Commander Claimed Trump Was ‘anointed By Jesus To Cause Armageddon’ To Justify Iran Strikes: Complaint

A subject commandant told a group of non-commissioned officers that President Donald Trump was “anointed by Jesus to ray nan awesome occurrence successful Iran to origin Armageddon and people his return to Earth,” according to a title revenge pinch a belief state watchdog.

The anonymous title was provided to nan Military Religious Freedom Foundation by 1 of nan NCOs successful attendance astatine nan Monday briefing connected behalf of 15 troops – 11 of whom were Christians, 1 Muslim, 1 Jewish, and 2 atheists – and was first reported by freelance journalist Jonathan Larsen on his Substack.

The NCO said of nan commander: “He urged america to show our troops that this was ‘all portion of God’s divine plan’ and he specifically referenced galore citations retired of nan Book of Revelation referring to Armageddon and nan imminent return of Jesus Christ.”

He added that nan superior “had a large grin connected his look erstwhile he said each of this, which made his connection look moreover much crazy.”

MRFF said nan title was 1 of much than 200 it has received since nan joint U.S.-Israeli battle connected Iran began successful nan early hours of Saturday morning.

“Anytime Israel aliases nan U.S. is progressive successful nan Middle East, we get this worldly astir Christian nationalists who’ve taken complete our government, and surely our U.S. military,” Mikey Weinstein, MRFF’s president and a U.S. Air Force veteran, told The Guardian.

“Military members are not really capable to guidelines up for themselves, because your subject superior is not your displacement head astatine Starbucks.”

Weinstein told Military.com that his statement had already had “ good successful excess of 200” complaints from “well successful excess of 50 installations,” adding: “They are continuing to travel successful everywhere.”

“What we’ve been saying forever, if you look backmost successful history whenever you’ve merged immoderate benignant of belief fanaticism pinch nan machinery of nan authorities that conducts war, we do not extremity up pinch small babbling brooks, creeks, streams, ponds aliases lakes. We extremity up pinch 1 thing: oceans and oceans of blood.”

Weinstein noted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s hard-line Christianity, which has included holding monthly dream services astatine nan Pentagon and reportedly attending a religion successful Washington, D.C., associated pinch Christian nationalist pastor Doug Wilson.

“Why is anybody surprised? Hegseth makes it clear, ‘Here’s nan template that we want,’” he said. “That afloat encourages 1 of those Christian nationalists, commanders and members of nan concatenation of bid – whether they judge it aliases not. They cognize it’s a measurement to get ahead, to effort to rationalize [the mission].”

Last summer, nan Pentagon was forced to explain that Hegseth does judge women person nan correct to vote aft nan caput posted a video connected societal media successful which different pastor, Jared Longshoreman, expressed his support for scrapping nan 19th Amendment.

Trump himself has often trim an unconvincing fig connected matters of faith.

He famously struggled to sanction a favourite transition from scripture successful an August 2019 question and reply pinch Bloomberg and has sold “God Bless nan U.S.A.”-branded copies of nan Bible, which takes its sanction from a patriotic state opus by Lee Greenwood and includes nan Constitution of nan United States, nan Bill of Rights, nan Declaration of Independence, and nan Pledge of Allegiance thrown successful for bully measure.

Trump’s version of nan Good Book is printed successful China, retails for $59.99, aliases $1,000 for a signed copy, and is disposable successful pink-and-gold and camouflage editions.