Europe’s leaders woke up January 16 to Donald Trump’s stunning primary election victory in Iowa. Many were not pleased.

“If 2024 brings us America First again, it will be more than ever Europe on its own,” warned Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, who currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Council. “We should, as Europeans, not fear that prospect. We should embrace it by putting Europe on a more solid footing, stronger, more sovereign, more self-reliant.”

“Former President Trump’s victory in the U.S. primary in Iowa has set alarm bells ringing in Germany,” Tagesschau wrote on January 16. “Several parties are calling on the German government to prepare for a possible return of the Republican to the White House.”

Politico headlined: “As Trump’s Return Looms, Europe Shivers at Prospect of Facing Putin Alone.”

After a senior European diplomat claimed that Trump in 2020 said the U.S. would “never” come to Europe’s aid if it were attacked, cnn wrote on January 14: “Former U.S. President Donald Trump briefly returned as a central character in European politics ….” After Iowa, Trump is now fixed on everyone’s mind.

The Trumpet sees significance in the intensification of this European awakening occurring on January 16, a day we have long watched (read our booklet January 16: God’s Miracle Day). In 2024, we will likely see a dramatic acceleration of Europe’s quest toward independence. This may be one of the most important events to watch this year.

An Independent Nuclear Europe

“But there is one European leader who might secretly be hoping for another Trump presidency—and that’s [French President Emmanuel] Macron,” the Spectator wrote January 19. “Ever since he came to power, Macron has dreamed of closer EU integration, of France being absorbed into a United States of Europe. … A Trump victory in November would hasten Macron’s ambition for a United States of Europe. So reviled is Trump by the European elite that they would regard a ‘disengagement’ from his America as a merciful release.”

At the World Economic Forum that began the same day Trump gained his victory, President Macron described 2024 as a “watershed moment” for Europe, when the EU “will be in a position to decide if we want to be sovereign or not.”

A “sovereign Europe” has huge implications for its strongest country, Germany. That country is currently experiencing a restive public and a significant swing toward seeking greater power, even if it means more independence from America.

Former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer told Augsburger Zeitung on January 19:

We must recognize the signs of the times: Trump is a security risk for us; war is raging in Ukraine and in the Middle East. We can’t just rely on the good in people; that won’t work. There were good reasons why the Germans became pacifists, don’t get me wrong. But the times have changed so radically that it would be criminal if we didn’t adapt to them.

He is saying Trump is a reason for Germany to abandon its pacifism.

“The fear of another Donald Trump presidency is already hitting Berlin,” the Swiss Neue Zürcher Zeitung wrote on January 17. The title of the article: “A Separate Nuclear Umbrella for Europe? The Prospect of a Trump Victory Is Spurring a New Debate Over Nuclear Weapons.”

Earlier, Fischer, political scientist Herfried Münkler, military expert Carlo Masala and others called on Europe to get its own nuclear arsenal.

Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Italy have access to American nuclear bombs, and they are preparing to use them. France and the United Kingdom have their own. But for many, this is not enough. The prospect of a second Trump administration is being used as a pretext for developing a nuclear independent Europe.

When have we ever seen European leaders so up in arms over the prospect of a change in America’s administration? And this is a return to an administration that governed for four years without any wars.

On Nov. 14, 2023, former Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg warned that Germany is not prepared for the possibility that “the blond bully may once again be taking the reins into his hands.” He urged German politicians to “start dealing with the U.S. Republicans again now and not wait until they stand there in shock and say: ‘This guy has won again!’”

In conversation with Augsburger Allgemeine, Guttenberg echoed his warning this month, stating that a Trump victory “would be a further threat to and potential undermining of the aging model of the West—with sociopolitical, security-related and economic consequences.”

Guttenberg, who has lived for years in the United States, has warned Europe since 2016 about Donald Trump. Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry noted Guttenberg’s fierce criticism in 2017, writing:

He is talking about a man who got over 60 million votes. Is he just criticizing one man? I believe what he is saying says a lot about his attitude toward America. …

Listening to Mr. Guttenberg and the way people are responding to him, I have to say that it looks like the relationship between the U.S. and Germany is already dead!

Today, Donald Trump is perhaps more popular than ever in America. This shows that Europe’s criticisms against him are part of a much wider deepening divide.

Europe lost its independence after World War ii. To get it back, Germany needs to be fully rehabilitated and free of restrictions. Is our world prepared for an independent nuclear Europe? Are we prepared to leave Europe and the world’s security in Germany’s hands?

Europe has seen the bloodiest conflicts in history. For centuries it has sought nothing less than world dominion. Today, Europe claims to have abandoned its former dictatorial, warlike ways—but why then is it stoking hatred toward the greatest democracy on Earth?

Learning From History

The last European leader who successfully positioned himself against the restraints imposed by the West was Adolf Hitler. But many today think Hitler was an anomaly in history. In fact, he revived the historic spirit of past leaders. He followed the tradition of Charlemagne, Otto the Great, the Habsburgs and Napoleon—men who used wars to expand their goal of world dominion. In 1938, Hitler brought the Imperial Regalia of the Holy Roman Empire—the imperial crown, the orb of empire, the scepter and the imperial sword—from Vienna to Nuremberg where he swore to keep them forever.

This history is crucially important if you understand it in the context of Bible prophecy. As the late Herbert W. Armstrong explained, Revelation 17 depicts Adolf Hitler’s regime as the sixth resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire. The prophecy reads: “And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space” (verse 10).

This is the history of the Holy Roman Empire in a nutshell. But it specifically shows that this empire will rise one more time, and at the head of the empire will be one “king,” or authoritarian leader. The prophecy is incredibly specific: It shows that this last resurrection will have “ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast (verse 12).

Mr. Armstrong saw the “one is”—Adolf Hitler—and prophesied about the one that is “not yet come” and the “ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet.” In 1983, Mr. Armstrong wrote: “For 50 years I have been crying out to the world the Bible prophecies of this coming ‘United States of Europe’—a new united superpower perhaps more powerful than either the Soviet Union or the United States!”

Based on the Bible’s prophecies and Mr. Armstrong’s forecast, Mr. Flurry has repeatedly warned of the rise of a stronger, more unified European empire. He has also pointed to one man who will most likely lead this empire. I encourage you to read “Watch This Man Closely” from the February issue of the Trumpet for a detailed explanation.