Will Donald Trump Make Germany Great Again?

German ‘Bundeswehr’ army soldiers pictured at the training ground during the preparations of the ‘Landoperationen 2017’ military exercise in Munster, Germany, (Philipp Schulze/picture alliance via Getty Images)

 

The U.S. president wants Germany to be the world’s third-largest military spender.

United States President Donald Trump agrees a lot with the Trumpet when it comes to world news. Certainly not always. But consider his recent trip to Europe.

He warned that Germany was too close to Russia. Last year we called that alliance “The Russian Alliance You Really Have to Worry About.” He said that Europe is attacking America on trade. Ten years ago, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry warned that Europe was waging “a quiet but concerted war on American commerce.” President Trump complains that the U.S. spends billions defending Europe. In the 1950s, Herbert W. Armstrong warned that “in spending unprecedented billions of your dollars and mine—tax dollars—preparing Germany and Europe for defense,” America was making a huge mistake.

A few weeks ago, someone wrote in to ask me why I’m so pro-Trump. This is not about being pro-Trump or anti-Trump. We are saying what we have always said—he just happens to be saying it too.

So there was a lot to like about his Europe trip. But there is also a major danger.

Donald Trump’s Europe trip could be a milestone in making Germany great again, and in turning Germany against America.

Germany to Be a Bigger Military Power Than Russia

Caption: Bundeswehr soldiers (CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP/Getty Images)

 

Even a modest boost to German defense spending means radical changes to the world order.

Germany will boost the size of its military to nearly 200,000, hiring an additional 20,000 soldiers by 2024, Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen announced on February 21.

Germany had already announced plans to increase its army to 193,000 by 2023, so this is merely an incremental increase compared to earlier plans. However, it does confirm the radical change in direction for Germany. Its army had shrunk to a low of 166,500 last June and has only just begun turning around. Now, each new announcement about the German military is an increase.

War With Russia Looms, Says Former NATO General in New Book

Russian warships sail past exploding anti-missile ordnance during a rehearsal for the Navy Day parade in the far eastern port of Vladivostok, Russia, July 30. Yuri Maltsev/Reuters

 

The first female president of the United States faces her first major international conflict: Seeking to consolidate the Slavic nations of Eastern Europe, Russia has seized the three Baltic states—Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia—all members of NATO. That requires a response beyond just a caustic tweet or sharply worded press release. For the first time since the Cuban missile crisis, there is serious talk of nuclear war.

China Completes Island Construction, Will Now Build Military Facilities

 

“I’m an amateur student of history and I’m reminded of … how Germany was testing the waters and what the response was by various other European powers… But unfortunately, up to the annexation of the Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia, the annexation of the entire country of Czechoslovakia, nobody said stop. If somebody said stop to Hitler at that point in time, or to Germany at that time, would we have avoided World War II.”

That piece of revisionist history is brought to you by Benigno Aquino and is excerpted from a speech the Philippine President gave to the Japanese parliament earlier this month.