Did a U.S. military commander tell troops that President Trump was "anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon"? Here's what we know so far: The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) said on its website that it has received hundreds of similar complaints. Asked to provide the original email or identifying information, the organization declined, citing client confidentiality, though its president offered to connect Lead Stories with any clients who voluntarily waive anonymity. Lead Stories asked the Pentagon whether it was aware of these allegations, had received any formal complaints, and was investigating any of them. A duty officer with Pentagon Press Operations said, "We have nothing further to provide on this."
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on the MRFF website on March 3, 2026, titled "MRFF Inundated with Complaints of Gleeful Commanders Telling Troops Iran War is 'Part of God's Divine Plan' to Usher in the Return of Jesus Christ." It opened:
This morning our commander opened up the combat readiness status briefing by urging us to not be 'afraid' as to what is happening with our combat operations in Iran right now. He urged us to tell our troops that this was 'all part of God's divine plan' and he specifically referenced numerous citations out of the Book of Revelation referring to Armageddon and the imminent return of Jesus Christ. He said that 'President Trump has been anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth.' -- MRFF active duty NCO [noncommissioned officer] client, writing on behalf of themself and 15 other unit members
MRFF has received over 200 calls from more than 50 military installations across all the services since Saturday reporting similar disturbing pronouncements from their Christian zealot commanders.
This is what the post on the MRFF website looked like at the time of writing:
(Image source: post on MRFF website.)
Conflict in the Middle East
The United States and Israel launched a military operation against Iran on Feb. 28, 2026, which killed Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in an airstrike on his compound in Tehran. Iran has responded with drone and missile strikes against the U.S. and allied targets across the Middle East.
Military Religious Freedom Foundation
The nonprofit MRFF supported its claim by publishing what it said was an email it received from an "active duty military NCO." Any information that might identify them was redacted. It said:
Mr. Weinstein thank you for taking my calls and the calls of some of my colleagues as to what happened earlier this morning with our combat unit.
Please protect my identity and the identities of those I'm speaking for as we discussed.
Our unit is not currently in the combat zone AOR (Area of Responsibility) regarding the Iranian attacks but we are in a "Ready-Support" function where we could be deployed there at any moment to join and augment the combat operations as participants.
I am a (NCO rank withheld) in our unit. This morning our commander opened up the combat readiness status briefing by urging us to not be "afraid" as to what is happening with our combat operations in Iran right now. He urged us to tell our troops that this was "all part of God's divine plan" and he specifically referenced numerous citations out of the Book of Revelation referring to Armageddon and the imminent return of Jesus Christ. He said that "President Trump has been anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth". He had a big grin on his face when he said all of this which made his message seem even more crazy. Our commander would probably be described as a "Christian First" supporter. He has been this way for a very long time and makes it clear that he desires all of us under him to become just like him as a Christian. But what he did this morning was so toxic and over the line that it shocked many of us in attendance at the ops readiness briefing. Besides myself I am reaching out to MRFF on behalf of 15 fellow troops. I know you asked me about the religious views of our group who has requested help from the MRFF. I can only tell you that I am Christian and at least 10 of the others are also Christians. One of the others is Jewish and one is Muslim. I don't know the religious or non-religious status for the other three at this time.
I and my fellow troops know that it is completely wrong to have to suffer through what our commander said today. It's not just the separation of church and state as we discussed Mr. Weinstein. It's the fact that our commander feels as though he is fully supported and justified by the entire (combat unit's name withheld) chain of command to inflict his Armageddon views of our attack on Iran on those of us beneath him in the chain of command.
I hope by sending this email to you that this will help expose these wrong actions which destroy morale and unit cohesion and are in violation of the oaths we swore to support the constitution.
The MRFF website says the group works to make sure everyone in the U.S. Armed Forces has the religious freedom promised to them -- and to all Americans -- under the First Amendment.
Independent journalist Jonathan Larsen first reported the story on Substack (archived here) before it went viral.
In a March 4, 2026, phone call, MRFF President and Founder Mikey Weinstein refused a request to provide a copy of the original email with the sender's address, name, and any other identifying information redacted so Lead Stories could confirm its veracity. He said:
I have to decline to send you that original email . . . We just don't do that here. People are too terrified, and they should be of reprisal, revenge, and retribution. We've been doing this for over 20 years. . . .
We cannot. We're not going to send anything with the headers or metadata or anything like that. . . . It's a policy we have here. We will never . . . come within light years of doing anything to reveal anything like remotely close, closely get to any of our sailors, soldiers, marines, airmen.
Weinstein said if any MRFF clients volunteered to waive their anonymity about these claims, he would put them in touch with Lead Stories.
Pentagon
In a March 4, 2026, email to the Pentagon Press Operations duty officer, Lead Stories asked the Department of War to respond to these questions about the MRFF claim:
- Is the Department aware of these allegations?
- Has the Pentagon received any formal complaints through official channels regarding commanders making religiously framed statements about current or potential combat operations involving Iran?
- Has any inquiry or investigation been initiated into these claims?
- What guidance, if any, does the Department provide to commanders regarding religious expression in official briefings, particularly in operational or combat-readiness contexts?
- Does the Department have any comment on the specific allegation that a commander characterized U.S. military action as divinely ordained or connected to Christian eschatology?
The duty officer did not directly respond to the questions but instead referred Lead Stories to a pair of videos (here and here) with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from March 2, 2026. Neither addressed the questions posed in our original email.
In a second email, Lead Stories again asked the Pentagon duty officer to respond to the five questions. They said:
We have nothing further to provide on this.
