President Donald Trump has accomplished some extraordinary, admirable things. He has showed steely courage in resisting very evil forces in America. In fact, God has used this man to give the country some relief from these destructive influences. I have praised President Trump over the years for these courageous actions.

At the same time, President Trump has made some serious mistakes, and I have pointed these out as well. This is part of my responsibility to warn.

Most of these mistakes revolve around one issue: peace. President Trump has done a lot of great things for America. But he has a serious blind spot when it comes to peace negotiation and international diplomacy.

This is a deadly weakness—one that, if he does not turn it around, will destroy the United States.

“My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier,” President Trump said in his inaugural speech. “That’s what I want to be.” His push for peace in the Middle East and Ukraine shows that these are not empty words.

To his credit, he has the courage and audacity to take on man’s greatest and most urgent problem: human survival. If we cannot bring peace to the world, we will destroy ourselves with the weapons of mass destruction we have.

Peace is a noble goal, but if it is pursued the wrong way, that effort ends up achieving the opposite!

Peace With Putin?

On July 31, 2015, candidate Trump said publicly, “I think I would just get along very well with Vladimir Putin.” He repeated this several times throughout his campaign.

At the time, I was deeply disturbed by those comments.

“The closer our president and our nation gets to Putin, the further it gets from what is good and what is right—the further it gets from God!” I warned in 2017. “That is deadly dangerous! Putin will stay true to his character and prey on President Trump and America as he has preyed on others. And we will deserve it for having cozied up with him.”

Since his reelection, Trump has made similar comments about Putin. After talking on the phone to the Russian president for 90 minutes, he said, “I think he wants peace. I think he would tell me if he didn’t. … I trust him on this subject.”

Does Putin—a man who has repeatedly invaded former Soviet countries—really want peace?

Since that call, President Trump has repeated Russian lies about the Ukraine war, accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of starting the war, and of being a dictator. I am not defending Zelenskyy. There is evidence he has been involved in Biden family corruption; if he is, he should be brought to justice. But comparing Putin and Zelenskyy, who is the dictator?

On February 28, it looked like Mr. Trump’s views may have been changing. He invited Zelenskyy to Washington to sign a mineral rights agreement. Under the deal, Ukraine would sign over billions of dollars’ worth of mineral rights to the United States. This would have given the U.S. a presence in eastern Ukraine against Russia, and much of the money made from those minerals would have been reinvested into Ukraine for reconstruction. The agreement was supposed to be a foundational prelude to a larger peace settlement with Russia.

Yet in an Oval Office meeting, Zelenskyy accused Trump of underestimating the Russian threat and leaving Ukraine vulnerable to further attack. Trump accused Zelenskyy of being disrespectful and ungrateful to Ukraine’s largest patron. Zelenskyy was escorted out and no deal was signed. Zelenskyy was disrespectful, but he was correct that Vladimir Putin only keeps his end of the bargain when pressured by superior force. It appears President Trump and many in his administration do not see this as clearly as they should.

The current ceasefire plan also does nothing to hold Russia accountable for its crimes. Instead, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Saudi Arabia on how to restart economic cooperation once the war concludes.

The Russo-Ukrainian War is showing the world the scale of evil Putin is willing to commit. Russia is inflicting terrible atrocities against Ukrainians. It is deliberately bombing civilian structures, including apartment buildings, hospitals and schools. It is laying mines in areas it retreats from, putting innocent lives at risk. It has forcibly taken at least 20,000 Ukrainian children to Russia and is paying Russian families to adopt and “reeducate” them, a crime that international law labels as genocide. The European Union’s justice commissioner says that 65,000 suspected war crimes—violations of international law—have been reported since Russia launched its invasion. Most of the world can recognize the wickedness of such acts.

This is all being directed by Vladimir Putin. This man has been working to rebuild the Soviet empire for years, including taking over territory from former Soviet states. But in Ukraine, he is encountering real resistance for the first time, and he is showing himself willing to keep escalating the brutality to achieve his goals.

One Russian journalist called Putin “a supersize model of the kgb.” Putin has supplied enormous support to the suicidal religious extremist regime ruling Iran, including its nuclear weapons program. In Chechnya, an Islamic separatist region of Russia, Putin lashed out in warfare that killed more than 80,000 of his own people! He has crushed Russia’s independent media and taken control of it, including allegedly ordering the murder of dozens of journalists. He is also widely considered responsible for the 2004 poisoning of Ukraine’s opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko.

Putin is an evil, ruthless, vindictive agent with Soviet-style methods of psychological warfare, assassination and war. He has disgusting and devastating policies that are sick to the core and even satanic!

I have been saying for years that Putin fills a critical role in Bible prophecy. Read about this in my free booklet The Prophesied ‘Prince of Russia.’ Prophecy shows that when men like Putin rise, the world is entering a dangerous time!

