WSJ What’s News – "Inside Germany’s Secret Plan for War With Russia"

Date: December 1, 2025
Host: Caitlin McCabe, The Wall Street Journal
Featured Guests: Bertrand Benoit (WSJ Germany bureau chief), Michelle Hackman (WSJ Immigration reporter), Quentin Webb (WSJ Deputy Finance Editor)

Episode Overview

This episode delivers a deep dive into Germany’s highly classified preparations for a possible war with Russia, outlines the latest developments in Ukraine peace talks, covers U.S. political moves in Central America, and examines the economic anxieties hitting Gen Z consumers this holiday season. Insights come from Wall Street Journal reporters with behind-the-scenes knowledge and exclusive details.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Heightened Ukraine Peace Talks

• U.S. Envoys Meet in Moscow: U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are headed to Moscow as Ukraine-Russia peace negotiations intensify.

  • Recent four-hour meeting in Florida with Ukrainian negotiators, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Witkoff, and Kushner described as “productive.”

• Main Issues Discussed:

  • Timetables for Ukrainian elections
  • Potential land swaps between Ukraine and Russia
  • Security guarantees for Ukraine
  • Russia’s demands for Ukrainian military withdrawal from key Donbass cities remain unresolved

• Quotable:

  "We continue to be realistic about how difficult this is, but optimistic... this is not just about ending the war... it is about securing Ukraine's future."
  — Steve Witkoff, U.S. Special Envoy [02:07]

• Ukrainian Politics:

  • President Zelensky faces domestic pressure after a corruption scandal forces his top negotiator to resign.

• Putin’s Position:

  • Publicly open to discussions but reiterates stringent demands compromising Ukrainian territorial control.

2. U.S. Domestic & Foreign Policy Moves

• Afghan Immigration Freeze:

  • Following a D.C. shooting linked to a former Afghan CIA collaborator, the Trump administration pauses all Afghan-asylum applications and reopens Biden-era cases for review.
  • Quotable:

    "They have said that they're going to reopen all of these refugee and asylum cases. They have paused all applications submitted by Afghans. And then on top of that, they've said anyone who's now applying for asylum, we're not deciding any cases, so we're going to leave those people in limbo as well."
    — Michelle Hackman, WSJ Immigration Reporter [03:41]

• Trump & Honduras:

  • President Trump ties U.S. aid to the Honduran presidential race and floats pardoning Juan Orlando Hernandez (convicted in U.S. for enabling the narcotics trade).
    • Trump's argument: foreign leaders aren’t responsible for every criminal act in their country.
    • Quotable:

      "If somebody sells drugs in that country, that doesn't mean you arrest the president and put him in jail for the rest of his life... They said it was a Biden set up."
      — Donald Trump [05:11]

• Tensions with Venezuela:

  • U.S. legislative committees probe alleged war crimes; Trump threatens to close Venezuelan airspace and hints at possible military targets, pressing Maduro to curb trafficking.

3. Germany’s Secret War Plan with Russia

• Operation Plan Germany:

  • Conceived after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, this plan details Germany’s role as the vital logistical hub for mobilizing hundreds of thousands of NATO troops.
  • Key concerns include:
    • Modern-day reliance on private, not state-owned, companies for rail, mail, and transport
    • Outdated infrastructure may hinder military movement across the country
    • Coordination with police and civilian agencies to prioritize troop and equipment movement

• Secrecy & Urgency:

  • Original German estimate: Russia could threaten NATO by 2029
  • Heightened concern due to:
    • Recent espionage, sabotage, and drone incidents across Europe traced to Moscow
    • Potential for Russian sabotage of critical logistics infrastructure in Germany

• Direct Insights:

  • “If a military convoy... lands at a port in northern Germany... it will need to transit through very densely country... relying on the police to ensure that the convoys have priority while they travel on the highway, the railways.”
    — Bertrand Benoit, WSJ Germany Bureau Chief [07:51]

  • “The most secret part of the plan is about how to circumvent the bottlenecks where bridges can no longer carry heavy military convoys... making sure that... improving the infrastructure is being done as quickly as possible and prioritise the military routes towards the front line.”
    — Bertrand Benoit [09:38]

• NATO’s Strategic Alarm:

  • "Russia is adding more military capacity than it needs in Ukraine... these are things that we see in a small way still are beginning to happen. When airports are blocked for hours... important railway data cables cut, preventing traffic for several hours, these are all attacks on infrastructure that has a big military component."
    — Bertrand Benoit [10:31]

4. Economic Pulse: Gen Z Tightens Spending

• Holiday Retail Landscape:
  • Despite overall resilient holiday spending, Gen Z reports plans to cut back by 34%—a sharper pullback than any other age group (Source: Deloitte survey).
  • Decrease is also evident in travel, dining out, and clothing spend.
• Drivers of Gen Z Caution:
  • High living costs
  • Heavy student debt
  • Youth unemployment at 6.8%, highest in a decade outside the pandemic
  • Social and economic uncertainty
• Economic Impact:
  • Gen Z currently accounts for 8% of retail spending but exerts outsized influence through social media and trend-setting behaviors.
  • Quotable:

    "They have an economic impact which is then amplified by their social media influence and by the fact that they're going to become bigger spenders. Or they would in normal years have become bigger spenders in the years ahead."
    — Quentin Webb, Deputy Finance Editor [12:45]

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• Steve Witkoff (U.S. Special Envoy) on Ukraine talks:

  "We continue to be realistic about how difficult this is, but optimistic... this is not just about ending the war... it is about securing Ukraine's future." [02:07]

• Michelle Hackman (Immigration Reporter) on Afghan asylum freeze:

  "We have reported that they were actually looking at a lot of the ideas that they are now implementing... they have said that they're going to reopen all of these refugee and asylum cases." [03:41]

• Donald Trump on Honduran president’s conviction:

  "If somebody sells drugs in that country, that doesn't mean you arrest the president and put him in jail for the rest of his life... They said it was a Biden set up." [05:11]

• Bertrand Benoit (Germany bureau chief) on NATO military transport:

  "...the role of Germany is pivotal, a sort of giant logistical operation to ferry NATO troops from west to the front line in the east." [07:51]
  "The most secret part of the plan is about how to circumvent the bottlenecks where bridges can no longer carry heavy military convoys." [09:38]

• Quentin Webb (Finance Editor) on Gen Z spending:

  "On top of that, you've got to think that these are people who are primed to become over the next few years a much bigger part of the retail economy." [12:45]

Timeline of Important Segments

• [00:33] – Headlines Introduction, Caitlin McCabe
• [01:03] – [02:24] – In-depth review of Ukraine peace negotiations
• [03:41] – [04:30] – Afghan immigration halt after D.C. attack, analysis by Michelle Hackman
• [04:30] – [05:32] – U.S. policy toward Honduras and potential presidential pardon, Trump’s comments
• [07:02] – [11:34] – Germany’s Operation Plan Germany, interview with Bertrand Benoit
• [11:39] – [13:24] – Gen Z holiday spending slump, commentary by Quentin Webb

Tone and Style

The episode maintains a brisk, fact-based tone throughout, blending news urgency with analytical depth, and punctuating key developments with direct quotes from both officials and WSJ reporters. The interview segments provide exclusive, on-the-ground insights, supplementing the headline coverage with broader context.

For listeners (or readers) who missed the episode, this summary captures the critical themes: behind-the-scenes Ukraine diplomacy, the complexities of U.S. immigration and foreign policy, Germany’s race to shore up NATO defenses, and the profound implications of Gen Z’s economic caution for the future.