US Pause of Foreign Aids For 90 Days
Reuters reported on January 24:
“The U.S. State Department issued a ‘stop-work’ order [for 90 days] on Friday for all existing foreign assistance and paused new aid, according to a cable seen by Reuters, after President Donald Trump ordered a pause to review if aid allocation was aligned with his foreign policy. The cable, drafted by the Department’s foreign assistance office and approved by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said waivers have been issued for military financing for Israel and Egypt. No other countries were mentioned in the cable…
“The State Department cable said effective immediately, senior officials ‘shall ensure that, to the maximum extent permitted by law, no new obligations shall be made for foreign assistance’ until Rubio has made a decision after a review. It says that for existing foreign assistance awards stop-work orders shall be issued immediately until reviewed by Rubio…”
Subsequently, the Pentagon clarified: “Trump’s executive order freezing foreign aid applies only to development programs, not security assistance to Ukraine.” However, it has also been reported that while Trump’s order does not curtail security assistance (i.e., weapons, vehicles and ammunition) already in the pipeline, it does freeze USAID projects for the Ukraine, including support for schools and maternal care and the vaccination of children.
Court Blocks Trump
CNBC reported on January 28:
“A federal judge paused until next week a Trump administration order that would have frozen the issuance of existing federal grants and loans until agencies vetted them. Judge Loren AliKhan’s ruling Tuesday during a hearing conducted on Zoom came just minutes before the freezing order was set to take effect at 5 p.m. ET. At stake are funds potentially worth trillions of dollars.
“AliKhan [a Biden appointee] said her administrative stay would expire at 5 p.m. ET Monday unless she decides to grant a temporary restraining order as requested by plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit earlier in the day challenging the Trump administration’s action. The judge scheduled a hearing for Monday morning for arguments on the requested restraining order in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C…. AliKhan’s stay only affects the disbursement of government funds that already have been authorized, not money that was being sought.”
Spending Nothing on NATO?
Newsmax wrote on January 23:
“President Donald Trump on Thursday said he was not sure the United States should be spending anything on NATO, telling reporters the U.S. was protecting NATO members, but they were ‘not protecting us.’…
“Trump has said members of the military alliance should spend 5% of their gross domestic product on defense — a huge increase from the current 2% goal and a level that no NATO country, including the United States, currently achieves.”
NATO might very well be on its way out.
Trump for a Third Term?
The New York Post wrote on January 24:
“A congressman is pushing for a law change that would allow President Trump to run for a third term… Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) proposed an amendment Thursday that would allow presidents three terms in office — as long as they did not serve two consecutive four-year stints.
“That would allow a third term for Trump — whose two were interrupted by Joe Biden — but not for Obama, Clinton or George W. Bush, who each served two consecutive terms…
“The 22nd Amendment — passed by Congress in 1947 after Franklin Delano Roosevelt won four terms in office — currently bars Trump and all two-term holders of the Oval Office from running for a third term.”
Even IF the 22nd Amendment bars Trump from “running a third time,” even though he did not serve two consecutive terms, there are other ways than amending the Constitution to serve a third time.
For instance, the 22nd Amendment only requires that someone not be elected to the Presidency more than twice. Someone who was elected to two terms is still eligible to be Vice President and to rise to the Presidency upon the death, resignation or removal of the President.
Then, another way to be President is to be “chosen” President by the House of Representatives in those unusual situations where no candidate for President obtains a majority of the electoral college.
In Las Vegas on January 25, Trump toyed with the idea of serving a third time, which received thunderous applause from his supporters, but he then dismissed the idea as fake news. Is it?
Newsmax added on January 27:
“President Donald Trump once again hinted at the idea of serving a third term, saying he was “not 100% sure” he was barred from doing so under the Constitution, which forbids it.
“Trump has repeatedly alluded to the possibility that he might go beyond the current two-term limit for presidents — but while he often strikes a light-hearted tone the remarks remain provocative….
“In November, in another speech to House Republicans shortly after his election win, Trump said: ‘I suspect I won’t be running again unless you say, “He’s good, we got to figure something else.”’”
The Deportation Nightmare
Breitbart wrote on January 26:
“Governor JB Pritzker (D-IL) Sunday on CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ warned the Trump administration that his local law enforcement ‘will stand up for those law-abiding, undocumented people’ facing deportation…. Pritzker said, ‘… when we’re talking about violent criminals who have been convicted and who are undocumented, we don’t want them in our state. We want them out of the country. We hope they do get deported. And if that’s who they’re picking up, we’re all for it. They show up with a warrant, and we’re going to hand over people who are in our prisons or in our jails who fit that description.
“‘Now, what they’re also doing, though, and it’s quite disturbing, is they’re going after people who are law-abiding, who are holding down jobs, who have families here who may have been here for a decade or two decades, and they’re often our neighbors and our friends… We also have a law on the books in Illinois that says that our local law enforcement will stand up for those law-abiding, undocumented people in our state who are doing the right thing. And we’re not going to help federal officials just drag them away because somebody pointed at them and said, oh, that person’s brown or that person’s not from here. Check it out. Maybe they’re undocumented.’”