We all must recognize this reality. Yet most people don’t believe God and fail to see clearly the evil that human beings are capable of.

Trump believes he can negotiate with Putin, giving him sections of Ukraine and expecting this to pacify him. That reveals a total lack of comprehension of the man he is dealing with.

President Trump called Putin a man he “got along really well with.” Is that true? Is that wise? Should anyone get along with an evil man like the prince of Russia?

Can God get along with the devil?

Peace in the Middle East?

Another misguided attempt at peace in Mr. Trump’s first term was the so-called Abraham Accords.

In late 2020, the Jewish state of Israel forged peace agreements with three Arab states—the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan. At the time I wrote, “We all want peace. But sadly, these recent peace pacts have a deadly flaw.”

In striking the deal with the U.A.E., Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referenced Psalm 29:11: “… the Lord will bless his people with peace.” I wrote, “The question is, are these world leaders seeking peace God’s way? Mr. Trump and Mr. Netanyahu are talking about Abraham, but they are not talking about what Abraham did and how he lived!” (Trumpet, January 2021).

Abraham was so faithful and obedient, he was willing to sacrifice his and his wife’s only son, Isaac, because God commanded it. Abraham placed his entire trust and confidence in God. For this he is described as the father of the faithful (Romans 4:19-22). To have true peace, we need the faith of Abraham.

In your own life, if you emulate Abraham’s example and follow his faith, you can have peace and hope that is a million times greater than any deals being worked on in the Middle East.

Having peaceful relations with other nations is a good goal to pursue, but not at the expense of trusting in God for protection.

Sadly, Mr. Trump has continued to bring a flawed approach to peacemaking in the Middle East. Even before taking office, he pushed Israel into signing a deal with Hamas, releasing hundreds of terrorists and murderers in exchange for hostages. This deal gives an illusion of peace while undermining real peace!

The way the president pressured Netanyahu into accepting a ceasefire deal with Hamas was shameful (“President Trump Betrayed Israel”). He is determined to prove he can end the war. But there are times when threats arise that must be fought against. To negotiate your way to a solution is to make a deal with the devil!

The way he dealt with Hamas was, just like with Putin, dealing with the devil. This type of “peace” is not of God’s doing. It is a monumental mistake!

It seems President Trump is realizing what a mistake that was. He has since given Netanyahu the freedom to abandon the ceasefire and resume its war on Hamas. On March 5 he posted, “I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job; not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don’t do as I say.” We will see what happens. If Israel wants to survive, it must win that war!

At the same time, President Trump also says he wants to do a deal with Iran over its nuclear program. If he does, that will be yet another deal with the devil! Any deal will expand Iran’s ability to spread its evil terror across the Middle East. It threatens to unleash more “October 7” massacres (sidebar).

Empowering Germany

Amid these peace efforts, President Trump says he wants to scale back America’s presence in Europe. He is pushing nato nations, especially Germany, to take more responsibility for defending Europe and the world.

He is being more aggressive about it now, but this was his message for Europe throughout his first term as well: You must step up militarily. He complained that America was paying too much for nato and that Europe wasn’t pulling its weight. Combine that nato spending with the defense spending of EU nations, and Trump was advocating nothing short of a military transformation in Europe!

Now he is going even further, insisting that nato countries spend 5 percent of their gross domestic product on defense. If EU nations do this, they would be spending around $1.1 trillion on their military—far more than the U.S. does!

At the same time, President Trump has broached making a deal with Russia and China in which all three nations cut defense spending in half. If both of these plans are enacted, Europe would become the world’s dominant military superpower!

Russia and China are not going to cut military spending. But Europe is already responding to Trump’s decisions with urgent calls for military build-up! (“Up in Arms”). And the U.S. is fine with that.

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on February 14, Vice President JD Vance said, “[T]he threat that I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia, it’s not China, it’s not any other external actor. What I worry about is the threat from within. The retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values: values shared with the United States of America.”

ATTA KENARE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Vance is right to worry. He was right about much of his criticism of Europe. But then Vance told Europe’s leaders, “I fundamentally believe that we are on the same team.”

Is it true that Europe and America are on the same team?

Europe’s representatives hated Vance’s speech. But they loved the speech by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, full of platitudes about the EU and China being “partners, not rivals.” Deutsche Welle noted that Wang “used a more accommodating and reconciliatory tone to address Europeans.” So Europeans are willing to look past the fact that China has 2 million of its own citizens in concentration camps, spies intensively on its own citizens, and forbids free speech. China doesn’t criticize the EU, so Europeans will overlook the problems and build their relations.

The truth is, the Europeans are fundamentally not on the same team as America! Europeans are siding with China and actively working against American interests. Does it make sense for the Trump administration to be encouraging a massive European arms buildup?

