The far-right Christians pushing Trump's war -- to bring on the apocalypse

The far-right Christians pushing Trump’s war — to bring on the apocalypse
“Apostles” and “prophets” on the Christian fringe think Iran may lead to Armageddon — and they love it

By Frederick Clarkson
Published April 4, 2026 9:00AM (EDT)


(Salon) On March 9, Donald Trump posted a nine-year old video on Truth Social that seemed to reveal his worsening political desperation. The video is a compilation of clips of charismatic Christian prophet Kim Clement, spliced together from 2007 appearances in California and Arizona. (Clement died in 2016.) The clear implication is that Clement was identifying Trump as God’s choice for president. Now some MAGA leaders may be taking the prophecy show on the road.

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The late Prophet Clement and others like him are part of a growing and politically connected movement within charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity called the New Apostolic Reformation. Its leaders, apostles and prophets say they are empowered and informed by direct revelations from God, and they are seeking religious and political dominion over society. (Although the NAR, by design, does not resemble more mainstream religious denominations, its honorific titles are not random or self-assigned.)

Notable apostles and prophets who have gained some public notoriety include Apostle Lance Wallnau, who waged a national voter mobilization campaign among low-propensity evangelical voters on Trump’s behalf in 2024; Apostle Dutch Sheets, who played a role in the planning and execution of the Jan. 6 insurrection; Apostle Ché Ahn, who was a candidate in this year’s California gubernatorial election until the secretary of state barred him from the ballot for neglecting to file the necessary paperwork (he is still running a write-in campaign); and Apostle Paula White-Cain, a friend and spiritual adviser to Trump.

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Mikey Weinstein, president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, sees the Trump administration’s attempt to cast the Iran war as a religious conflict as both dangerous and dangerously out of sync with foundational American values of religious equality and separation of church and state. .......................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2026/04/04/the-far-right-christians-pushing-trumps-war-to-bring-on-the-apocalypse/