Sadly, that is how many Jews were arrested in Nazi Germany… due to the denunciation of others.
ICE Raids LA
The New York Post wrote on January 26:
“Details of the LA raids were scarce as of Saturday afternoon, but sources said migrants rounded up there were being held in ICE detention centers in California pending deportation. Officials are expecting the sites to fill up quickly, and the feds are scouting for more space to hold migrants, the sources said…
“Executive orders issued by Trump dramatically loosened restrictions on how immigration officers can conduct deportation raids, removing bans for searching courthouses, churches and other ‘sensitive’ sites that illegal migrants have historically holed up in to be shielded from federal authorities. The White House will be using military planes every day to help carry out what Trump and ‘border czar’ Tom Homan have vowed will be the largest deportation operation in U.S. history…”
Going After Nonviolent Illegal Aliens
Fox News wrote on January 26:
“Border Czar Tom Homan warned that daily deportation numbers are set to rise in the coming weeks as President Trump’s administration begins to expand its operations. The border chief says the administration is currently only targeting violent illegal aliens, but that will soon change… ‘If you’re in the country illegally, you’re on the table… every time you enter this country illegally, you violated a crime under Title Eight, the United States Code 1325, it’s a crime,’ Homan [said]… ‘Here’s what’s going to happen. We’ll find the bad guy, but when we find him, he’s going to be with others, others that may not be a criminal priority. But guess what? If they’re in the United States illegally, they’re going to be arrested, too.’”
To clarify, US Code 1325 is a misdemeanor, not a felony. Violations are ruled upon by civil courts, not criminal courts. Also, being present in the USA without legal documentation is in itself not a federal crime.
The New York Post added that Homan also said that deportations will continue every day and culminate in millions of illegal migrants being jettisoned from the US, and that the border is closed.
This whole mess will quickly get out of control, and many will needlessly suffer in the process.
Fate of 90,000 IRS Agents?
Daily Mail wrote on January 26:
“Donald Trump has revealed what could be the fate of nearly 90,000 newly hired Internal Revenue Service (IRS) staff, suggesting he might ‘move them to the border’. Hours after he was handed over the presidency, the Republican leader signed an executive order to stop [indefinitely] the hiring of all federal civilian employees until ‘his Administration can determine that it is in the national interest to do so’. Apart from the IRS, the decision is temporary [for 90 days] for all other federal offices….
“’They hired – were trying to hire 88,000 new workers to go with you, and we’re in the process of developing a plan to either terminate all of them or maybe we move them to the border,’ the President said [in Las Vegas on January 25]…
‘Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens.’ Trump went on: ‘For this purpose, we are establishing the External Revenue Service to collect all tariffs, duties and revenues,’ Trump said during his speech at the Capitol on Monday.”
“He also warned world leaders they could face crippling economic sanctions if they don’t start manufacturing in America in a blistering speech to the World Economic Forum on January 23. The president said nations ‘will pay’ if they opt against doing business in the United States… He also offered an incentive of lower taxes and rates to nations that choose to move more of their business…”
A better way would be to get rid of the IRS completely. The fear is that with the removal of IRS employees, the IRS will not do their job at all, when it applies, for instance, to the refund of taxes—something in which the IRS is already terribly lacking and delinquent in far too many cases. And it is next to impossible to reach a live person, let alone getting an appointment.
US Restricts Access to Chips for AI
swissinfo.ch wrote on January 26:
“The US recently changed the rules for the export of products related to artificial intelligence. Only countries that are considered allies are now allowed to access these computer chips. And Switzerland is not one of them.
“Only 18 countries are considered trustworthy allies in the USA, including France, Germany and Japan. According to Washington, these nations are worthy of unrestricted access to these very powerful computer chips, which are manufactured exclusively by US companies.
“This new regulation will come into force in four months. After that, Switzerland will still be able to import these chips, but will be subject to a limited quota in the coming years… It is not entirely clear why Switzerland is not one of the allied countries… Nevertheless, it seems clear that the main aim of this regulation is to deny rival countries, especially China, access to this cutting-edge technology. The US is not only trying to curb exports, but also to prevent Chinese companies from circumventing the restrictions by setting up subsidiaries abroad.”
Getting Rid of FEMA?
Las Vegas Sun wrote on January 23:
“President Donald Trump said he was considering ‘getting rid of’ the Federal Emergency Management Agency… Instead of having federal financial assistance flow through FEMA, [he] said Washington could provide money directly to the states…
“‘FEMA has been a very big disappointment,’ [he] said. ‘It’s very bureaucratic. And it’s very slow.’”
The problem is, what if the states— such as California—do not use the money wisely? Supervising committees can only go so far.
