特朗普与赫格斯谈伊朗战争：“上帝是仁慈的”

Trump and Hegseth on Iran war: ‘God is good’

2026-04-06 5:02 PM ET / CNN Politics

Analysis by Zachary B. Wolf

PUBLISHED Apr 6, 2026, 5:02 PM ET

President Donald Trump, alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, speaks about the conflict in Iran at the White House on April 6, 2026.

Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images

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Far from shying away from the idea that there is a religious aspect to the US-Israeli war on Iran, US government leaders are leaning into it, invoking God and promising fire and brimstone for Iran’s civil society if its leaders do not buckle to US demands.

“This is one of our better Easters, I think, in a lot of different ways. I can say militarily, it’s been one of the best,” President Donald Trump said Monday, drawing a strange parallel between US military might against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the resurrection of Jesus in the Christian faith.

Promising vengeance, invoking God

Over the weekend, one of Trump’s social media posts promising US vengeance against Iran sounded like it was ripped out of the Old Testament. He chased that with an invocation of a higher power.

> “Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT. Time is running out – 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them. Glory be to GOD!” – President DONALD J. TRUMP pic.twitter.com/cVb7leFmAv

>

> — The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 4, 2026

Trump declined to share more plans, but he said the deadline for his demands is Tuesday. In another post he dropped an f-bomb and referred to Iran’s leaders as “crazy bastards.”

Monday, Trump pivoted from his appearance at the annual White House Easter Egg roll to the news conference, where he renewed his pledge to bomb Iran’s civil infrastructure if the country doesn’t agree to up the Strait of Hormuz and release the world’s oil supply.

US airman ‘reborn’ in rescue

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who prefers to go by his Trump-anointed secondary title of secretary of war, also talked about Easter in the context of war with Iran during the news conference.

“Over this Easter weekend, the United States military has once again proved why we possess the greatest fighting force the world has ever known,” said Hegseth, who has prioritized Christian prayer services at the Pentagon and posted about the resurrection of Christ from his official Pentagon social media accounts for Easter.

> View this post on Instagram

Hegseth added an element of faith to his story about the airman rescued in a massive operation.

“When (the downed airman) was finally able to activate his emergency transponder, his first message was simple and it was powerful. He sent a message, ‘God is good.” In that moment of isolation and danger, his faith and fighting spirit shone through,” Hegseth said, before using the term “reborn” to describe the pilot, rescued on the day meant to mark Jesus’ resurrection.

HEGSETH: You see, shot down on a Friday, good Friday, hidden in a cave, a crevice, all of Saturday, and rescued on Sunday. Flown out of Iran as the sun was rising on Easter Sunday. A pilot reborn, all home and accounted for, a nation rejoicing, God is good.

Trump used that same term later when a reporter asked if the president thinks God supports the US in the war.

“I do, because God is good, because God is good, and God wants to see people taken care of,” Trump said, although he added that neither he nor God “like what’s happening.”

Trump may think God is on his side, but if he carries through on threats to target all of the country’s power plants, it would seem to violate international law. Trump brushed off a question about whether his pledge to bomb Iran’s bridges and power plants on Tuesday — effectively targeting the civilian population — would constitute a war crime.

And he refused to say whether any civilian targets might be off-limits, as the laws of war suggest they should. Rather, he said that if Iran does not agree to his demands, infrastructure for the country of more than 90 million people will be in ruins on his command, an awesome power for any one person.

TRUMP: We have a plan because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12:00 tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding, and never to be used again. I mean, complete demolition by 12:00, and it will happen over a period of four hours if we wanted to. We don’t want that to happen.

Trump said he proved his power and willingness by ordering the destruction of Iran’s largest bridge as a lesson to the country’s leaders when his negotiators — Vice President JD Vance, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff — said Iran was retreating from progress toward a deal.

“Within 10 minutes after I gave that order, that bridge was, was over. So. So do I want to do that? No. Do I want to destroy their infrastructure? No. It will take them 100 years to rebuild.”