On the same day evangelist Franklin Graham was giving an Easter Sunday sermon televised on “60 Minutes,” his friend, President Donald J. Trump, was mocking Islam and threatening to cut power to all Iranian civilians on Truth Social.
“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran,” Trump’s post said. “There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.”
Asked on Monday for his thoughts on the president’s message, which stood in contrast with the message of peace and forgiveness Graham preached from Minneapolis, Graham didn’t denounce Trump.
“Our President, Donald J. Trump, sometimes chooses words to express himself that I do not agree with, but I support stopping evil to save lives,” Graham said in an emailed statement provided by a spokesperson. “President Trump is trying to protect the world from a very serious nuclear threat and give the people of Iran a chance at freedom. I pray for him and our military as he leads this nation during a very turbulent time in our history.”
Graham, the CEO of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, is an ally of the president.
In March, Graham urged voters in the midterm election to support candidates who would further the MAGA agenda.
Trump returned Graham’s kindness in March by posting a letter he received from the son of the late Billy Graham to Truth Social in which Graham reassured the president he’d get into heaven if he followed Jesus Christ. The letter came after Trump helped broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
“Maybe you responded in jest, but it is an important issue to know for certain that your soul is secure and will spend eternity in the presence of God,” Graham said in his letter dated Oct. 15, 2025. “The only One who can save us from Hell is Jesus Christ. You can’t save yourself; I can’t save myself. Good works, prominence, success — none of these get us to Heaven. The only way to Heaven is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.”
The president’s threats against Iran continued Monday when he said at a press conference that the “entire country could be taken out.” Trump said Iran has until 8 p.m. Tuesday to make a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or infrastructure, including power plants and bridges, could be targeted by U.S. attack.
Iran shut off U.S. access to the strait, through which much of the world’s oil travels, after the U.S. and Israel attacked the Middle Eastern country on Feb. 28. Gas prices have skyrocketed in the U.S.
“I mean, complete demolition by 12 o’clock,” Trump said. “It’ll happen over a period of four hours if we want it to. We don’t want that to happen.”
The president has been condemned for his remarks about Iran and Islam by groups that include the Council on American-Islamic Relations, who called them inflammatory.
“These statements are not made in a vacuum. They follow a long pattern of anti-Muslim rhetoric and policies that have dehumanized Muslims at home and abroad,” the organization said in a news release on April 5. “The casual use of ‘Praise be to Allah’ in the context of violent threats reflects a disturbing willingness to weaponize religious language while simultaneously denigrating Islam and its followers.”
Related Stories from Charlotte Observer
Jeff A. Chamer
The Charlotte Observer
Jeff A. Chamer is a breaking news reporter for the Charlotte Observer. He’s lived a few places, but mainly in Michigan where he grew up. Before joining the Observer, Jeff covered K-12 and higher education at the Worcester Telegram & Gazette in Massachusetts.
