2 months ago
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PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: A 20-year-old German-American woman is standing trial in Germany after she stabbed a 64-year-old Eritrean asylum seeker who groped her at a railway station in 2024.
👥 Who’s Involved: A 20-year-old German woman with U.S. citizenship, 64-year-old Eritrean asylum seeker Alem Tekeste, and German prosecutors.
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📍 Where & When: A 2024 stabbing incident at a Kaiserslautern, Germany, railway station; a 2025 trial that began this week in Germany.
💬 Key Quote: At the time of the woman’s arrest, Elon Musk asked in a post on X (formerly Twitter): “What’s wrong with Germany?”
⚠️ Impact: If found guilty, the 20-year-old woman could face upwards of 10 years in prison.
IN FULL:
The trial of a 20-year-old German-American dual national accused of fatally stabbing a 64-year-old Eritrean asylum seeker after he groped her buttocks in a Kaiserslautern, Germany, railway station finally began this week. Prosecutors opened the trial alleging that the unnamed woman could have avoided killing the migrant during the incident last summer. The woman faces up to 10 years in prison if found guilty.
Attorneys representing the U.S. citizen contend that she merely wished to keep Tekeste at a distance and that the fatal stabbing was an act of self-defense. Conversely, German prosecutors claim that Tekeste had retreated after the knife was produced and that the woman proceeded to pursue him, escalating the confrontation before Tekeste reached for the woman’s knife, resulting in her stabbing him.
According to prosecutors, after Tekeste grabbed the woman on the escalator, she produced a knife, causing the 64-year-old Eritrean asylum seeker to retreat. However, they contend the woman then pursued Tekeste, which prompted him to grab hold of her arm that was brandishing the knife. Prosecutors claim that after a brief struggle, the woman was able to free herself and “stabbed once in the same motion,” striking Tekeste and killing him “within seconds.”
The woman is charged with inflicting bodily harm resulting in death, indicating that German authorities believe she merely intended to injure Tekeste and not kill him. In 2024, the woman’s arrest received social media attention when X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk—responding to a post arguing Germany was essentially holding the woman hostage—wrote: “What’s wrong with Germany?”
PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: President Donald J. Trump wants a substantial increase to the Pentagon’s budget, raising it to $1 trillion.
👥 Who’s Involved: President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
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📍 Where & When: The announcement was made in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, DC, on April 7, 2025.
💬 Key Quote: “We have to build our military, and we’re very cost-conscious, but the military is something that we have to build, and we have to be strong because you’ve got a lot of bad forces out there now,” said Trump.
⚠️ Impact: This budget increase would be the largest in U.S. military history, reflecting a significant shift in defense spending priorities.
IN FULL:
President Donald J. Trump stated plans to approve an unprecedented increase in the U.S. military budget, elevating it to $1 trillion. This figure represents the most substantial military budget in the nation’s history. During an announcement in the Oval Office on April 7, 2025, Trump highlighted the necessity of enhancing military capabilities, citing rising global threats.
“We rebuilt the military during my first term, and we have great things happening with our military. We also essentially approved a budget which is in the vicinity… of a trillion dollars, $1 trillion. And nobody’s seen anything like it,” he told reporters during an Oval Office meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“We have to build our military, and we’re very cost-conscious, but the military is something we have to build, and we have to be strong because you have a lot of bad forces out there now. So we’re going to be approving a budget, and I’m proud to say actually the biggest one we’ve ever done for the military,” he continued, adding: “We’re cutting other things under DOGE. When you look at a woman getting $2 billion for environmental, and it had nothing to do with the environment, and they had $100 in the bank, and they gave her $2 billion, many, many of those cases.”
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth praised the budget announcement and thanked President Trump. “President [Trump] is rebuilding our military—and FAST,” Hegseth wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter), while emphasizing that the Pentagon will “spend every taxpayer dollar wisely—on lethality and readiness.”
The National Pulse understands that in recent weeks, Elon Musk lobbied for the halving this budget, in a move that caused consternation amongst top MAGA figures at the Pentagon, especially given the precarious global security situation as well as the efforts to secure locations such as the Panama Canal which requires convincing nations that America is investing and expanding its strength harder and faster than the Chinese Communist Party.
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