moved two carrier strike groups and dozens of additional warplanes into the region for potential strikes on Iran. Iran was allowed “token” nuclear enrichment under President Barack Obama’s 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which Trump criticized and nullified. Now, even with Trump in power, the U.S. may continue to treat violent Islamist nuclear technology as just another bargaining chip, unaware of what the Bible prophesies radical Islam is about to do.
Poland is withdrawing from the Ottawa Treaty, which bans antipersonnel mines, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced Thursday. The Polish government wants to be free to mine its borders with Belarus and Russia’s Baltic Sea enclave of Kaliningrad should the threat of Russian invasion emerge, part of a larger defense project called “East Shield.” Bible prophecy revealed thousands of years ago that fear of Russia would stir Europe to militarize.
Hungarian and Slovakian leaders threatened to cut off oil supplies to Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. They accused Ukraine of delaying to reopen the Druzhba oil pipeline to try to make the European Union admit Ukraine as a member. In January, Hungary and Slovakia contributed 60 percent of Ukraine’s electricity imports. Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been targeted by Russian attacks, and temperatures are still frigid. Russian President Vladimir Putin has openly decried the fall of the Soviet Union, and the Bible prophesies that this man will soon lead a massive Asian military alliance. Because of this, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has said Putin will regain control over some former Soviet puppet states.
Defense ministers and top EU officials from Germany, France, Poland, Italy and the UK met on Friday and announced leap, a joint effort to build artificial intelligence-equipped autonomous drones and cheap air defense weapons in bulk. “We are implementing the experience from Ukraine and developing our industrial potential in a dynamic way. Europe has woken up,” Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz stated following the meeting. It’s possible these drones could even be used to form a European “drone wall” at the Russian border. Efforts to strengthen Europe’s militaries may be framed as a defense against Russia, but the Bible reveals that they will soon be used against the U.S. and UK.
Mexico overtook Canada as the top destination of U.S. exports, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. Last year was the first time Mexico’s annual imports from the U.S. topped Canada’s. U.S. Commerce Department figures record that Mexico received 16 percent of U.S. exports ($338 billion) and Canada received 15 percent ($337 billion). Major shifts are occurring in international relations, not only in rhetoric but also in consequential real-world trade and industry. The new Philadelphia Trumpet focuses on changes and conflicts in world trade and where the Bible says they will lead.
On Friday, German soccer team Werder Bremen canceled its trip to Minneapolis and other American cities, citing internal U.S. conflicts over the enforcement of immigration law. “Playing in a city where there’s unrest and people have been shot, that does not fit with our values here at Werder Bremen,” the team stated, also citing tightened entry restrictions and financial factors. The cancellation shows that some Germans are willing to essentially boycott the U.S. over political disagreements. Soon, many more Germans will boycott many more U.S. cities, on a much larger scale.
After dropping during mid-2025, the U.S. trade deficit reached a record-high $70.3 billion in December, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. A major reason President Trump placed so many tariffs last year was to decrease that deficit, but even with those measures in place, imports surged in November and the deficit began rising again. The Supreme Court decision striking down these particular tariffs complicates matters. Even with a bold president making a bold move to try to reduce the deficit, the U.S. remains addicted to imports.
At 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, a sheriff’s deputy and two Secret Service agents confronted Tucker Martin, 21, who was carrying a gas can and a shotgun. Martin had breached a secure perimeter at Mar-a-Lago and, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, raised his shotgun when confronted and was shot. He did not survive. Text messages revealed he was upset over the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files. Donald Trump, who has been the target of multiple assassination attempts, was at the White House during the incident. Prior to the first assassination attempt at Butler, Pennsylvania, before the election, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry asserted that Trump, although threatened, would not be assassinated because he is the subject of yet-unfulfilled prophecies in 2 Kings 14 and Amos 7.
Mankind took a small step toward returning to the moon on Friday as the Artemis 2 mission passed its “wet dress rehearsal.” It is tentatively scheduled to launch between March 6 and 9. The rocket will take four astronauts into orbit around the moon, the first time any human has been beyond low Earth orbit since December 1972. They will set a new record for distance traveled from Earth, beating the record set by the crew of Apollo 13 in 1970. If all goes well, Artemis 3 will follow in 2027 or 2028 and will be the first manned lunar landing in over 50 years. The missions are an opportunity to have all mankind lift up their eyes and gain a glimpse of a grand vision for humanity.
United States President Donald Trump hosted the inaugural Board of Peace meeting yesterday. The board announced that Albania, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Morocco will send peacekeepers to Gaza. All five are Muslim-majority countries, but most are countries Israel has cordial relations with. Indonesia has no diplomatic relations with Israel, but neither is it a historic enemy. Two countries hostile to Israel, Qatar and Turkey, have considered sending peacekeepers, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to have convinced Trump and his board to forgo this for now. The Board of Peace appears to be progressing in its goals for Gaza, but this is illusory.
Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna stated on Wednesday that Estonia is willing to host nato nuclear weapons. His comment comes after Polish President Karol Nawrocki floated the idea of Poland developing nuclear weapons earlier this week and amid discussions between Germany and France regarding a European nuclear arsenal independent of the United States.
France and Algeria agreed to restore security cooperation on Tuesday following a visit by French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, another indication that two years of strain in their relationship is easing. Algeria is important to France and Europe as a supplier of natural gas and as a strategic location to advance European interests in northern Africa.
Iran and Russia held “anti-terrorism and vessel protection operations” yesterday in the Gulf of Oman. According to Iranian Rear Adm. Hassan Maghsoudlou, its aim was “to enhance security and sustainable maritime interactions in the Gulf of Oman and northern Indian Ocean.” The drills come amid Iran’s temporary shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz for live-fire naval exercises and are designed as responses to the deployment of two U.S. Navy aircraft carrier strike groups to the region. Iran’s aggressive assertion of its control over the strategically important Gulf of Oman with Russia’s help will further provoke Europe to get involved in the region.
Citing administration officials, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the 12-year presence of U.S. forces in Syria will officially end in the next two months. The Bible prophesied that America’s influence over Syria would deteriorate. The U.S. withdrawal clears the way not only for Syria’s new Islamist regime to consolidate power but for a new, imperialistic power.