Prophecy shows that America’s efforts will backfire spectacularly. The superpower prophesied to destroy and dethrone America and supplant it as the world’s dominate superpower is a German-led European alliance!

A World of Beasts

We are entering dangerous times. The Prophet Daniel prophesied about these “times of the Gentiles.” God inspired Daniel to write a book of prophecy that is intended to be understood only in this end time (Daniel 12:4, 8-9). This is critical to understand. He revealed to Daniel which Gentile powers would rise to dominate the known world—all the way from his time until Jesus Christ’s Second Coming. And He revealed amazing details about the leaders of these empires.

Daniel made intriguing, astonishing statements about these mighty leaders. Think deeply about these statements! God tells us that these mighty military-political leaders have the minds of wild beasts!

Daniel said, “Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible” (Daniel 2:31). Daniel 7:7 describes the same power as being “dreadful and terrible.” Yes, these great world-ruling empires are terrifying! They think, speak and act like hungry beasts of prey to weaken nations. They enslave, kill and shock the world with their grotesque deeds!

The leaders of these great powers no longer had the minds of human beings. They had the hearts of wild, raving beasts! That is why these empires are called beasts: They were ruled by men who took on the mind of a beast!

There is a crucial spiritual dimension to their transformation. These men who became so brutal had given themselves over to an evil spirit. Such beastly thinking is inspired by Satan the devil!

A Worldwide Church of God publication, The Holy Roman Empire, said the beast power was like a wild animal. That is an attempt to water down the truth! A rabbit is a “wild animal”! This is a terrible beast!

These dreadful beasts conquer and enslave entire nations. That is what these beasts do. But modern America likes to think of them as harmless wild animals. Our Israelite nations think like that because of their broken wills. They fear to face the extremely unpleasant truth. It is only a matter of time until they wake up to the harsh reality. These beasts only go away when they themselves are conquered.

President Trump does not see these powers for the beasts they are. This is a deadly weakness. The beast power rising up in Europe right now will destroy the United States!

How Do We Survive?

Donald Trump is authoring some dangerous foreign-policy failures. But one effort that could be a notable success is his push to regain control of the Panama Canal. This vital strategic asset would help secure the United States.

Giving America the Panama Canal is one of the best blessings God bestowed on America. The canal has served the world for over a century. It was a great gift from God through an outstanding leader, Theodore Roosevelt, because he feared God. God rewarded us because of that fear in one man!

“This is at the heart of everything,” I wrote in our March Trumpet issue. “If America wants to gain the Panama Canal back, we must fear God. We must show God we fear Him—not just say we do or act like we do, but truly show that fear by obeying Him and enlisting His help!” (“How America Won and Lost the Panama Canal”).

This is the lesson Donald Trump needs to learn. America has departed from God today, both Republican and Democrat. God says if we want to be great, we will be great only by fearing and obeying Him.

That article shows how America’s construction of that canal is the fulfillment of a prophecy God gave to Abraham. We should look into the Bible and be led by Abraham’s example of faith. He looked to God for deliverance like few other men ever have. God would give our nations the victory today—He would give us peace and security—if we just followed Abraham’s example.

God hasn’t changed since the days of Abraham. He will reward Abraham-level faith in a nation or an individual. The only way to permanent peace, collectively and individually, is to follow the faith of Abraham and trust God.

“President Trump will soon recover his presidency,” I forecast in my book America Under Attack. I wrote that: “When that happens, Americans will be down to their last time to repent.”

“Right now, there is a great focus on whether Donald Trump will return to office,” I wrote. “Prophecy shows that he will. The bigger issue is what will happen after Trump regains power. He will stop the blotting out of the name of Israel. But this nation is very far from God! And Jeroboam and everyone else need a powerful warning and a call to repentance. …

“President Trump’s return will ‘save America’ briefly. But he will have to hear God’s message and realize that God saved America through him—and that he and this nation must repent, believe and obey. If the American people do not repent and turn back to God during Trump’s second term, then God will allow America to become ‘desolate’ and ‘laid waste.’”

President Trump is correct that America’s finances are unsustainable. He is right to worry about world peace. But negotiating with “beasts” is not the way to peace. Only God can save us from the storm that is building.

God says about mankind: “The way of peace they know not …” (Isaiah 59:8). For mankind’s entire tragic history, we have proved that we do not know the way of peace! Only God does!

The outcome of our misguided peace efforts is always the same: God prophesies that “the ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly” (Isaiah 33:7). That is a blanket statement—all ambassadors for peace! Bible prophecy reveals that very soon, we will finally experience world peace, prosperity and joy! But world peace will not come by human effort. It requires us to humble ourselves, repent and submit to God. Only by relying on Him can we protect this nation and have peace. If we do not, the beast powers will attack. But God has a plan to teach us this lesson and bring peace. It will be enforced at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.