President Donald Trump arrived in France on Monday for the Group of Seven (G7) summit, where he is expected to hold a series of high-profile meetings against the backdrop of a newly announced agreement with Iran, an Ebola outbreak, ongoing fighting in Ukraine, and renewed disputes with several European allies.
Shortly before his first meeting, Trump signaled tensions with some members, posting a sharp critique of some European countries’ immigration policies. 
&#8220;Sadly, if you import people from Third World Countries, you quickly become a Third World Country — And there&#8217;s not a thing you can do about it. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!&#8221; Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116754288530173924">wrote</a>.
Trump has frequently criticized several European governments over mass migration and border security, including G7 members France and the United Kingdom. 
Trump&#8217;s first major bilateral meeting will be with French President Emmanuel Macron Monday before joining fellow G7 leaders for the summit&#8217;s opening events in Evian-les-Bains, a resort spa town on the shores of Lake Geneva near the Swiss border.
Over the next three days, Trump is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with Macron, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 
Trump will also join fellow G7 leaders and invited guests, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, for a series of working sessions focused on Ukraine, the Middle East, economic development, and global trade before concluding the trip on Wednesday.
The summit comes at a pivotal moment for the international community, with Trump announcing that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Iran has been reached and Vice President JD Vance announcing he will attend a signing ceremony in Switzerland on Friday. In a phone interview with Fox News, Vance said President Trump may also make an appearance, pending logistical planning.
&#8220;I certainly plan to be there. It&#8217;s possible the president himself could be there,&#8221; Vance said. &#8220;We got a lot of work to do, but a very big win for the American people tonight.&#8221;
On Sunday evening, Trump announced that negotiators had finalized a long-sought agreement with Iran that would allow for the immediate reopening of the critical shipping lane.
&#8220;The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete. Congratulations to all!&#8221; Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The precise terms of the agreement remain unclear, particularly regarding Iran&#8217;s nuclear program. According to The New York Times, Trump suggested in an interview on Sunday that he could accept a deal under which Iran suspends uranium enrichment for 15 years.
Such a provision would mark a significant shift from the administration&#8217;s previously stated position. As recently as April 8, Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116368825638596650">declared</a> on Truth Social that there would be &#8220;no enrichment of Uranium.”
The fallout from the Iran conflict and the newly announced agreement with Tehran is likely to loom large over discussions at the G7, particularly after tensions flared between Trump and several member states that declined his calls to participate in efforts to secure the Strait of Hormuz and instead criticized the U.S. military operation.
Trump publicly expressed frustration with the United Kingdom for its reluctance to become involved, blasted France after officials criticized the strikes, said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni lacked courage, and lashed out at German Chancellor Friedrich Merz after the German leader suggested Iran had “humiliated” the United States.
“The Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about!” Trump wrote on Truth <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/116483733181582907">Social</a>.
Following the dispute, Trump announced the withdrawal of thousands of U.S. troops from Germany, though part of that move was later offset by deployments to Poland.
France, which holds the current G7 presidency, is seeking areas of cooperation to cool tensions. According to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2026/06/14/trump-g7-iran-ukraine-ebola-00960717?utm_content=politico/magazine/Politics&amp;utm_source=flipboard">Politico</a>, Macron plans to pursue consensus on critical mineral supply chains, cancer research, child online safety, international development, social impact investing, and efforts to reduce investment risks in developing nations.
The war in Ukraine will also be a central focus of the summit. Zelensky is expected to attend as Kyiv is making notable territorial gains against Russia, but is seeking more U.S. missiles.
Here&#8217;s a look at Trump&#8217;s public schedule for the three-day summit:
(Times listed in Eastern Time)
Monday, June 15
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">11:30 a.m. — Bilateral meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">1:00 p.m. — Official greeting with G7 leaders</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">1:30 p.m. — G7 leaders&#8217; working dinner</li>
</ul>
Tuesday, June 16
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">3:00 a.m. — Working session with G7 leaders and Ukraine</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">4:30 a.m. — Bilateral meeting with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">5:15 a.m. — Bilateral meeting with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">6:00 a.m. — Working lunch with G7 leaders and the Middle East</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">9:00 a.m. — Working session with G7 leaders and developing countries</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">1:15 p.m. — Cultural performance and concert</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">2:15 p.m. — G7 leaders&#8217; social dinner</li>
</ul>
Wednesday, June 17
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">3:30 a.m. — Working session with G7 leaders and developing countries</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">5:30 a.m. — Bilateral meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">6:30 a.m. — Working lunch with G7 leaders, developing countries, and global technology CEOs</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">8:45 a.m. — Bilateral meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">9:30 a.m. — Press conference</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">1:00 p.m. — Bilateral dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palace of Versailles</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">TBD — Departure from France for Washington, D.C.</li>
</ul>
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<div>Trump arrived in Europe accompanied by a large delegation of senior administration officials and advisers. According to the White House, those traveling aboard Air Force One included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, Counselor to the President Alina Habba, and several other top aides involved in foreign policy, trade, and economic negotiations.</div>
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TOPSHOT-FRANCE-G7-SUMMIT

Trump To Confront Divided West In G7 Showdown

Trump's G7 Agenda: Iran, Ukraine, And A Divided West

Donald Trump

France

Germany

Iran

Italy

United Kingdom

France and Germany’s $116 billion attempt to build their own fighter jet to replace their current models has officially been scrapped.
The fighter plane segment of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) project created in 2017 dedicated $116 billion to build sixth-generation jets to use in battle by 2040. 
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz declared that the project was no longer feasible after months of stalemate between Dassault Aviation and Airbus, France&#8217;s and Germany’s industry partners respectively.
“The German authorities considered that it was not possible to put further pressure on the companies concerned,” Macron’s office, the Élysée Palace, explained in a statement.
The proposed fighter planes were supposed to combine advanced sensors, artificial intelligence, enhanced stealth technology, and other upgrades to use them for future air combat.
Signs of the potential flaming out were seen earlier this year. European Union Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius admitted that the plan was a “failure” and that Europe has struggled in &#8220;multinational defense projects.&#8221;
The FCAS project failure raises multiple questions about the integrity of Europe’s national defense. Leaders in Europe believed the plan was a test if they could develop advanced technology as they promised without the help of the United States. France and Germany have recently struggled with a next-generation tank project with the Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) as well.
It also underlined potential disagreements between the two governments, which have both already expressed their alternative options after the project fell through.
Merz has publicly inquired if the sixth-generation planes will even be necessary, and that their requirements for the planes were not similar to those of France’s. France, on the other hand, is actively pursuing similar blueprints.
“The French authorities will continue to encourage our companies and armed forces to explore ways and means of pursuing ambitious European projects that are consistent with our national security interests,” the Élysée Palace added in its official statement.
While Berlin is looking into possible substitutes following the collapse, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius explained that if FCAS were to be thought of today, it simply wouldn’t happen.
“With what we know today, we would no longer launch this project in the way it was originally set up,” Pistorius told officials.
European countries are continuing to struggle to enhance their arms without the help of America in a time when everyone else is quickly advancing.