The California Fire Paradox
Breitbart wrote on January 26:
“Residents of the Pacific Palisades flocked home on Saturday after President Donald Trump’s visit the day before, with many gaining access to their property for the first time since the Palisades Fire more than two weeks ago. Trump met with residents and local officials on Friday, holding a roundtable discussion at the local fire station in which he allowed those affected by the fires to raise their concerns for the first time. During the meeting, local residents raised concerns that they had been told it would take 18 months to clear their lots of debris, and that local permitting processes would stop them from rebuilding. In addition, most of the affected residents had been prohibited from even visiting the ruins of their homes. Trump took the residents’ side against the city, and when Mayor Karen Bass pushed back, he insisted that they be able to access their property immediately. Bass said they could go within a week. ‘A week is a long time,’ President Trump said, saying residents should be able to go immediately.
“The next day, residents rushed to the assembly point in nearby Santa Monica Parking Lot #3, where police escorts had been taking caravans of residents to the Highlands, one of the areas of the Pacific Palisades that had not been as badly affected as the rest of the town. They insisted on being taken to other neighborhoods… with many insisting that President Trump had promised them access. While some were turned away, some persisted and were able to visit their lots — at least for a short period of time… Some residents reported continued denials by National Guard soldiers and police. One posted on Instagram: ‘They didn’t let us in but they also said they wouldn’t arrest us if we went around them. So we went.’… Many expressed a commitment to rebuild, and hope that President Trump’s pressure on Los Angeles and California will allow them to do so.”
Trump also declared that he will waive any federal permits and urged Mayor Bass to do the same in regard to the state, so that rebuilding could start immediately.
Did the Military Take Over California?
Newsmax wrote on January 28:
“President Donald Trump declared on social media that the military has entered California and ‘turned on the water’ from the Pacific Northwest… ‘The United States Military just entered the Great State of California and, under Emergency Powers, TURNED ON THE WATER flowing abundantly from the Pacific Northwest, and beyond,’ Trump wrote… Monday night…
“The California Department of Water Resources, however, responded… that the ‘military did not enter California… The federal government restarted federal water pumps after they were offline for maintenance for three days,” the agency said. “State water supplies in Southern California remain plentiful.’…
“Trump has accused Gov. Gavin Newsom of holding back water supplies in California, thus impeding the state’s response to the wildfires in Los Angeles. Last Friday, he said he wants to place conditions on disaster aid, calling for tightening voter requirements while increasing water supplies from Northern California…
“Newsom and other state officials deny Trump’s claims and say there is plenty of water in Southern California… ‘Reservoirs in California are at or above average storage levels for this time of year, thanks in part to years of proactive water management.’… Trump in his order directed the federal Bureau of Reclamation to make sure that California agencies ‘do not interfere’ with the water supply….”
It is a well-known fact that California did NOT have enough water to fight the fires. One major reservoir was empty and could not be used.
Pete Hegseth New Defense Secretary
Fox News wrote on January 24:
“The Senate voted to confirm… Pete Hegseth, as defense secretary on Friday night after a high-tempered battle to sway lawmakers in his favor that was almost derailed by accusations about his behavior.
“The final vote came down to the wire: three Republicans opposed, making for a 50 to 50 vote. Vice President JD Vance was needed to break the tie in the upper chamber, putting the final tally at 51-50… All Democrats opposed the confirmation, a far cry from an earlier vote this week, when Secretary of State Marco Rubio was confirmed unanimously, 99-0.”
More Drone Sightings… and Still No Explanation
Daily Mail wrote on January 24:
“A New Jersey Mayor has shared new footage of ‘glowing orbs transforming into drones’ over Long Island, adding more intrigue to this ongoing mystery. Michael Melham, the Mayor of Belleville,… shared the bizarre footage on X, saying the clips ‘appears to show glowing orbs turning into drones. Verified not to be planes via flight tracker. They hover. Glow. Then move.’…
“New Jersey still appears to be the epicenter of drone reports following the first sightings in November, when eyewitnesses reported ‘car-sized drones’ flying above a military base and President Donald Trump’s golf course. But since then, hundreds of other reports have surfaced across the Northeast and even from several southern states, including Virginia, Kentucky and the Carolinas…
“A drone ban was issued from December 18 to January 17, during which Enigma labs said the average number of reported sightings dropped by 43 percent. Now, new data shows 36 sightings were logged the week of January 1, and nearly half were spotted in New Jersey. Trump has yet to release the drone report he promised, and many Americans await new information about the alarming phenomenon they believe they have been experiencing.”
The New York Post wrote on January 25:
“A brief lull in activity that coincided with flight restrictions imposed by the feds has ended, now that the Federal Aviation Administration lifted the ban. And the mysterious unmanned aircraft aren’t just plaguing the Big Apple and the Garden State. ‘We’ve received over 100 reports in the past three weeks that mention drones across the US,’ Enigma Labs spokesperson Christine Kim said…
“New Jersey remains a hotbed of drone activity, Kim claimed. The New York-based company’s ‘unidentified anomalous phenomena’… received a total of 22,000 sightings in 2024, with most concentrated in the Northeast… Enigma Labs relies on user-submitted information and began tracking sightings in late November… Since then, it’s received 650 reports of drone sightings in the US, with 154 coming in January alone…
“Over 50% of reports to Enigma described the objects as ‘hovering’ or staying airborne for extended periods of time, while 25% indicated objects were observed moving in swarms of five or more.”
