Hegseth Likens Easter Rescue of U.S. Airman to Resurrection of Jesus Christ

President Trump also asserted that God supports the American war against Iran “because God is good, and God wants to see people taken care of.”



Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaking at a news conference at the White House on Monday. Kenny Holston/The New York Times

By Chris Cameron
Reporting from Washington
April 6, 2026

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday likened the rescue on Easter Sunday of a missing American airman shot down over Iran to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Minutes later, speaking at the same news conference describing the military operation, President Trump asserted that God supports the Israeli-U.S. war against Iran, which has killed thousands, including many civilians. “Because God is good,” he said, “and God wants to see people taken care of. ... Mr. Trump continued: “God doesn’t like what’s happening. I don’t like what’s happening. Everyone says I enjoy it. I don’t enjoy this.” ... “I don’t like seeing people get killed,” he said.

In his account of the rescue operation, Mr. Hegseth drew parallels between the airman’s ordeal and the account of Christ’s death and Resurrection given in the Bible. ... The F-15E fighter jet, he noted, was “shot down on a Friday — Good Friday.” That is the day Jesus was crucified. ... After the airman bailed out over Iran, he hid, Mr. Hegseth said, “in a cave, a crevice, all of Saturday,” reminiscent of the tomb cut into a rock in which Jesus was buried.

Then, he said, the airman was rescued on the day Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus — “flown out of Iran as the sun was rising on Easter Sunday.” ... “A pilot reborn, all home and accounted for, a nation rejoicing,” the defense secretary said. “God is good.”

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Chris Cameron is a Times reporter covering Washington, focusing on breaking news and the Trump administration.