Fa-52 Fighter Jets

Europe’s $116 Billion Fighter Jet Project Crashes And Burns

Europe

fighter jets

Military

Several workers were injured Thursday after a Lufthansa Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner collapsed while parked at the gate of Frankfurt Airport in Germany.
The aircraft was being prepared for a flight to Los Angeles when it &#8220;unexpectedly retracted while it was parked,&#8221; the airline said in a statement, <a href="https://abcnews.com/International/employees-injured-after-lufthansa-boeing-787-nose-gear/story?id=133588703" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ABC News reported</a>. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Several people are injured as a Lufthansa plane collapses at a gate. <a href="https://t.co/vwR4cXqatk">https://t.co/vwR4cXqatk</a> <a href="https://t.co/MfXn7IWFll">pic.twitter.com/MfXn7IWFll</a>
— TMZ (@TMZ) <a href="https://x.com/TMZ/status/2062678120860184908?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 4, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Several people sustained minor injuries – two Lufthansa cabin crew members and other employees from service providers were taken to a hospital for medical treatment,&#8221; the statement added. 
No passengers were aboard the aircraft at the time of the collapse.
Lufthansa said it is working with authorities to determine what caused the nose gear failure.
“We are currently investigating the exact circumstances together with the relevant authorities. Technicians and support staff are on site. We will provide further information as soon as it becomes available,” the statement concluded.
Photos and video from the scene showed the front section of the Dreamliner resting on the ground after the collapse.
The incident marks the latest high-profile aviation mishap to draw public attention, though officials have not suggested it is connected to other recent airline accidents or runway incidents.
Last month, a Frontier Airlines jet <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-moment-pilot-realizes-plane-packed-with-passengers-hit-person-on-runway">struck a trespasser</a> on the runway during takeoff, triggering panic onboard and a fiery emergency evacuation. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy later said the individual had deliberately entered a restricted area of the airport. 
Also in May, a United Airlines aircraft <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-united-airlines-plane-hits-bakery-truck-moments-before-landing">hit a light pole</a> while landing and approaching the runway at Newark Liberty International Airport. The light pole <a href="https://abc7.com/story/new-details-released-united-plane-flew-15-feet-jersey-turnpike-striking-pole-truck-ntsb-report-says/19239322/#:~:text=On%20May%203%2C%20United%20Flight,delivery%20truck%2C%20the%20report%20said.">then hit</a> a delivery truck. The truck driver reportedly sustained minor injuries.
In March, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/all-flights-cancelled-at-nycs-laguardia-after-deadly-runway-collision">two pilots were killed</a> following a collision between an Air Canada Express jet and an airport fire truck at New York City’s LaGuardia Airport. More than a dozen passengers were injured in the crash.

Lufthansa plane

WATCH: Jet Suddenly Collapses While Parked At Gate, Several Injured

Air Travel

Airlines

Lufthansa

President Donald Trump has ordered the withdrawal of approximately 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany, scaling back America&#8217;s military presence in Europe to levels seen before Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
“The Secretary of War has ordered the withdrawal of approximately 5,000 troops from Germany,” Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said. “This decision follows a thorough review of the Department’s force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theater requirements and conditions on the ground. We expect the withdrawal to be completed over the next six to twelve months.”
The move comes after months of criticism from Trump, who has accused NATO allies of failing to support U.S. operations against the Iranian regime and efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which he says Europe relies on more heavily.
Trump has described the 32-member NATO alliance as a “paper tiger” and a “one-way street.”
He has also been in a public feud with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, accusing him of downplaying the threat posed by Iran and warning that such positions could have serious global consequences.
“The Chancellor of Germany… thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about!” Trump posted on social media on Tuesday, adding that if Iran obtained such a weapon, “the whole World would be held hostage.”
Merz had earlier accused Iran of stalling negotiations and humiliating the United States.
A senior Defense Department official told The Daily Wire that the troop reduction reflects the administration&#8217;s frustration with European allies.
“The Europeans have not stepped up when America needed them. This cannot be a one-way street,” a senior Department of War official told The Daily Wire. “The President has been very clear about his frustrations about our allies’ rhetoric and failure to provide support for U.S. operations that benefit them.”
The official added that the president is directly reacting to German rhetoric, which has been “inappropriate and unhelpful.”
The withdrawal will primarily affect a brigade combat team and other forces stationed in Germany. It also halts a planned deployment of a long-range fires battalion that had been scheduled to arrive later this year under a Biden-era plan.
Officials said the directive takes effect immediately, though details about the specific units and movement timelines remain limited.
 The decision is part of a broader strategic realignment focused on the homeland, Western Hemisphere, and Indo-Pacific, while restoring readiness across the military, particularly within the Army.
It would also bring U.S. troop levels in Europe closer to pre-2022 levels, before forces surged in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a buildup, officials emphasized, that was always intended to be temporary.
“The President’s decision also sends a very clear signal about how important it is for Germany and other allies to take primary responsibility for Europe’s defense,” the official said.
&nbsp;

NATO Summit In The Hague Final Day

Trump Pulls Troops From Europe And Sends ‘Allies’ Blunt Message: It’s A Two-Way Street

