BIG: German FM Johann Wadephul says France talks big on “European sovereignty” but isn’t spending enough on defense to back it up:

Whoever speaks of it must act accordingly in their own country.

The efforts in the French Republic so far have been insufficient.

Whoever speaks today of independence from the USA must first do homework at home.

Source: Deutschlandfunk

A Japanese aviation spotter posted what appears to be the first blurry public photo of a new/additional JASDF Kawasaki RC-2 SIGINT aircraft.

The RC-2 is Japan’s modern signals-intelligence jet (based on the C-2 transport), replacing old YS-11EB aircraft.

Germany’s FM Johann Wadephul says Europe cannot defend itself without the U.S:

We are only capable of defending ourselves together with the USA, not alone.

Without the nuclear umbrella of the USA, without the secret service information from the USA, we are not capable of defending ourselves here.

That is the pure reality.

Germany says it’s basically out of air defense missiles for Ukraine.

When asked why Ukraine is running out of air defense, German FM Wadephul was blunt:

Partly because we don’t have any more.

(On Patriots): What there still is… comes from American production. Honestly, everything that is coming out of the production halls there now also goes directly to Ukraine.

We have made everything available that we somehow had.

Other Europeans could contribute more there. There are other air defense systems in one or another European country.

It's not because of Germany. We have made everything available that we somehow had. We finance the lion's share of what Ukraine gets, with good reason.

Germany’s FM says sticking with the U.S. is the only realistic option, and China isn’t the alternative.

The alternatives are not better.

We have been a successful alliance in the past and can and must be so for the future.

I would rather do all this with the USA than with China.

AS USUAL: Twitter crashed, again.

Trump on Iran:

I'll be involved in those talks indirectly and they'll be very important. Iran's a very tough negotiator.

They want to make a deal.

Trump on Iran:

I don't think they want the consequences of not making a deal.

Trump on Epstein:

I have nothing to hide. I've been exonerated. I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein.

They went in hoping that they'd find it and found just the opposite. I've been totally exonerated.

Trump on Cuba:

Cuba is right now a failed nation and they don't even have jet fuel to get for airplanes to take off. They're clogging up their runway.

But we're talking to Cuba right now. They have Marco Rubio talking to Cuba right now and they should absolutely make a deal because it's a humanitarian threat.

Reporter: If a deal isn't made, would you consider an operation in Cuba like the one in Venezuela?

Trump: I don't want to answer that. Why would I answer that? If I was, it wouldn't be a very tough operation, as you can figure, but I don't think that'll be necessary.

Reporter: Are you going to get involved in the rift between UAE and Saudi Arabia?

Trump: Well, I could settle it very easily, but they do indeed have a rift and we can get it settled very easily.

I settle wars. I settle a lot of rifts between countries. You've been noticing, right? That's an easy one to settle.

Trump on Ukraine:

Ukraine better come to the table fast. That's all I'm telling you. We are in a position we want them to come.

Trump:

I watched AOC answering questions in Munich. This was not a good look for the United States. I watched Gavin Newscum answering questions in Munich and this was a bad look for our country.

These two people are incompetent and at least Hillary's competent. She's just Trump deranged. She was so deranged. She is an angry woman.

But I watched the other two speaking and answering basic questions. Look, Gavin has destroyed California and AOC — I never really got her to — I never heard her speak very much.

And they started answering questions. She had no idea what was happening. She had no idea how to answer, you know, very important questions concerning the world.

Trump:

I didn't get to play golf today because I'm working on other things.

Very important things, much more important than golf.

Reporter: Did you do anything for Valentine's with Melania? Did you give her flowers?

Trump: I better not tell you that. Goodbye everybody. That's the toughest question.

Trump on Japan:

I was very honored to see that a very wonderful Prime Minister in Japan won by a landslide.

I think she was going to win, but she won by just about the biggest vote ever in Japan. And she attributed my endorsement for that.

And that's very good because we have a great relationship with her and Japan.

WATCH: Swiss TV commentator notes that the pilot on Israel’s Olympic bobsleigh team identifies as a "Zionist to the core" and has publicly expressed support for Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.

READ MORE

The Pentagon warned Anthropic it will “pay a price” if it continues insisting on strict safeguards for its AI tools.

Defense officials are reportedly considering cutting ties after the company refused “unfettered use” of its systems for purposes including weapons development and mass surveillance.

One official said “everything’s on the table,” including finding an “orderly replacement.”

Anthropic says its discussions with the Department of Defense focus on “hard limits around fully autonomous weapons and mass domestic surveillance.”

Source: Axios

Hillary Clinton on Epstein:

We have no links. We have a very clear record that we have been willing to talk about.

My Husband took some rides on the airplane for his charitable work. I don’t recall ever meeting him.

Hillary Clinton on Epstein:

They want to divert attention from President Trump.