Update on Drones Flying Over New Jersey
Fox News wrote on January 28:
“The White House on Tuesday revealed that some of the drones seen flying over New Jersey and other parts of the country in November were authorized to be flown by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)… for research and various other reasons… In addition to those authorized by the FAA, other drones flown by hobbyists were sighted, and that number increased as curiosity about the phenomenon grew, the White House said [adding that ‘This was not the enemy.’].”
This sounds extremely untrue. The U.S. Department of Defense had published the following article on its website on December 14, 2024:
“Right now, the FBI, DHS, FAA and DOD have been unable to determine who is responsible for flying the drones, and there’s no indication that there are adversary nations involved. ‘To date, we have no intelligence or observations that would indicate that they were aligned with a foreign actor or that they had malicious intent,’ the spokesperson said. ‘But … we don’t know. We have not been able to locate or identify the operators or the points of origin.’”
Trump Explanation Raises Even More Questions
The New York Post added on January 28:
“The explanation did not clarify what research was being performed — in many cases near military bases — or detail what ‘other reasons’ were at play. Some leading politicians have been skeptical of the official explanation that the drones were innocent. Then-House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Mike McCaul (R-Texas) said last month that he believed many of the aircraft were ‘spy drones’ from China. ‘My judgment based on my experience is that those that are over our military sites are adversarial and most likely are coming from the People’s Republic of China,’ McCaul said at the time. ‘We’re not getting answers and I think it’s because our government does not know who is behind them and that is very disturbing to me.’”
IF the FAA had authorized the drones for research and other reasons, it certainly would have known this. So either they lied then, or they are lying now. The question is, what is REALLY behind those drones? Please view our StandingWatch program, titled, “The DRONES! No Danger? Are You Kidding?”
Taking Back the Panama Canal?
The New York Post wrote on January 28:
“A top Senate Republican accused Panama Tuesday of violating the treaty giving the Central American nation control over the vital Panama Canal shipping lane — saying the country had waved through illicit transfers of crude oil by Iran and exposed itself to dangerous Chinese influence…. ‘Panama has emerged as a bad actor,’ charged Senate Commerce, Science and Technology Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
“‘Panama has for years flagged dozens of vessels in the Iranian ghost fleet, which brought Iran tens of billions of dollars in oil profits to fund terror across the world. And Chinese companies have won contracts, often without fair competition… China often engages in debt-trap diplomacy to enable economic and political coercion in Panama… It also seems to have exploited simple corruption.’
“Cruz also explained that Panama’s ‘high fees for canal transit disproportionately affect Americans, because US cargo accounts for nearly three-quarters of Canal transits,’ while US Navy vessels ‘pay additional fees that apply only to warships.’…
“Tuesday’s hearing kicked off formal efforts to investigate whether Panama is in violation of the 1997 Panama Canal Treaty and Neutrality Treaty which could allow the US to retake the canal zone by force…”
View our StandingWatch program, titled, “Will the USA Take the Panama Canal Back?”
Elon Musk’s Ongoing Support for the AfD and German Values
Daily Mail wrote on January 26:
“Elon Musk has backed Germany’s… AfD (Alternative fuer Deutschland) party at its latest rally… The billionaire made a surprise appearance during the AfD’s election campaign event in Halle in eastern Germany on Saturday, voicing his support for the second time in as many weeks.
“’It’s good to be proud of German culture, German values, and not to lose that in some sort of multiculturalism that dilutes everything,’ Musk, via video link, told the hall of 4,500 people alongside party leader Alice Weidel… he said ‘children should not be guilty of the sins of their parents, let alone their great grandparents,’ apparently referring to Germany’s Nazi past. ‘There is too much focus on past guilt, and we need to move beyond that,’ he said…
“Musk spoke in favour of voting for the far right party, saying: ‘I’m very excited for the AfD, I think you’re really the best hope for Germany fight for a great future for Germany,’ he told onlookers. Weidel thanked him, said the Republicans were making America great again, and called on her supporters to make Germany great again.”
AFP added on January 25:
“‘The German people are really an ancient nation which goes back thousands of years,’ he said in Saturday’s address. ‘I even read Julius Caesar was very impressed (by) the German tribes,’ he said… He said the AfD wanted ‘more self-determination for Germany and for the countries in Europe and less from Brussels’, a reference to European Union authorities…
“Like Trump, the AfD opposes immigration, denies climate change, rails against gender politics and has declared war on a political establishment and mainstream media it condemns as censorious.”
Musk also stated that he does not believe he is exaggerating when saying that the future of civilization could be dependent on the German election in February (compare Bild Online, dated January 25).