NATO

Operation Epic Fury

President Donald Trump on Wednesday signaled a potential seismic shift in American foreign policy, questioning why the United States continues to shoulder the burden of policing the Strait of Hormuz for nations that refuse to support its strategic objectives.
&#8220;I wonder what would happen if we ‘finished off’ what’s left of the Iranian Terror State, and let the Countries that use it, we don’t, be responsible for the so called ‘Strait?’&#8221; Trump wrote. &#8220;That would get some of our non-responsive ‘Allies’ in gear, and fast!!!&#8221;
<iframe class="truthsocial-embed" style="max-width: 100%; border: 0;" src="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/116250203405172359/embed" width="600" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><script src="https://truthsocial.com/embed.js" async="async"></script>
The president’s comments highlight a glaring disparity: while the U.S. Navy has historically secured the waterway, the primary beneficiaries are Asian and European powers. China leads the pack, importing 38% of the oil transiting the strait, followed by India (15%), Japan (90% of its total crude), and South Korea. Meanwhile, Middle Eastern exporters like Kuwait and Qatar remain entirely or heavily dependent on the passage.
Despite this reliance, several European allies have refused to assist the United States in the current regional conflict. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/16/europe-donald-trump-strait-hormuz-iran"> stated</a> definitively, &#8220;We will not do so,&#8221; while Spain has gone as far as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/02/spain-denies-united-states-permission-military-bases-iran-pedro-sanchez">blocking</a> American forces from using its bases for operations against Tehran. <a href="https://www.military.com/feature/2026/03/15/italy-says-it-will-not-join-iran-war-and-begins-pulling-back-troops.html">Italy</a> and Greece have similarly declined military participation.
French President Emmanuel Macron has been particularly defiant. After the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iranian targets in late February, Macron labeled the actions &#8220;outside the framework of international law.&#8221; On Tuesday, he <a href="https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2026/03/france-will-never-take-part-operations-unblock-hormuz-strait-amid-hostilities">doubled down</a>, declaring France is &#8220;not a party to the conflict&#8230; will never take part in operations to open or liberate the Strait of Hormuz in the  current context.&#8221; While Macron deployed the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to the region, he insists it is for a &#8220;European-led&#8221; mission independent of Washington&#8217;s command.
Even the United Kingdom has hesitated, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer <a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2026/03/18/pbcq-m18.html">stating</a> the UK will not be drawn into &#8220;the wider war.&#8221; Only Poland and the Baltic states have offered firm political backing, citing Iran’s military ties to Russia.
This lack of cooperation has forced regional exporters to scramble for alternatives. Saudi Arabia has <a href="https://energynewsbeat.co/saudi-arabias-pipeline-investment-pays-off/">boosted</a> its East-West Pipeline capacity to 7 million barrels per day (bpd), though effective export capacity at the Red Sea port of Yanbu remains capped at 3–4 million bpd. The UAE’s ADCOP pipeline to Fujairah is running at a maximum of 1.8 million bpd but has faced drone threats. Iraq, which recently signed a deal to resume exports through Turkey at a modest 250,000 bpd, remains largely paralyzed.
With 20 million barrels per day typically transiting the strait, the current bypasses are woefully insufficient. Trump’s message is clear: if the nations most dependent on this oil — and the &#8220;allies&#8221; who benefit from U.S. protection — refuse to stand with America against the &#8220;Iranian Terror State,&#8221; they may soon find themselves responsible for their own security in the world’s most dangerous chokepoint.

President Donald Trump Meets With German Chancellor Friedrich Merz At The White House

