Trump’s profane crusade is taking America down a dark path  

On Easter Sunday, President Trump posted a profane missive on Truth Social: “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F—in’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell — JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.”

Two days later, he added, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.” 

These comments appalled even some who have ardently supported the president. Tucker Carlson called them “vile on every level.” Megyn Kelly denounced them as “completely irresponsible and disgusting.” Candace Owens denounced Trump as “a genocidal lunatic.” Alex Jones and Marjorie Taylor Greene advocated removing him from office under the 25th Amendment.

Presidents have long used coarse language, sometimes in public. Lyndon Johnson was famous for his vulgar comments. Richard Nixon’s expletive-laced tirades were revealed in the Watergate scandal tapes. More recently, Joe Biden told then President Obama that passing the Affordable Care Act was a “big f—ing deal.”

Less than 30 percent of Americans, it’s worth noting, believe politicians should use “heated or aggressive language.” Nonetheless, politicians (and the media) are more comfortable with profanity than they used to be. Democrats in particular have embraced the F-word to signal authenticity and connect with audiences enraged by the Trump administration’s policies. 

But what makes Trump’s rhetoric unique — and uniquely dangerous — is not just the frequency and ferocity with which he uses profanity. It is the mutually reinforcing way he combines it with Christian nationalism and racial and religious insults to signal that the only real Americans are white, Christian and of European descent. That approach changes how presidential authority is exercised, weakens democratic norms, and undermines U.S. moral leadership and credibility.

Asked about protections for migrants from Haiti and parts of Africa during his first term, Trump questioned why the U.S. should accept people from “s—hole countries” instead of places like Norway.

In his second term, Trump has renewed and intensified his attacks on immigrants from “hellholes like Afghanistan, Haiti, Somalia and many other countries.” Somalia, he declared, is “filthy, dirty, disgusting, [and] ridden with crime.” Minnesota’s Somali community is “garbage” he does not want “in our country.”

Trump is now using this toxic mix of profanity, xenophobic racism, and Christian nationalism to justify the war with Iran. Shortly after threatening to bomb “the entire country,” Trump suggested God supports the war because “God is good, and God wants to see people taken care of.” And after threatening that “all Hell will reign down” on Iranians (sic), Trump concluded, “Glory be to GOD!” 

Senior officials have echoed this framing. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who has “Deus Vult” tattooed on his arm in honor of the Crusades and a massive Jerusalem Cross on his chest, routinely cites Christian theology to support attacks on Iran. He asked Americans to pray for victory “in the name of Jesus Christ” and compared the rescue of a downed U.S. pilot to the Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

While hosting a monthly Christian religious service at the Pentagon, Hegseth prayed for “every round” to “find its mark against the enemies of righteousness” and for “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.” After giving American troops credit for forcing a ceasefire, Hegseth added, “but God deserves all the glory. Tens of thousands of sorties, refuelings, and strikes carried out under the protection of divine providence, a massive effort with miraculous protection.”

This fusion of nationalism, religion and violence has led some U.S. military commanders to invoke extremist rhetoric about biblical end times and justify the war as “all part of God’s divine plan.” By framing military action as divinely sanctioned, the administration turns political disputes into moral absolutes, making compromise more difficult and restraint less likely.  

The Trump administration’s threats to attack Iran’s energy infrastructure and destroy its civilization in the name of Jesus have prompted sharp rebukes from religious leaders, including Pope Leo, who quoted the Prophet Isaiah as saying God “does not listen” to leaders with “hands full of blood.”  

And as Abraham Lincoln reminded us, we should worry less about whether “God is on our side” and more about whether we are “on God’s side.”  

Trump’s profanity and endorsements of a Christian crusade are doing incalculable damage. In a nation in which only 62 percent of citizens identify as Christians, the president’s justification for his war of choice is eroding trust, intensifying political polarization, and contributing to an environment in which almost half of Americans think members of the other party are “downright evil.” 

As Trump divides Americans while claiming God anointed him to lead the country, his rhetoric and his actions make clear that America and its leaders are no longer what they once were — the linchpin of an international order resting on shared values, laws and respect for national sovereignty.

No other U.S. president has ever so casually proposed attacking civilians, seizing territory of an ally (Greenland), murdering alleged drug traffickers on the high seas, or abandoning NATO. In a matter of months, Trump has managed to persuade some of the country’s closest allies that the U.S. is a greater threat to Europe than China. 

If anyone is saying “Praise be to Allah” now, it may be the leaders in Moscow and Beijing.

David Wippman is emeritus president of Hamilton College. Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Emeritus Professor of American Studies at Cornell University.

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