Trump’s Biblical War in the Middle East

When the modern vocabulary fails to describe the modern world, I often reach into scripture. Scripture has already seen empires rise drunk on power, kings convinced of their divine mandate, and courts filled with men who transform violence into prophecy. The Qur’an tells the story of Pharaoh and his magicians: a ruler who claimed authority beyond human limits, and surrounded himself with performers who could dress domination in the language of the sacred. Their function was spectacle. Pharaoh ruled through force; the magicians translated that force into signs and wonders so the crowd would see destiny where oppression is.

That image returned to me when I saw the photograph from the Oval Office: Donald Trump seated behind the presidential desk while religious figures crowd around him, hands placed upon his shoulders, voices raised in prayer. The scene presents itself as solemn. The language they speak is reverent. They ask God to protect American troops and deliver victory. Yet the image feels ancient in the most malevolent sense: a ruler preparing war while clerics sanctify the moment. Power at the center of the room. Ritual orbiting around it.

But the image spills beyond the borders of a metaphor. Reports now show that the theology circulating around this war has entered the structure of the American military itself.

President @realDonaldTrump welcomes prayer in the Oval Office with pastors from across the country 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/2LeNcYmmtq

— Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) March 5, 2026

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation says it has received more than 110 complaints from service members across dozens of U.S. military installations – describing commanders who framed the strikes on Iran as a biblical event tied to the Book of Revelation and the coming of Armageddon. One complaint describes a briefing where troops were told that the war unfolding in Iran was “all part of God’s divine plan” and that President Trump had been “anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran” that would usher in the return of Christ.

Pause on that sentence long enough and the full absurdity emerges. Nuclear-armed states and modern militaries are guided by men who believe they are participants in an apocalyptic script. Fighter jets launch, missiles strike cities, soldiers prepare for combat, and somewhere inside the chain of command there are officers interpreting the violence through the language of Revelation.

The language is not confined to obscure briefings. The Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, recently told a national Christian outlet that he prays for U.S. troops, and that members of the cabinet do the same, presenting prayer as part of how he approaches leadership during wartime.

The symbolism surrounding Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth reinforces the message. Hegseth carries a tattoo on his arm of the Arabic word “kafir” – “infidel” – alongside other imagery associated with medieval crusader slogans. Biblical war prayers and blessings for the troops are becoming a regular feature of his addresses to the army. When the official responsible for directing American military power speaks openly about prayer guiding the conduct of war while bearing symbols that frame the conflict in civilizational and religious terms, the boundary between policy and prophecy begins to dissolve.

War is no longer described simply as strategy or national interest. It is narrated as part of a sacred struggle.

Civilizations collapse when this fusion of power and certainty goes unchallenged. Political authority wrapped in divine approval creates a machine that no longer recognizes limits. Pharaoh did not simply rule Egypt; he believed he embodied cosmic order. His magicians reinforced the illusion by turning every act of domination into proof of divine favor. When a state begins to interpret war through prophecy, the same logic takes hold. Violence stops being a policy choice and becomes destiny.

The photograph from the Oval Office captures that psychology perfectly. Trump sits at the center while men around him close their eyes and speak directly to heaven on his behalf. They do not pray for restraint. They do not pray for peace. They pray for victory.

In that room the war has already been given its spiritual narrative. The bombs that fall tomorrow are already sanctified today. From a distance it appears surreal. From within the American political system it has become normalized. Christian nationalist language has circulated through segments of the military and political establishment for years, linking U.S. power to a vision of history in which war in the Middle East becomes the stage for biblical prophecy. The reporting emerging now simply exposes the logic openly.