Trump Warns Allies: Help Fight Iran Or Secure The Strait of Hormuz Yourself

Executive

Global Politics

Politics

Strait of Hormuz

The West is in trouble.
One of the reasons is that the West has fundamentally failed to distinguish between tolerance of one another&#8217;s traditions and lifestyles on the one hand, and the bizarre bend-over-backward celebration that accompanies the undermining of traditions unique to the West.
A perfect example is what&#8217;s happening in Germany now. It seems like a small story, but it is indicative of a broader mindset that has been setting in throughout the West for generations.
In Germany, McDonald&#8217;s decided on an ad campaign. The German population is roughly 6.5% Muslim at this point. Muslims celebrate Ramadan around this time of year, which means they are fasting from sunup to sundown.
Fine. That is the Muslim tradition. There are a lot of Muslims who live in the West who are perfectly fine Western citizens.
McDonald’s is not halal, meaning food that religious Muslims can eat. If you are a Muslim who is celebrating Ramadan or commemorating Ramadan, chances are that you are eating halal in your non-Ramadan hours and in your non-fasting hours, because if you&#8217;re religious enough to actually not eat all day, you probably don&#8217;t go at sunset and find a rasher of bacon and eat it.
But McDonald&#8217;s decided to put up an ad campaign in Germany. The ad campaign removes the food from the billboards during Ramadan hours out of respect for Islam. The food appears on the billboard after sunset, but it disappears during the day, presumably so as not to tempt Muslims to feel hunger pangs.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2376-wth-mc-donald-s-celebrates-ramadan"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974957" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
That is Bizarro World. It’s weird and self-defeating, and it bespeaks of something that lies at the heart of the cowardice of a lot of both corporations and people in the West.
It&#8217;s Bizarro World because McDonald&#8217;s is not halal. The people who are presumably going to be very moved by these billboards are not going to head over to McDonald&#8217;s after dusk and start chomping down on their cheeseburgers.
So what is McDonald&#8217;s doing? According to <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/mcdonalds-new-ad-campaign-empty-boxes-no-food-ramadan-germany-11578866?utm_source=chatgpt.com">Newsweek</a>: 
<blockquote>The campaign was created by the German agency Scholz &amp; Friends, whose concept centers on removing McDonald’s most recognizable visual element—its food—as a gesture of respect for those observing Ramadan.</blockquote>
This is strange. The reality is McDonald’s is a food company that sells food, and the vast majority of the food that you sell is not to the people to whom they’re trying to appeal.
Who exactly is McDonald&#8217;s appealing to? Who&#8217;s the target audience?
The answer is: The dullards in the West who believe that it is a mark of virtue to subsume your own values beneath the values of other cultures.
That is the problematic part. It is a strange form of cultural reparation that somehow the West owes it to other cultures to participate in their religious activities while subsuming its own interests.
I don&#8217;t think McDonald&#8217;s cares all that much in Germany about whether or not Muslims like McDonald&#8217;s. I think what German McDonald&#8217;s cares about is that there are a lot of people in Germany who see this as a form of left-wing social virtue signaling, in the same way that in the United States, you have major corporations that every year decide they&#8217;re going to signal for Black History Month or Gay Pride month.
But the basic idea is not that you are going to earn vast oodles of cash from doing that. The idea is you&#8217;re appealing to left-wing people in the United States who will give you more money because they believe that you share their values.
The reason that you see all these companies doing DEI in the United States is absolutely not because they think it&#8217;s going to be good for their balance sheet. Hiring on the basis of non-merit is always bad for the balance sheet.
The reason these companies do it is because they believe they can appeal to an entire group of consumers who have warm feelings toward them if they take their own corporate business interests, throw those aside, and start signaling their politics.
This is a major problem. It&#8217;s not unique to Germany and is a widespread symptom of a disease that is spread across the West, where you are supposed to be overtly apologetic about not celebrating Ramadan.
This is not a sign of cultural respect.
It&#8217;s a sign of cultural disintegration.
It would be the same thing as if companies in the UK decided that they were suddenly going to take female models and suddenly cover up their faces out of respect for radical Islam.
It&#8217;s saying something, but it&#8217;s not the thing they think they&#8217;re saying.
There is an assumption that in the Trump era, DEI is basically dead, that we&#8217;re never going back to a time when corporations were virtue signaling like this, when policy did not reflect this idea that the dominant American culture ought to be put under the foot of splinter cultures.
But the reality is that it can very easily come back.
It doesn&#8217;t take a lot for it to come back. All it takes is a group of people who see it as a mark of virtue to yell at their own culture and pretend that it is somehow inferior and owes it to other cultures to demonstrate its own inferiority.
There&#8217;s a piece from Time magazine titled “<a href="https://time.com/7377439/donald-trump-cant-kill-dei/">Why Donald Trump Can&#8217;t Kill DEI</a>.” The point the piece makes is that the anti-DEI era, which is a backlash to the Barack Obama/Joe Biden era, will be followed by a backlash to the backlash, and that all this stuff will come back with a vengeance.
The piece states:
<blockquote>Ideas of inclusion and diversity also permeate everyday institutions, including schools, universities, foundations, nonprofits, and corporations. &#8230; Many companies have retreated from DEI under legal and political pressure. What makes fewer headlines is that most companies that have sidled away from the acronym continue to affirm the values of DEI under a different name. &#8230; 
Boeing stated that it maintains “procedures aimed at encouraging an equality of opportunity.” Lowe’s has proclaimed that it remained “committed to fostering an environment where individuals are treated fairly, valued, respected, safe, and inspired to serve customers and the communities where we live and work.” These statements sure sound like diversity, equity, and inclusion to us. &#8230; The education sector is equally if not more committed: a 2025 review of 262 colleges and universities found that 245 of them still maintained DEI offices and programs.</blockquote>
This is only going to continue. What does it mean?
It means this will come back if Republicans lose the forward momentum.
I know that we&#8217;re also riding high on the horse right now because Donald Trump won and because Republicans are in charge of the legislative branches of the government.
But if you think this stuff can&#8217;t come back, you’re wrong.

Germany’s Milder Recession With Stimulus Offsetting Shutdown

WTH?! McDonald’s Celebrates … Ramadan

advertising

Ben Shapiro

Islam

McDonald’s

Muslims

Opinion

Woke Culture

Germany&#8217;s ruling conservatives on Saturday passed a motion to ban social media use for under 14s and introduce more stringent digital verification checks for teenagers, building momentum for such limits in Germany and elsewhere in Europe.
At a party conference in the city of Stuttgart, Chancellor Friedrich Merz&#8217;s Christian Democratic Union also called for fines for online platforms that failed to enforce such limits, and European Union-wide harmonisation of age standards.
A growing number of countries, including Spain, Greece, France and Britain, are looking at similar social media bans or restrictions on accessing platforms like TikTok or Instagram.
It follows the example of Australia, which last year became the first country to force platforms to cut off access for children.
European nations are more broadly ratcheting up pressure on social media companies, risking a backlash from the United States. President Donald Trump has threatened tariffs and sanctions if EU countries impose new tech taxes or online regulations that hit U.S. firms.
&#8220;We call on the federal government to introduce a legal age limit of 14 for the use of social networks and to address the special need for protection in the digital sphere up to the age of 16,&#8221; said the motion that passed on Saturday.
Merz&#8217;s coalition partners the Social Democrats have also backed social media curbs for children. Pressure from both parties in the coalition makes it increasingly likely that the federal government will push for restrictions.
However, under Germany&#8217;s federal system, media regulation is a state‑level responsibility and states must negotiate with each other to agree consistent nationwide rules.
The ban could affect children like those at the Cardinal Frings Gymnasium in the city of Bonn, several of whom a day earlier were scrolling on their phones in the school grounds.
&#8220;I think it&#8217;s fair, but I think it should be up to the parents to decide whether to forbid it, not the state,&#8221; said 13-year-old Moritz, who says he only watches YouTube.
&#8220;For children under 12 it should be forbidden, but from age 12 onwards I think children can already distinguish between what is fake news and what is not.&#8221;
His classmate Emma, 13, almost exclusively uses Snapchat, but has a time limit on her phone.
A ban would be &#8220;kind of unusual, because you get used to sending your snap in the morning before school, or what my friends do, like just scrolling through Instagram or TikTok for a bit,&#8221; she said.
Ella, 12, scrolls through social media several times a day.
&#8220;So I have TikTok and Instagram myself, but I understand that it&#8217;s all addictive, and the more you scroll, the more you want to see.&#8221;
Teacher Till Franke said that for many of the children, &#8220;it would be a shock at first, because of this daily use of social media.&#8221;
But eventually, the students would get used to it, he said, &#8220;because they would find other niches where they could communicate with each other.&#8221;
(Andreas Rinke, Stephane Nitschke and Petra Wischgoll; Writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Jan Harvey)

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Germany’s Ruling Party Backs Social Media Curbs For Children

