"Let us thank the Lord for the fantastic victory over Israel's enemies" - with these words, 85-year-old pastor John Hagee addressed worshippers in his huge church in San Antonio, Texas. Hagee is no ordinary person, notes ARD. 20 years ago, he founded the lobbying organization “Christians United for Israel”, which claims to have 15 million members in the United States. This may be an exaggeration, but Christian Zionists are a fairly large and influential part of American white evangelicals, and consequently of the MAGA (Make America great again) movement.
At the same time, these people are not so much interested in Israel as a safe state for Jews as in the “holy land”, where they expect the Second Coming to occur after the end of the world. Hagai and his like-minded people have long demanded that the US overthrow the “godless” regime in Tehran. Now they hope that their moment has come.
Trump's unkept promise
However, Trump was elected with the promise not to start new wars, but to end the old ones, ARD recalls. That is why he was supported by another faction in the MAGA movement – Christian nationalists, driven by the idea of "America First", who are hostile to Christian Zionists. The isolationism that nationalists profess dates back to the early 1940s, when "America First" became a slogan against US participation in World War II. At that time, this movement was completely anti-Semitic.
Currently, the most vocal representative of this faction is former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. In his latest podcast, he even stated: "This is Israel's war alone". According to Carlson, the US was drawn into this war by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who lied and manipulated Donald Trump. Carlson's conspiracies have gone so far as to speculate that Israel played a role in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States.
The far right doesn't accept this war
Unlike Christian Zionists, the isolationist camp is not well organized. Its leaders are mainly influencers and podcasters, who, however, reach a huge audience online. The line between right-wing extremists and conspiracists like Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes and this group of Trump supporters is blurred. Fuentes wrote on his X profile: “Trump betrayed the MAGA movement and the slogan “America First”. He lost his mandate”. Just a few months ago, Fuentes appeared on Carlson's podcast. This week, convicted conspirator Alex Jones gave him a platform to spread his absurd theories.
The ideological differences between Christian Zionists and isolationists are insurmountable, writes ARD. However, Trump somehow managed to unite them in his movement. Now he may not care about the rift among his supporters, but for his potential successors - such as J.D. Vance, for example - this could become a major challenge. A few months ago, at an event of Turning Point USA - the organization of Charlie Kirk, who was killed in 2025 - a fierce argument broke out between the two sides in this conflict. The US vice president tried to please both sides and refused to distance himself from extremists like Nick Fuentes. Instead, he said that the conservative movement was “open to anyone who loves America”.
“The Christian Conflict”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who is now called Secretary of War, has so far avoided criticism, even though he also bears responsibility for the war. The image that Hegseth is trying to build - as a “Christian warrior” - seems to appeal to both factions in the MAGA movement. He no longer shows off his tattoos, which include crucifix symbols, but he does invite Christian nationalists to church services at the Pentagon.
At one of the so-called prayer breakfasts there, Pete Hegseth delivered a kind of sermon from his position as US Secretary of War, ARD writes. "The soldier who gives his life for his unit, his country and his Creator will live eternally," Hegseth said.
In the first 48 hours of the Iran war alone, the civilian organization "Foundation for Religious Freedom in the Army" received more than a hundred complaints from 40 different military units that commanders had spoken about the Christian meaning of the war in Iran. At least 15 soldiers - including Christians, Jews and Muslims - received an email in which their commander instructed them to tell the soldiers that "this war is part of God's plan." The officer constantly talked about the battle of Armageddon and the imminent return of Jesus Christ.
Author: Arnd Henze ARD