The editor in chief of Europe’s largest newsmagazine has written America’s obituary—quite literally. The title of Klaus Brinkbäumer’s new book is An Obituary for America: The End of a Friendship and the Future of the West.

In it, the Der Spiegel editor in chief reaches two surprising conclusions: America is dead, and Germany should be happy about it.

Spiegel Online published an article adapted from Brinkbäumer’s book under the title “Thank You, Donald! What Trump Means for Germany’s Future.”

The U.S., writes Brinkbäumer, is no longer a reliable partner. Therefore “we must emancipate ourselves.”

Perhaps something is lost in the translation from German, but “emancipate” is a strange word to use. Does Germany really believe that it has been enslaved or held captive by the United States and is now breaking free?

“The cracks in trans-Atlantic relations caused by Donald Trump’s election provide an opportunity for Germany to finally forge ahead with its own foreign policy,” writes Brinkbäumer.

He is not the only German to see it this way.

The breakdown in relations between Europe and Mr. Trump is an “extremely good opportunity, a wake-up call,” said Wolfgang Ischinger, the head of the Munich Security Conference.

German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said she initially greeted the election of Mr. Trump with “deep shock.”

“Today, von der Leyen doesn’t appear to be depressed in the least,” notes Brinkbäumer.

“Perhaps America had to pay the price for Europe to wake up and become resilient,” said von der Leyen. “Perhaps we should now shout, ‘Thanks, Donald!’”

The result must be a new Germany. “We will have to bid adieu to the soft, sheltered and, at times, sanctimonious foreign policy of the past,” writes Brinkbäumer. “One that allowed the country to hide behind its protector and take morally pure positions that were also sometimes pedantic and chiding. Those days are over. Germany must become more active and become a foreign-policy player ….”

Germany’s change of attitude must change all of Europe, he continues, writing, “Together with France, we need to pull Europe together into a single unit.”

Brinkbäumer acknowledges this is a tough job. Europe is fraught with “competing desires and directions that are far from being a unit, not to mention a super-state or a superpower.” However, “a strong Europe must nevertheless be the goal.”

Brinkbäumer writes that Europe must also look to China, stating that Trump is erratic, but “[d]espite all its shortcomings, China is predictable.”

“Donald Trump builds walls; Xi Jinping builds bridges,” he writes. “One wants to limit relations with other countries and claims that trade wars are ‘good and easy to win’ …. The other is establishing a network around the world.”

“All of this raises a question: Does a non-democratic China make a better partner for a democratically minded Europe than an America whose democratic foundations have been shaken?” he asks. “No, not fundamentally. But certainly on select points, with individual issues. If saying goodbye to America as a ‘best friend’ must be followed by greater self-reliance—and it must—then that also means seeking out those partners for climate policy and other multinational issues who are required to push through that which we hold to be right.”

To summarize Brinkbäumer’s views: Donald Trump is a terrible individual and is destroying the United States. Germany should actually be happy about this. And as Germany pulls away from the Americans, it should draw closer to the Chinese.

This seems a shocking position for Germany to take. After defeating the Nazi regime, America helped rebuild the nation after World War ii. It has been protecting Germany under America’s nuclear umbrella for seven decades. American soldiers protected Europe from Soviet Russia. The U.S. Navy dominated the oceans, allowing international trade to flourish—something Germany has taken full advantage of. Of course, America had some self-interested motives for doing this. But Germany was still one of the major beneficiaries.

Now Germany leads the world in criticism of Donald Trump. Germany’s public broadcaster has the most negative coverage of America’s president of any broadcaster anywhere, according to one study.

The Renew Democracy Initiative was founded in 2017 by Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, Gary Kasparov, Anne Applebaum, Max Boot, Bret Stephens, Richard Hurowitz and others.

“The starting point of this initiative was the election of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency,” said Guttenberg. He sees Mr. Trump as part of “the resurgence of authoritarian and extremist ideology in Western democracies.”

At the same time, his compatriots celebrate America’s destruction.

It may seem shocking, but the Trumpet has been forecasting this for years.

“Most Americans don’t realize how violently our allies are condemning our foreign policy,” wrote Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry in 2014. “They are too absorbed and distracted with sports, entertainment and domestic issues to be interested.

“But this is something everyone should be concerned about. What makes the German-American split especially important is this: It is exactly what biblical prophecy told us would happen!”

In his article, Mr. Flurry went through a Bible prophecy in Ezekiel 23 that forecasts Britain and America will draw close to their “lovers,” or allies, only to be betrayed by them. He continued:

Has America been Germany’s lover? Since World War ii, the U.S. has snuggled up to Germany. It has actually done a lot to help Germany become the number one power in Europe! In 2000, Germans recognized President Bill Clinton by giving him the Charlemagne Prize, one of the most prestigious awards in Germany. In 2009, America’s ambassador to Germany called the Washington-Berlin partnership “the most important relationship of the past 60 years.” For many years now, America has been encouraging Germany to take on a stronger global leadership role and even to strengthen its military might. …

Verses 9-10 show what will become of America and Britain because of this tryst. It says the Germans “‘slew her with the sword” and “executed judgment upon her”! This relationship ends with a massive double cross that brings these nations down!

That is where this is leading! This is just one of dozens of prophecies showing how Germany is going to turn once again into the worst enemy of these nations in the end time.

Germany was prophesied to break away from America, and it is happening before our eyes. But the animosity we see today is only the smallest beginning!

The situation is far worse today, and it is only going to worsen.

The Bible even prophesied of Germany’s shift toward China—a trend you can read about in our article “Trade Wars Have Begun.”

By just about any rational measure, Germany’s hostility to Mr. Trump and America is shocking. But it fits exactly with what the Bible forecasts. To understand more about where this relationship is heading, read Mr. Flurry’s article “The Significance of Germany’s Break From America.”

This article warned of the events coming in the years ahead. But it also showed that “[i]f you follow the prophecies to their conclusion, you recognize that all of this is going to end with the most wonderful civilization on Earth you could even dream of!” Mr. Flurry concluded: “The fulfillment of these end-time events shows that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is very near. But there is going to be some catastrophic suffering first! All of us should take heed to God’s warning.”