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Children

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This article originally appeared in <a href="https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com/p/why-more-weimar">The New Jerusalem</a> on Substack.
* * *
In the minds of most journalists, all human history can be summed up with the words, “Rome fell, then Hitler came.” A few more accomplished scholars among the chattering classes might be able to distinguish between the fall of Rome’s republic, followed by the empire, and the fall of the empire, followed by a thousand years of hideously faith-infused darkness. But basically, to journalists, all signs of political or cultural decadence — whether it’s a Republican being elected or some other Republican being elected — are omens that American Rome is about to collapse followed by the rise of American Hitler.
“A Confessing Church for America’s Weimar Moment,” reads a headline in The Dispatch. “We must not let the shooting of Charlie Kirk become Trump’s Reichstag fire,” writes a genius at The Guardian. “Welcome to Weimar 2.0,” headlines a book excerpt by the catastrophist Robert D. Kaplan in Foreign Policy. And that’s not even counting the continual Hitler forecasts on cable TV. One could almost feel sorry for der old Führer, his psycho ass getting dragged out of hell every ten minutes to serve as a warning to us all.
And look, yes, it’s true, the United States is in one of those periods of dissolution and transition that come upon every nation from time to time. So too was Weimar, the unstable republic that rose up in the wake of Germany’s crushing defeat in World War I. Such periods are often marked by polarized politics, destructive sexual profligacy wrongly celebrated as liberation, and art forms informed by and infused with the general cultural decay. So with America. So with Weimar.
Beyond that, however, the comparison is a shallow one. For one thing, the image of Weimar among our clerisy is skewed with bias. Watch any movie set in the era — the musical Cabaret is a good one — or any television series — Babylon Berlin is my favorite — or read histories like Peter Gay’s famous Weimar Culture. You’ll get the sense that you’re learning about a time of delightful but doomed sexual and artistic creativity, with benign but hapless socialists slowly falling beneath the darkening Nazi shadow.
But no. The undisciplined sex lives, the anti-freedom politics of both the left and the right, and the shocking but ultimately ephemeral cultural productions were all one thing, all part of the same process of decay. Weimar — and the world wars that preceded and followed it — marked the end of a civilization — the greatest civilization that has yet existed on planet Earth — the civilization that was Europe from around 1345 to 1914. It was this, in fact, that gave Hitler his rhetorical super power: he diagnosed the decadence correctly. He just didn’t realize he was its ultimate manifestation. Ah well. Even a mass murdering racist lunatic can’t be right all the time.
<div id="attachment_1044519" style="width: 745px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1044519" class="size-large wp-image-1044519" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-156480264-735x576.jpg" alt="Charles Chaplin movie art for the film 'The Great Dictator', 1940. (Photo by United Artists/Getty Images)" width="735" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-156480264-735x576.jpg 735w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-156480264-300x235.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-156480264-768x602.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/02/GettyImages-156480264.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px" />Charles Chaplin movie art for the film &#8216;The Great Dictator&#8217;, 1940. (Photo by United Artists/Getty Images)</div>
So the United States is in a decadent state and so was Weimar, and decadence anywhere looks like decadence everywhere. History does repeat itself.
But it repeats itself for a reason. It’s the same reason a person’s life tends to repeat itself. The human race, like each of its individual members, has a nature, a character. Like everything that exists, character is bounded by its defining limits. Those limits cause it to express itself in a finite number of patterns. Over time, those patterns are certain to reassert themselves in recognizable forms.
The patterns of a healthy society or person will be shaped something like a rising spiral. Certain arcs of activity will recur over and over, but they will recur in increasingly wise, creative and productive ways. There will be periods of dissolution but they will be what is sometimes referred to as “chaos leading to a higher plane.” You can trace such a pattern in the plays of William Shakespeare. You can find it in the history of England between Elizabeth and the end of World War II.
The history of a rotten society or person will form a descending spiral, the repeated arcs of foolishness and evil growing ever darker and more self-destructive. The life of every tyranny is like this. The life of every addict too.
Then there’s the history of an ignorant or neurotic society or person. This will simply look like a circle. The subject goes round and round on a level track while uttering occasional gasps of wonder at having found themselves at a place they’ve passed a hundred times before but have a hundred times forgotten. You know people like this. Every now and then, they announce they’ve had some smack-the-forehead revelation that will change their lives forever. Then they return to the exact same ideas and behaviors they’ve had before. Perpetually primitive tribes are also like this, no matter how we want to romanticize them.
In short, times of dissolution will indeed be followed by a transition. But Hitler — get ready for it — is not the only possible outcome. The time surrounding the French Revolution in Great Britain showed many of the usual signs of decadence, but the Victorian era that followed was arguably Britain’s greatest age. So with the United States in the 1920’s and 30’s. Those decadent days led to the mighty 1950’s and a new American half century. As with each individual, what follows a nation’s dissolution all depends on the essential health of the nation’s character.
Where then are we?
It seems obvious to me that the primary cause of our current decline is the falling away of the Baby Boomers. My age cohort has dominated the political and cultural landscape for seventy years. Now, we’re played out and heading for the exits. Our accomplishments were many. We made hypocritical virtue signaling an art, introduced self-destructive drug use to the general population, slowed the rise of black Americans by burying them under the smothering dependencies of the Great Society, and wasted all the money accumulated by every generation before us along with some money that will be accumulated by the generations to come. We also popularized the personal computer so, like, yay for us.
What the United States will become when we are gone is, of course, not yet clear, but it’s a good bet it will be defined by the way we use the new forms of communication that have been and are still being generated by technology. Who or what will dominate those engines of culture is largely what all the current division, panic, bullying and violence is intended to decide.
Periods like this are often resolved by the rise of a powerful personality. Will this person shape the coming Zeitgeist or merely ride its wave? Your answer will depend on whether you agree with Thomas Carlyle that “the History of the world is but the Biography of great men,” or with Tolstoy who said, “great men—so called—are but the labels that serve to give a name to an event.” Like the question of nurture or nature, this question is impossible to resolve, probably because, like the question of nature and nurture, the binary itself is an illusion. But as I say, contra the journalists, Hitler is not the only model for such era-defining personalities. George Washington and Queen Victoria are far more benign examples of the breed. Luther and Napoleon were mixed blessings. History is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.
When we scan the horizon for the coming definitive personality, it’s pretty hard to see the horizon with the gigantic Donald Trump standing in the way. So yeah, maybe he’s the guy. He has no coherent ideology so his effect may not be a lasting one. But he does bear all the marks of a Tolstoyan Godzilla. Like that monster created by nuclear blasts, Trump is the product of our generation’s eruption of materialist vulgarity. But he is also the avatar of the American everyman in our time. Like that character — much maligned by the elites who feed off his bounty — he is blunt, common sensical, creative, independent and bold. If he uses these traits to blast away such fatal nonsense as open borders, transgenderism and socialism — if he restores our simple patriotism and can-do spirit — the imprint of his nature may well be Trump’s legacy to the new age.
But this is still America. Perhaps the great figure that will shape our 21st Century is not Trump or any other individual, but we, the people. In that case, Weimar, with its sexual libertinism, its artistic Dadaism and its polarized politics, actually does serve as a guide — a guide to what each and every one of us should not do.
Let we, the people, then, like healthy men with healthy minds, eschew the habits of decadence.
Get your sex life in order. Give up porn and feminism and other such perversions, and yoke your desires to their natural purposes: the creation of families, the solidifying of marriages and the maintenance of self-governing homes.
In politics, murder your isms. Follow the facts instead. Do what works, what keeps people free, what makes free people happy, what encourages the wealthy but protects the poor. Our founding principles are still the best guides ever invented to achieving those ends. Use them. Make our leaders use them too.
And in the culture, forget the overrated shock of the new. In the arts as in life, follow one rule: Make something beautiful. Whether it’s a movie or an invention, a business or a family, a community at peace or simply a life lived lovingly and well. Turn your back on every ugliness and cruelty. Head down the path of beauty and, like the prodigal son, you will see your Father running to greet you from afar.
And that’s another thing — one last thing — love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind. In general, they neglected to do that in Weimar and ended up worshipping the devil instead. No matter what anyone tells you, those are the only two choices. Choose right, and I guarantee you, Hitler will stay in hell — or on cable TV, which amounts to the same thing — where he belongs.
* * *
This article originally appeared in <a href="https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com/p/why-more-weimar">The New Jerusalem</a> on Substack.
Andrew Klavan is the host of “The Andrew Klavan Show” at The Daily Wire. Klavan is the bestselling author of numerous books, including the Cameron Winter Mystery series. The fifth installment, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/After-That-Cameron-Winter-Mysteries/dp/1613166869/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3EGZUC370LG46&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Y_NI0mDOKeowShheDQTVx5NH-fAeimJoCD56_T0Acpl8C0mup7uJf-nGGSRLEItaaekoDnvS2vWLMa4Zd2UBXQ8Y-g-P502jOWz-Y8IX3ZQsdlO7WMLrg1xIhNoKmjCorSWUR4C2l_RbiZ7apJ1MfPzGOrrEf7AdAXX6xwnJRVP_XqUfWuMuVthTWscaU3P4vgmS86-96n-721enHfX12CFQWTajqFbVnrsDkexfUf4.6_gTH6h1Bb9Pn375QdF_VAVZSayDvjQBBKGXE-MTiFo&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=klavan&amp;qid=1754049918&amp;sprefix=%2Caps%2C80&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">After That, The Dark,</a> is NOW AVAILABLE. Follow him on X: <a href="https://x.com/andrewklavan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@andrewklavan</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

