At a White House Cabinet meeting two weeks ago, Secretary of State Marco Rubio complained about the religious clerics who lead the Iranian government. “These are religious fanatics,” Rubio said.

To be sure, the assessment of officials in Tehran was more than fair, though given what Americans have heard from those seated near the secretary of state, there was a degree of irony to the criticisms. As CNN summarized:

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.

Even in an administration in which references to Christian nationalism have become routine, Monday offered several examples of the broader phenomenon:

• Asked if he believes God supports U.S. actions in Iran, Donald Trump replied, “I do, because God is good, because God is good and God wants to see people taken care of.” He did not elaborate on who is being “taken care of” through U.S. bombing campaigns.
• At the same news conference, the president claimed he was in a position to convey God’s wishes to the public. “God doesn’t like what’s happening,” he added.
• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth explicitly likened the rescue of a missing American airman shot down over Iran to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. “God is good,” he concluded.
• Trump thanked God for “watching” over U.S. forces as they searched for a downed American fighter pilot.

The rhetoric came one day after the Republican published an unhinged threat to Iranian officials through his social media platform, which read in part: “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell — JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.”

What the world is confronting, in other words, is an increasingly unstable leader, threatening to commit war crimes, while insisting that he has divine support for his military ambitions.

And when has that ever gone wrong in world history?

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