More Hostages and Prisoners Released
npr wrote on January 24:
“Hamas has identified four female Israeli soldiers [who were] released on Saturday… All of them were taken hostage on Oct. 7, 2023, from the Nahal Oz army base on Israel’s border with Gaza… After they are handed over, Israel is expected to free 200 Palestinian or so prisoners and detainees, based on a calculation stipulated in the agreement that 50 detainees should be released for each female soldier.
“If all goes according to plan this weekend, Hamas will have freed seven of the 33 hostages slated for release in the first six-week phase of the ceasefire agreement. Not all of them are believed to be alive. In exchange, Israel will have so far released more than 2,000 Palestinian detainees [some of them have been convicted of murder].”
Cleaning Out Gaza Population?
Financial Times wrote on January 26:
“Donald Trump has urged Egypt and Jordan to take in most of the population of Gaza, saying it was time to ‘clean out’ the territory in comments that are likely to outrage Palestinians and Arabs across the region… ‘You’re talking about a million and half people, and we just clean out that whole thing.’ Trump’s proposal would upend decades of US policy promoting the two-state solution based on the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, in Gaza and parts of the occupied West Bank.
“Trump said he has already discussed his proposal to relocate Gaza’s population with King Abdullah of Jordan on Saturday and will bring it up on Sunday in a phone call with Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt’s president. With the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas entering its second week, Trump said Gaza was ‘literally a demolition site, almost everything is demolished and people are dying there so I’d rather get involved with some of the Arab nations and build housing at a different location where they can maybe live in peace for a change.’…
“Amman and Cairo have since the start of the war in October 2023 repeatedly rejected any transfer of Palestinians to their territories, saying it would amount to the ‘liquidation of the Palestinian cause’ at the expense of Israel’s neighbours. Sisi has said previously that taking in Gazans would threaten Egypt’s peace agreement with Israel because of the risk that some of them would resume fighting the Jewish state from within Egypt’s borders…
“The two countries have weak economies and need US support but their leaders would not want to be seen to be complicit in what Arab public opinion would consider a second ‘Nakba’ or catastrophe — the exodus to neighbouring countries of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees in 1948 when the state of Israel was founded…
“Trump’s Gaza proposal nonetheless delighted leaders of Israel’s far-right… Itamar Ben-Gvir, the former Israeli national security minister who resigned in protest last week over the Gaza ceasefire deal, ‘praised’ Trump for floating the idea. Trump also confirmed that the Pentagon had lifted a hold on the delivery 2,000-pound bombs to Israel imposed by the Biden administration. ‘We released them today and they’ll have them,’ he said. ‘They paid for them and they have been waiting for them for a long time.’
“The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was already under strain despite the successful release on Saturday of four female Israeli soldiers from captivity in Gaza and 200 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. Israeli officials said over the weekend that Hamas had violated the US-brokered accord after it failed to release the last civilian woman hostage still believed to be alive — Arbel Yehud — before the soldiers… Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that until the matter was ‘put in order’ it would not allow hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza, as called for in the deal. Israel’s ceasefire with Lebanon also appeared in danger, with Israel making it clear late last week that it would not meet the two month deadline for the withdrawal of its forces from southern Lebanon on Sunday.”
Palestinians Return to Gaza
CNN reported on January 27:
“More than 300,000 displaced Palestinians have returned to the northern Gaza Strip [on Monday] since Israel reopened the corridor …
“Gaza City, where most of the people making this journey on Monday had been living before the war, is among the most destroyed areas in the strip. There are no fully functioning hospitals or schools in the area and access to water, power and basic supplies is extremely limited, despite aid flows into Gaza increasing since the ceasefire came into effect.
“Seen from above, the crowds on Monday resembled a huge, slow moving wave making its way up Gaza’s coast, then turning inland. Most, including children, injured people and the elderly, were traveling on foot, carrying the little they have left on their backs. Most have spent many months exiled in makeshift refugee camps after Israeli forces ordered large-scale evacuations.
“The Israeli military said residents could return on foot along the Al Rasheed coastal road, while vehicle traffic can pass via the inland Salah al-Din road after inspection…
“Israel’s far-right former national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, who quit in protest over the ceasefire and hostage release deal, claimed the return of Palestinians to northern Gaza was a ‘total surrender.’”
Putin and Zelensky Ready to Negotiate?