President Hindenburg

Why More Weimar?

Adolf Hitler

Andrew Klavan

Nazi Germany

Roman Empire

Social Issues

Secretary of State Marco Rubio used his first appearance at the Munich Security Conference to deliver a call for a renewed “Western century” grounded in sovereignty, industrial power, borders, and civilizational confidence.
“The euphoria of this triumph led us to a dangerous delusion,” Rubio said, describing the post-Cold War belief that history had ended and that liberal democracy would inevitably spread. “That every nation would now be a liberal democracy; that the ties formed by trade and by commerce alone would now replace nationhood; that the rules-based global order would replace the national interest.”
“This was a foolish idea that ignored both human nature and the lessons of over 5,000 years of recorded human history,&#8221; he added. &#8220;And it has cost us dearly.”
Rubio contrasted that worldview with what he described as the lived consequences of Western policy choices: deindustrialization, weakened defense capacity, and economic dependence on adversaries who never shared the West’s assumptions.
“In this delusion, we embraced a dogmatic vision of free and unfettered trade,” Rubio said, “even as some nations protected their economies and subsidized their companies to systematically undercut ours—shuttering our plants, deindustrializing large parts of our societies, shipping millions of working- and middle-class jobs overseas, and handing control of our critical supply chains to both adversaries and rivals.”
Rubio argued that energy policy in particular had become an exercise in self-harm “to appease a climate cult.” He added, “We have imposed energy policies on ourselves that are impoverishing our people, even as our competitors exploit oil and coal and natural gas—not just to power their economies, but to use as leverage against our own.”
Rubio also rejected the framing common in recent Munich conferences that mass migration is primarily a humanitarian challenge rather than a civilizational one.
“In a pursuit of a world without borders,” he warned, “we opened our doors to an unprecedented wave of mass migration that threatens the cohesion of our societies, the continuity of our culture, and the future of our people.”
“Controlling who and how many people enter our countries,” Rubio continued, “is not an expression of xenophobia. It is not hate. It is a fundamental act of national sovereignty.”
On national security, Rubio explicitly rejected modern abstractionist framing. “The fundamental question we must answer at the outset is what exactly are we defending?” he said. “Because armies do not fight for abstractions. Armies fight for a people. Armies fight for a nation. Armies fight for a way of life.” That way of life, Rubio argued, is not interchangeable with other systems, nor should it be treated as morally neutral among equals.
“We are part of one civilization—Western civilization,” he said. “Bound by centuries of shared history, Christian faith, culture, heritage, language, ancestry, and sacrifice.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
It is time to unshackle our ingenuity and build a new Western century. <a href="https://t.co/KJjGQ24bCd">pic.twitter.com/KJjGQ24bCd</a>
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) <a href="https://twitter.com/SecRubio/status/2022644331878793376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 14, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Rubio’s speech also departed sharply from Biden-era deference to multinational institutions. While stopping short of calling for their abandonment, he argued that they have repeatedly failed on the most pressing security challenges of the age.
“The United Nations could not solve the war in Gaza. It did not solve the war in Ukraine. It was powerless to constrain the nuclear program of radical Shia clerics in Tehran,” Rubio said, crediting American military and diplomatic leadership with producing results.
“In a perfect world, these problems would be solved by diplomats and strongly-worded resolutions,” he added. “But we do not live in a perfect world.”
Rubio said plainly that the United States under President Trump intends to pursue renewal, and invites Europe to do the same. The future, Rubio concluded, depends on whether Western nations choose pride over guilt, sovereignty over submission, and renewal over retreat.
“We have no interest in being polite and orderly caretakers of the West’s managed decline,” Rubio said. “What we want is a reinvigorated alliance—one that is not paralyzed by fear, but bold enough to race into the future.”

