Somewhere between the strategy briefings and the supply chain logistics, a U.S. military commander reportedly took a moment to inform troops that President Trump had been anointed by Jesus Christ himself to wage war on Iran. We assume this was delivered with the same tone of matter-of-fact authority usually reserved for weather updates and mess hall hours.
According to reporting on the matter, this framing wasn’t an isolated pep talk but part of a broader pattern of military leadership describing potential conflict with Iran in explicitly religious, even apocalyptic, terms. Watchdog groups have raised concerns about troops being told a war is part of “God’s divine plan,” which is one way to boost morale, we suppose, if your morale runs on End Times energy.
There is, as far as we’re aware, no official process by which Jesus anoints a sitting U.S. president for a specific military campaign. No paperwork, no burning bush press release, no verified account. Just, apparently, a commander’s word, passed down the chain like any other order.
The separation of church and state remains, at least on paper, a foundational American principle. The separation of church and military briefing room appears to be a work in progress.
Don’t take our word for it: Democracy Now! has the full story. It’s exactly as described.