Daily Mail wrote on January 24:
“Vladimir Putin today declared that the war in Ukraine could have been averted had Donald Trump not been ‘robbed of the election’ in 2020. Describing his armed forces’ full-scale invasion of their neighbour in February 2022 as a ‘crisis’, Putin told state media the horrific bloodshed that has blighted eastern Europe for almost three years would not have happened under a Trump presidency… His comments came as part of a wide-ranging interview in which the Kremlin chief heaped praise on the newly inaugurated US president, labelling Trump ‘smart and pragmatic’ while also signalling a willingness to approach the negotiating table over Ukraine…
“Kyiv was unsurprisingly quick to respond, with President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office issuing a tight-lipped statement that there could be no peace talks between Putin and Trump without the participation of European representatives… On Wednesday, Trump warned his Russian counterpart that he would face taxes, tariffs and sanctions if Russia did not sign up to a deal to end the war in Ukraine. The US president has previously warned that he could intensify the supply of arms to Ukraine if Moscow does not come to the negotiating table… But Trump’s advisers have also hinted the steady stream of Western military aid to Ukraine could be shut off if Kyiv refuses to countenance a deal. In a somewhat inflammatory statement about the Ukrainian leader, Trump recently said Zelensky was ‘no angel’ and insisted he ‘shouldn’t have allowed this war to happen’…
“Many argue that Russia’s upper hand on the battlefield and its efforts to build stronger economic and political ties with other powers in the face of the West’s sanctions mean that Kremlin is coming to the negotiating table with a strong hand of cards.”
Denmark in Crisis Mode
The Telegraph wrote on January 24:
“Denmark is in ‘crisis mode’ after Donald Trump made a direct play for Greenland in a ‘horrendous’ phone call with the country’s prime minister. The US president spoke to Mette Frederiksen, the Danish premier, for 45 minutes last week and made clear he wanted to place Greenland under American control… Ms Frederiksen told him in their call last week that despite his ‘big interest’, Greenland was not for sale, the Financial Times reported. Mr Trump then became ‘aggressive’, according to the newspaper, and threatened to impose tariffs on Denmark unless Greenland was sold to the US…
“The call came after Mr Trump refused to rule out using military force to take Greenland in a press conference on Jan 7, arguing that it was a matter of ‘national security’ that the US gained an Arctic base… Mr Trump’s refusal to rule out a full-scale invasion of Greenland has raised questions about the Nato alliance, of which both Denmark and the US are members. The alliance’s Article 5 collective defence agreement states that a military attack on one member would result in other members declaring war on the aggressor. It is not clear what would happen if one Nato member attacked another.”
UK’s Right of First Refusal
Daily Mail wrote on January 26:
“President Donald Trump’s bid to acquire Greenland could be foiled by Sir Keir Starmer if Britain were to act on an agreement made over 100 years ago… even if the Danes did agree to sell Greenland, they would have to offer the UK first refusal, per the terms of an agreement crafted in 1917 – when the US first attempted to acquire the island… The agreement was crafted when US President Woodrow Wilson purchased the US Virgin Islands from Denmark for $25 million.
“He was urged to buy Greenland, but Copenhagen refused and would only move forward with the deal if America signed a letter acknowledging Greenland ‘is and will forever be Danish’… The UK, at the same time, insisted that it have first right of refusal if the island were to ever be sold, citing the close proximity to Canada, which was then a British dominion. Despite this agreement, experts say the UK Government is unlikely to take advantage of the century-old deal…”
Denmark Increases Military for Greenland
Daily Mail wrote on January 27:
“The European Union is seeking to beef up its military presence in Greenland just one week after President Donald Trump took office and threatened to seize the vast land mass…
“While the Scandinavian country is responsible for Greenland’s security and defense, Copenhagen has limited military capabilities on its island territory…
“Gen. Robert Brieger of Austria, the top EU military official, has said the group should deploy troops to Greenland… Brieger… wants the bloc to send in troops to beef up presence amid concerns that Trump will take swift action to gain control of the autonomous Danish region. The general, however, said the move is meant to send a ‘strong signal’ and serve as a deterrent against Russian and Chinese activity in the strategic location…
“Last year Denmark allocated $26 billion – when converted to USD – for its military spending. And now it wants to use more than $2 billion of that to be allocated to the Arctic…”
Europe Unites Against Trump
MSN wrote on January 27:
“The European Union (EU) renewed sanctions against Russia and agreed on a road map to lift some of those imposed on Syria. At an EU foreign ministers meeting on Monday, leaders also called for a unified approach to deal with US President Donald Trump and what analysts refer to as his ‘divide and rule policy.’
“The EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said as the US undertook a ‘transactional’ foreign policy, Europe needed to ‘close ranks.’ ‘We are stronger when we are united,’ she told reporters.”
Trump’s Wrong Numbers Regarding Canada
CTV News wrote on January 27:
“U.S. President Donald Trump has made various and repeated claims about his country’s trade relationship with Canada to justify his tariff threats… ‘It’s not fair that we should have a $200 billion or $250 billion deficit.’…
“The U.S. imports more Canadian goods than it exports north of the border. That difference is called a trade deficit. In 2023, the U.S. trade deficit with Canada was US$40.6 billion, according to research by the Centre for Future Work based on United States Census Bureau data. In 2024, the trade deficit is estimated to be around US $45 billion, according to TD Economics.