Secretary Marco Rubio Meets With Ecuadoran Foreign Affairs Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld

Rubio Declares ‘New Western Century’ In World Speech, Says America Won’t Oversee ‘Managed Decline’

Globalism

Marco Rubio

Trump Administration

There has been a clamor among some on the American Right for the United States to pull out of NATO, given Europe’s reflexively adversarial response to Trump’s Greenland saber-rattling. Whether we should remain in an alliance formed in a very different world back in 1949 is a question President Trump first raised during his initial term. The question actually has more merit than one might think at first blush.
One must ask what exactly NATO’s raison d’être was to begin with. It is difficult, eighty years on, to recall just how much of a mess Europe was at the time. Much of the continent had been razed by the most lethal of its many internecine conflicts. Europe was no longer at war, but it was not exactly at peace either. Stalin — a dictator with as much, if not more, innocent blood on his hands than Hitler — had advanced his Red Army all the way through Poland, then-Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and half of Germany. That Soviet presence was massive: nearly ten million infantry backed by tens of thousands of tanks and aircraft. By 1945, the Red Army had become a military colossus that had just annihilated the most professional army in the world.
Given this looming threat just over the horizon, by 1949 Western Europe needed to band together to offer a deterrent to Stalin’s hegemony. And given the circumstances, the only military body capable of giving this new North Atlantic Treaty Organization its muscle was, of course, the U.S. Armed Forces. While Western Europe was rebuilt under the auspices of the Marshall Plan, American troops, armor, and aircraft kept the Soviets at bay. This mission was performed successfully all the way to 1991, when the Soviet Union — the very threat NATO was created to contain — abruptly collapsed.
That was 35 years ago. And yet NATO did not ride off into the sunset with its mission accomplished. Instead, it continued to expand, adding 16 new nations — each creeping closer and closer to an increasingly alarmed Russia (a country that suffered roughly 25 million dead repelling the last Western invaders from its soil).
But why the steady eastward expansion? Some NATO supporters argue that Putin’s resurgence and his aggression in Ukraine are answer enough.
But Ukraine and Russia share a convoluted history. Ukraine has long been contested land, where its story and Russia’s overlap in a region that has seen over seven hundred conflicts since the fall of Rome. This is not the first time war has raged from Crimea to the Donbas. Nor will it be the last. There is no reason for a non-Ukrainian to die fighting for that territory.
In fact, the only credible reason to continue our involvement in NATO is if Putin’s Russia poses the same danger as Stalin’s USSR once did. But today’s Russian military is not the Red Army of 1945 in which anywhere from 30 to 35% of its personnel were non-Russians (including 20% Ukrainians). And today Russia is demographically dying. Between 1990 and now—owing to the breakup of the Soviet Union, low birth rates, emigration, and early mortality often linked to alcoholism—Russia’s population has shrunk by roughly three to five million; that is a around a 2 to 4% decline. Over that same period, the U.S. population grew by more than 95 million, or roughly 38%. Even without the United States, the EU today has roughly four times Russia’s population. History shows that in modern war, population is often the best predictor of who prevails in a protracted struggle.
Russia’s economy is both small and oil-dependent. It has been called the world’s largest gas station for a reason. Anywhere from 20 to 30% of its economy depends on crude oil sales, depending on the year and market conditions — making it extremely vulnerable to sanctions or blockades. As it stands, Russia’s entire economy is smaller than that of three American states.
Speaking of economies, since NATO’s establishment, the GDP of EU nations has grown from barely $2.5 trillion to as high as $23 trillion today, an increase of more than 800%. This prompts the obvious question: if these nations have grown so rich, why do they still need us as if they were clearing rubble out of Cologne?
In other words, whether one agrees with leaving NATO or not, Trump’s re-evaluation of an alliance nearing the end of its eighth decade is not grounded in anti-EU whimsy, but in a classic cost-benefit analysis of its service to American interests.
Polls show that while only about 15% of Americans favor leaving NATO, as many as 30% of European residents believe the United States should reduce or end its role in Europe’s defense. This is ironic. If the same Europeans who love to hold up their model social-welfare systems — especially their “free” health care — understood how much of those systems are underwritten by the American taxpayer, they might take a less belligerent view toward one of their primary health care providers.
<div id="attachment_1030021" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1030021" class="size-large wp-image-1030021" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2246537136-864x576.jpg" alt="GEILENKIRCHEN, GERMANY - NOVEMBER 13: NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and North Rhine-Westphalia Premier Hendrik Wuest, dressed with flight jackets, stand in front of an E-3A AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) airplane while visiting the NATO Geilenkirchen Air Base on November 13, 2025 in Geilenkirchen, Germany. The base is the headquarters of the NATO Airborne Early Warning &amp; Control Force (NAEW&amp;CF). (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2246537136-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2246537136-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2246537136-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/GettyImages-2246537136.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Andreas Rentz/Getty Images</div>
What do I mean by this?
Take a look at the wealthiest EU nation — and the one with the most violent history with Russia — Germany. Germany currently spends roughly 2% of its €5 trillion GDP on defense, or about €100 billion annually. At the same time, it spends roughly ten to 12% of GDP on health care — around €500 billion per year. Estimates suggest that if American soldiers and airmen withdrew and Germany were left to fend for itself, Berlin would need to raise defense spending to as much as 4% of GDP. That means an additional €90–100 billion every year. That money has to come from somewhere. And since health care is the largest pool of discretionary spending (unless Berlin plans on raiding pensions), that is where it would most likely be found. A full American withdrawal would require cutting Germany’s health care system by at least 20%.
The consequences would be catastrophic. Growth spending would slow, wait times would balloon into rationing, co-pays and supplemental costs would rise, hospital consolidations would reduce access to emergency and specialized care, benefits would shrink, staffing shortages would worsen, and zero-cost access would disappear. Setting aside health outcomes, the social upheaval in a country accustomed to expansive care at minimal personal cost would be acute — and politically devastating for any party responsible.
And Germany is only one nation. If the entire EU had to raise defense spending to 4% to fill the void left by an American departure, it would require roughly €340 billion more per year — again, about 20% of total EU health care spending. Even partial offsets would place ten to 20% pressure on health budgets — unless already sky-high taxes rose further. Suddenly, the EU’s vaunted “free” health care system would be anything but.
Put more bluntly, NATO is not merely a security alliance — it is a massive American taxpayer-funded subsidy for Europe’s welfare state. That is the dirty little secret no one in Brussels wants to discuss. Every time a German walks into a “free” clinic or a Frenchman is wheeled into an operating room, roughly one euro in five is effectively paid by you and me. NATO — at least for its original Western democracies — needs the United States not to defend borders it could fund itself, but to prop up welfare systems already straining under their own weight.
There is a famous story in business lore about accounting wunderkind Harry Sonneborn, who told McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc that the real value of his restaurants was not the thin margins on hamburgers, but the land beneath them. “You’re not in the hamburger business,” he said. “You’re in the real estate business.”
In the same way, American contributions to NATO are not primarily about Europe’s defense. They allow European capital to be freed from defense spending — a burden borne by American taxpayers — and redirected toward social welfare. So when your taxes go to NATO, an alliance originally created to defend Europeans from other Europeans, you are not in the continental defense business. You are in the health care business. Just not for yourself. You are providing it for wealthy Germans, French, Brits, and Scandinavians who understand exactly how fragile their welfare systems are — and how quickly they would collapse if America walked away. After all, it is easy to pay for both guns and butter when someone else largely pays for the guns. It is quite another thing to foot the bill for both.
More the suckers us.
* * *
Brad Schaeffer is a commodities fund manager, author, and columnist whose articles have appeared on the pages of The Wall Street Journal, NY Post, NY Daily News, The Daily Wire, National Review, The Hill, The Federalist, Zerohedge, and other outlets. He is the author of three <a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B07MQJBJSD?ccs_id=55112527-86f6-4c89-b82e-a96d6869abed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">books</a>. You can also follow him on <a href="https://bradschaeffer.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Substack</a> and <a href="https://x.com/bschaeffer123" target="_blank" rel="noopener">X</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Leaders Gather For ‘Coalition Of The Willing’ Meeting In France

