Germany and the European continent must not wait for Donald Trump to take office on January 20, according to former German Defense and Economics Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg. The time to prepare appropriate economic and security policies is now. “Waiting is basically the stupidest thing you can do in a situation like this,” Guttenberg warned in his podcast on November 13.

In a parliamentary discussion on Wednesday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Berlin’s answer to United States President-elect Trump’s “America first” agenda should be “Europe united.” Guttenberg gets much more specific on what a united Europe in the era of Trump should look like. He noted:

[Trump] has his obsessions, including pursuing international policy in the interests of the U.S.A., trade policy with punitive tariffs, but also export controls and similar measures. You can prepare for these things. We can also prepare for the security policy consequences, even if we don’t know exactly where the journey will take us. At least you have to think in terms of scenarios. …

[Trump’s] personnel appointments could lead to a constellation in which the relationship with the U.S.A. becomes much more difficult. And he will surround himself with loyalists, he has already made that very clear. … Some of them are extremely well-educated people. Whether they suit us ideologically is another question. But he is far better prepared and far better staffed than he was [in 2017].

Concerning the need to prepare for tough trade negotiations, Guttenberg said:

What we need, is basically a small suitcase that you travel with and open and in which the weapons that come from us are visible. … Whether it will ultimately serve our interests to slide into a full-scale trade war is another question. But we must be able to show our instruments and our weapons. And that includes being able to react.

From a German perspective, there has been a blatant lack of action here. I must now defend the [European Union], as we have not often done here in our discussions. The European Commission has actually been preparing for this scenario for the past year. And they have already developed potential tariffs on numerous American products, for certain products that they are not yet saying openly, because they say we must also be able to act and we must ultimately also be able to surprise.

Listening to the rhetoric, one almost gets the impression that Europe is bracing not only for a trade war but also for a hot war with the United States. Concerning Trump’s threat to impose sanctions, Guttenberg said:

The thing that naturally exerts the most force against the U.S.A. is not when all the nation states act individually and allow themselves to be played off by someone who can play it off, but when a market of 450 million people confronts a Donald Trump with all the power and force that this market knows how to exert.

While Guttenberg primarily talked about trade relations, his statements sound similar to those of French President Emmanuel Macron who called for a “true European army” to protect Europe “with respect to China, Russia and even the United States of America.”

A united Europe could indeed unleash a dangerous amount of force, and Guttenberg believes that the time to harness this power is now. “Europe can no longer lethargically lie down on its lazy skin, but must finally take action. And that applies to Germany in particular,” he stated. For years, Guttenberg has advocated that Germany invest more militarily to prepare for this future. He even criticized Germany’s additional €100 billion fund as too little.

For long-time readers of the Trumpet and its predecessor, the Plain Truth, the developments in Europe today are stunning, yet very much expected.

In the decades after World War ii, the late Herbert W. Armstrong warned about the economic and military power of a united Europe led by Germany. As our booklet He Was Right explains, Mr. Armstrong based his forecast on Bible prophecy while the rest of the world hoped that Germany had given up its ambition to rule Europe.

His magazine, the Plain Truth, stated in September 1967:

[I]f 300 million Europeans [now 450 million] were united and could speak with one voice, this would excel any might in the world today …. [There is] one thing you can count on. In fact it is so sure you can bank on it: The cry of a political union in Europe will get louder and before long we will see the Common Market develop into a United States of Europe.

In the November-December 1954 issue, Mr. Armstrong wrote: “Germany inevitably [will] emerge as the leader of a united Europe. … All Europe is actually ready—just waiting for the confidence-inspiring leader.”

Europe is still waiting for this leader, and now more than ever, the stage for his appearance is set. Our booklet He Was Right highlights Mr. Armstrong’s remarkable Bible-based forecasts and shows from the Bible where these prophecies are leading.