“In a report published online, TD noted it’s unclear where Trump got the $200 billion figure, which ‘is roughly four to five times the officially reported statistics.’ Those numbers are small relative to the roughly $1 trillion in goods and services that cross the border both ways each year. ‘Mr. Trump quite literally makes these numbers up and they can change from one day to the next, $100 billion, $200 billion, $300. It’s like a game show,’ said Jim Stanford, Economist and Director of the Centre for Future Work based in Vancouver…
“Crude oil makes up the majority of Canada’s exports to the U.S. If you remove it, that deficit becomes a surplus…”
Goliath’s Impressive Size
The Daily Mail wrote on January 26:
“… scientists say there was nothing supernatural about Goliath’s towering stature. Archaeologists have found the remains of other ‘giants’ dating back as far as 2700 BC – around the time of the biblical battle… these huge humans likely suffered from a rare genetic condition which caused them to grow to seemingly impossible sizes…
“The Bible says that his height is ‘six cubits and a span’ and that he wears bronze armour weighing ‘five thousand shekels’… Even though the measurement of six cubits and a span became standard translation, older versions of the Bible show a different measurement. For example, the Greek Septuagint, a translation of the Old Testament into Greek written between the first and third century BC, gives Goliath’s height as four cubits and a span…
“Archaeological investigations at Goliath’s home town suggest that his people used a cubit measuring 54cm (21.65 inches) and a span measuring. 22cm (8.66 inches).
That would make Goliath seven feet 10 inches (2.38m)…
“Clyde Billington, a biblical scholar and executive director of the Institute for Biblical Archaeology, told MailOnline: ‘The ancient cubit was the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. A span is the width of the hand, for example, like the way that the height of a horse is measured today. ‘This varied from individual to individual and only in Egypt was the cubit standardised at 20.66 inches (52.5 cm).’ Taking the Egyptian units, at six cubits and a span, Goliath would have measured… 10ft and 9 inches (3.28m).
“Even using the more accurate four cubits and a span measurement, this would still make Goliath about 7ft and 5 inches (2.26m). However, archaeologists now believe that the ancient Israelites would have used a different measurement system…
“In a paper published in 2014, Professor Morrison points out that the books of Samuel and Chronicles suggest that Goliath’s brother and his three sons were all gigantic in stature... This suggests that Goliath’s giantism was passed on genetically…”
For more information on biblical giants, please read part 4 of our free booklet, “Heavens and Earth… Before and After the First Man!”
The Tragedy of Aschaffenburg
Deutsche Welle wrote on January 28:
“The city of Aschaffenburg held a memorial service on Sunday for the victims of a knife attack in which two people were killed and three others were seriously injured. An Afghan asylum seeker who was due to be deported was arrested after the Wednesday attack, triggering renewed debate about immigration ahead of Germany’s national general election next month.
“The attacker targeted a group of children in a park, killing a 2-year-old Moroccan boy and a 41-year-old German man who was trying to protect the youngsters. He wounded three others, among them a Syrian girl aged two, who sustained neck wounds…
“In light of the incident, the conservative frontrunner to become chancellor after the February 23 election, Friedrich Mertz, promised a ‘fundamental’ overhaul of asylum rules and permanent border control. Merz’s CDU/CSU alliance currently leads in the polls with about 30% support while the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) is in second with 20%.”
The Bloodbath in Aschaffenburg
Bild Online wrote on January 23:
“Who is supposed to believe the Chancellor’s sudden determination?… The message: internal security is a top priority, now action is being taken.
“A few hours earlier, a 28-year-old Afghan had murdered two people in Aschaffenburg. He killed a 2-year-old child and an adult man with a kitchen knife. And as with so many terrible murders, it now turns out that the perpetrator should not be in Germany.
“Chancellor Olaf Scholz… is ‘sick’ of the acts of violence committed by immigrants. The authorities must… take immediate action. The Chancellor is only sick of it now? Only now must there be immediate action?…
“This is just a selection of knife murders that occurred during Scholz’s term in office:
“In 2022, a man from Eritrea attacked two girls in Illerkirchberg, one of whom died. In 2023, a Palestinian murdered two people in Brokstedt and seriously injured three others. In 2024, an Afghan stabbed a police officer in Mannheim. Shortly afterwards, a Syrian killed three people in Solingen and injured eight others. He too should have been deported by the authorities, but he remained in Germany.
“Wasn’t that enough to take immediate action?
‘It has been well known for years that Germany has no control over who comes into the country – and is not even close to deporting all migrants who are required to leave.
“In Olaf Scholz’s three years in government, Germany registered almost 800,000 asylum applications. This compares to around 50,000 deportations. More than half of all deportations fail… In 2023, around 40 percent of all suspects in violent crimes were non-German. The proportion was even higher for murder and manslaughter.