NATO’s Dirty Little Secret

Greenland

Health Care

Russia

Ukraine

Several European countries will expand their military presence around Greenland, the Danish Armed Forces announced Wednesday.
“The geopolitical tensions have spread to the Arctic,” the Danish Ministry of Defence said. “From today, there will be an expanded military presence in and around Greenland – in close cooperation with NATO allies.”
The countries involved in the expanded military deployment include Germany, France, Sweden, and Norway, which are all members of NATO. According to the Danish Armed Forces, the increase will include aircraft, vessels, and soldiers, with contributions from other NATO allies.
The announcement follows statements by President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly said that the United States should take control of Greenland for national security reasons. Trump said Russian and Chinese vessels are threatening the Danish-controlled island.
Greenland is a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, with control over most domestic affairs, while Denmark retains authority over foreign policy and defense. Denmark has consistently maintained that Greenland is not for sale, despite U.S. discussions about options, including the purchase of the territory and financial incentives for residents.
On Wednesday, Danish and Greenlandic leaders met with American officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance, at the White House. 
The Danish leaders attending the meeting are expected to hold a press conference later on Wednesday afternoon.
On Wednesday morning, Trump reiterated his view that Greenland is “vital” for the U.S. missile defense system, the so-called “Golden Dome,” and urged NATO to take the lead. “The United States needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security… If we don’t, Russia or China will, and that is not going to happen!” he wrote.
Trump added that NATO’s effectiveness depends on American strength and that Greenland under U.S. control would make the alliance “far more formidable.”

Greenland Conflict – Nuuk

European NATO Allies Expand Military Presence Around Greenland

Norway

Sweeden

“Gay” sheep made their fashion debut on the runway in NYC as the “I Wool Survive” collection premiered, featuring pieces made from the wool of alleged male sexually-oriented sheep.
The event aims to promote a German farmer and his plight to rescue “homosexual” sheep. Michael Stücke, who is gay, oversees a flock of these rescued rams at an organization he dubbed Rainbow Wool. The rescue’s website claims that as many as 8% of rams are sexually oriented toward other males, which leads to them being slaughtered for being non-procreative.
“Sadly, gay rams are often sent to slaughter because they can’t fulfill a farm’s ‘breeding role.’ We rescue them before that happens, giving them a safe home where they can live and love freely,” the Rainbow Wool <a href="https://rainbow-wool.com/">website</a> says, touting their inhabitants as “the world’s first gay flock of sheep.”
The “I Wool Survive” fashion collection was created to advance this cause and bring more attention to the issue. Celebrity designer Michael Schmidt teamed up with the gay dating app, Grindr, to create the collection and host a fashion show at the Altman Building in Manhattan on November 13. 
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Rainbow Wool | Launch EN" width="500" height="375" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0doFeaBRtZo?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Stücke said in a press release that the 36-piece collection “proves that being gay is part of nature itself.”
“The wool from these rams isn’t just material — it’s a message spun from animals who live freely and are loved,” he added. 
Grindr’s senior vice president of brand marketing, Tristan Pineiro, explained why the company was interested in attaching its name to the collection.
“It’s a great, feel-good story, but there’s also a message at the heart of it,” the marketing exec said, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/fashion/2025/11/20/grindr-fashion-show-gay-sheep-wool/">per</a> The Washington Post. “It’s not just a fluffy story.”
“The sheep are a kind of metaphor for all of us,” Pineiro went on. “Because they’re gay, they get discarded. They get thrown aside because they don’t conform to what they’re supposed to.”

Gay sheep

‘I Wool Survive’: Garments Spun From ‘Gay Sheep’ Receive An NYC Fashion Debut

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