By Apps Support Bel茅n Fern谩ndez
After ordering the United States military to bomb Iran last month, US President Donald Trump made a brief address at the White House to laud the 鈥渕assive precision strike鈥 that had allegedly put a 鈥渟top to the nuclear threat posed by the world鈥檚 number one state sponsor of terror鈥.
The speech, which lasted less than four minutes, ended with the invocation of God鈥檚 name no fewer than five times in a span of seven seconds: 鈥淎nd I wanna just thank everybody and in particular, God. I wanna just say, 鈥榃e love you God, and we love our great military 鈥 protect them.鈥 God bless the Middle East, God bless Israel, and God bless America.鈥
Of course, the terminology deployed in the speech was problematic before we even got to the rapid-fire mention of the Almighty by a man who has never been particularly religious. For one thing, Iran simply lacks the credentials to qualify as the world鈥檚 鈥渘umber one state sponsor of terror鈥; that position is already occupied by the US itself, which, unlike Iran, has spent the entirety of its contemporary history bombing and otherwise antagonising folks in every last corner of the Earth.
The US has also continued to serve as the number one state sponsor of Israel, whose longstanding policy of terrorising Palestinians and other Arabs has now culminated in an all-out genocide in the Gaza Strip, as Israel seeks to annihilate the territory and its inhabitants along with it.
But anyway, 鈥淕od bless Israel.鈥
This, to be sure, was not the first time that Trump relied on God to sign off on worldly events. Back in 2017, during the man鈥檚 first stint as president, the deity made various appearances in Trump鈥檚 official statement following a US military strike on Syria. God, it seems, just can鈥檛 get enough of war.
God made a prominent return in January 2025, taking centre stage in Trump鈥檚 inauguration speech 鈥 yet another reminder that the separation of church and state remains one of the more transparently disingenuous pillars of American 鈥渄emocracy.鈥 In his address, the president revealed the true reason he had survived the widely publicised assassination attempt in Pennsylvania in July 2024: 鈥淚 was saved by God to make America great again.鈥
Part of making America great again was supposed to be focusing on ourselves instead of, you know, getting wrapped up in other people鈥檚 wars abroad. But the beauty of having God on your side means you really don鈥檛 have to explain too much in the end; after all, it鈥檚 all divine will.
Indeed, Trump鈥檚 increasing reliance on the Almighty can hardly be interpreted as a come-to-Jesus moment or a sudden embrace of the faith. Rather, God-talk comes in handy in the business of courting white evangelical Christians, many of whom already see Trump himself as a saviour in his own right based on his valiant worldwide war on abortion, among other campaigns to inflict earthly suffering on poor and vulnerable people.
The evangelical obsession with Israel means Trump has earned big saviour points in that realm, as well. In 2019, for example, the president took to Twitter to thank Wayne Allyn Root 鈥 an American Jewish-turned-evangelical conservative radio host and established conspiracy theorist 鈥 for his 鈥渧ery nice words,鈥 including that Trump was the 鈥渂est President for Israel in the history of the world鈥 and that Israeli Jews 鈥渓ove him like he鈥檚 the King of Israel鈥.
And not only that: Israelis also 鈥渓ove him like he is the second coming of God鈥.
Obviously, anyone with an ego as big as Trump鈥檚 has no problem playing God 鈥 especially when he already believes that his every proclamation should spontaneously be made reality, biblical creation story-style.
Former Arkansas governor and zealous evangelical Mike Huckabee, who once declared that 鈥渢here is no such thing as a Palestinian鈥 and who is now serving as Trump鈥檚 ambassador to Israel, has done his own part to encourage the president鈥檚 messiah complex, writing in a text message to Trump that 鈥淚 believe you hear from heaven 鈥 You did not seek this moment. This moment sought YOU!鈥
So it was only fitting that Trump should thank and profess love for God after bombing Iran in accordance with Israel鈥檚 wishes 鈥 not that US and Israeli interests don鈥檛 align when it comes to sowing regional havoc and ensuring the flow of capital into arms industry coffers.
And yet, Trump is not the only US head of state to have enjoyed wartime communications with God. Recall the time in 2003 that then-President and 鈥渨ar on terror鈥 chief George W Bush informed Palestinian ministers of his 鈥渕ission from God鈥.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath would go on to quote snippets from Bush鈥檚 side of the conversation: 鈥淕od would tell me, 鈥楪eorge, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan.鈥 And I did, and then God would tell me, 鈥楪eorge, go and end the tyranny in Iraq.鈥 And I did.鈥
Now, Trump doesn鈥檛 like to take orders from anyone, even if they鈥檙e from on high. However, he鈥檚 made it clear that he鈥檚 not opposed to ingratiating himself with God in the interest of political expediency.
Some evangelical adherents see the current upheaval in the Middle East as potentially expediting the so-called 鈥渆nd times鈥 and the second coming of Jesus 鈥 which means the more war, the better. And the more that God can be portrayed as an ally in US and Israeli-inflicted devastation, the better for Trump鈥檚 delusions of deification.