“For years, citizens in Germany have been fed up with people committing the worst acts of violence who shouldn’t even be in the country. Citizens have been demanding consequences for years from the authorities’ failure to deport people. Chancellor Scholz’s government had three years to ‘get fed up’ and ‘draw consequences’. Four weeks before the election, these announcements are no longer credible…
“The bloody crime in Aschaffenburg is tearing our country out of a typically German illusion: Our politicians are discussing Donald Trump. They are getting worked up about US domestic politics, about Elon Musk, ‘America first’ and about whether this Trump can simply deport Mexicans and close his borders… This shows that Germany’s politics are not just out of touch with the world, they are out of touch with their homeland…”
Report 24 wrote on January 25:
“The terrorist attack in Aschaffenburg shook all of Germany and was viewed with horror around the world. At first, people’s justified anger was directed not only against the perpetrator and the politicians who caused such conditions, but also against employees of the established media. First, the case of BR reporter Barbara Ecke was discussed, who described the murder of a two-year-old child as an ‘interesting’ and ‘exciting’ event in otherwise rather boring Aschaffenburg.
“But the Ukrainian BRISANT presenter Kamilla Senjo, a news format on ARD, went one step further: She explained that the park in which the knife attack took place was a ‘dangerous place’ and asked why people would go for a walk there with children…
“Everyone should weigh up and think through the meaning of these words for themselves very carefully. And ultimately also consider who is responsible for these conditions. Because 20, 30 years ago, anyone who questioned whether a park was a proper place for kindergarten children would have been put in a mental asylum…”
Uproar in Germany
Breitbart wrote on January 30:
“In what may serve as a pivotal moment of the federal election campaign and perhaps the future of German politics as a whole, the ‘firewall’ barring establishment parties in Berlin from working with the AfD broke down on Wednesday as Angela Merkel’s former party [under Friedrich Merz] partnered with the populist-sovereigntist party on a [non-binding] vote calling for migration restrictions…
“On Wednesday, both the Social Democrats (SPD, globalist left) and the Greens decided to vote against the motion. However, it narrowly passed by a margin of 348 votes to 344, with 187 CDU/CSU (Union) MPs, 75 AfD MPs, 80 MPs of the Free Democrats (FDP, liberalism), and six unaligned members. It marked the first time that a motion was passed with the help of the AfD since the party was founded…”
The Associated Press wrote on January 30:
“Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday issued rare public criticism of her successor as the country’s center-right leader, the front-runner in Germany’s election next month, for putting to parliament proposals for tough new migration rules that only passed with the help of the AfD. Germany’s center-left governing parties have cast doubt on whether conservative leader Friedrich Merz can still be trusted not to bring the… AfD, into government after Wednesday’s events. He insists that he didn’t and won’t work with it, and that he didn’t break a political consensus, often called a ‘firewall,’ to shun the party. But Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Merz made ‘an inexcusable mistake.’… [Scholz also said he cannot trust Merz anymore.]
“Merkel, a former leader of Merz’s Christian Democratic Union, noted in a rare statement that Merz had said in November that no measures should be passed with AfD’s support before the Feb. 23 election…
“Merz took over the CDU after Merkel, a former rival, stepped down as chancellor in 2021. A more conservative figure, he has taken a more restrictive stance on migration. He said last week that Germany has had a ‘misguided asylum and immigration policy’ for a decade — since Merkel allowed large numbers of migrants into the country… However, her intervention could be problematic for Merz. Merz appears to hope that he will gain support by making the Union look decisive in forcing a tougher approach to migration… It’s uncertain whether that will succeed…. This week’s events soured the political atmosphere and may complicate efforts to form a coalition after the election…”
In addition, the Catholic and the Protestant Churches in Germany criticized Merz for his asylum policy and took the side of Scholz and the Greens.
Murdered for Refusing to Serve in the Military
ntv wrote on January 26:
“On this Monday, the day of remembrance for the victims of National Socialism, Jehovah’s Witnesses remember 283 members of the religious community who were executed as conscientious objectors in the Second World War…
“According to the Sachsenhausen Memorial, Dickmann was shot on September 15, 1939, at the age of 29, in front of his brother and other fellow prisoners in the former concentration camp. Walter Appel was… executed without a trial at the age of 17. His father – also a Jehovah’s Witness – had already been beheaded in October 1941 in Brandenburg Penitentiary as a conscientious objector.
“‘The persecution of these courageous Christians is not just part of history. Even today, Jehovah’s Witnesses are the target of imprisonment and violence in countries such as Russia and Eritrea, simply because they practice their peaceful faith,’ explained [the spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses in northern Germany, Michael] Tsifidaris. He added: ‘January 27 not only reminds us of the atrocities of the past, but also of the need to defend human rights and freedom of belief – especially now that hate crimes and religious persecution are on the rise again here too.’
“In 1996, then Federal President Roman Herzog declared the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz extermination camp a day of remembrance in Germany. In June 2023, the Bundestag unanimously decided to erect a memorial for Jehovah’s Witnesses persecuted during the Nazi dictatorship.”
Sadly, religious persecution is indeed on the rise in Germany.
Acknowledgement and Disclaimer:
These Current Events are compiled and commented on by Norbert Link. We gratefully acknowledge the many contributions of news articles from our readership. The publication of articles in this section is not to be viewed as an endorsement or approval as to contents or accuracy of the selected articles, but they are published for the purpose of pointing at worldwide developments in the light of biblical end-time prophecy and godly instruction. Our own comments are provided in italics.