Donald Trump and news host-turned-MAGA star Tucker Carlson have been locked in an escalating war of words, with the president calling his former Fox News star an “idiot” after the fiercely conservative commentator suggested Trump was pushing the conflict with Iran toward nuclear war — and even suggested he might be the Antichrist.
In a recent call with New York PostTrump backed away from Carlson after the critic blasted the president’s profanity-laced and threatening Easter morning social media post, in which he warned he could level bridges and power plants in Iran and fumed over the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
“Tucker is a low-IQ person who has absolutely no idea what is going on,” the president told the tabloid. “He calls me all the time, and I don’t answer his calls or deal with him. I like to deal with smart people, not fools.”
The desecration of Easter was the first step towards nuclear war. Christians need to understand where Trump is taking us.
0:00 monologue
43:23 Paula White’s Strange Easter Service
51:17 Who is Paula White really?
57:24 How did Paula become Trump’s spiritual advisor?
1:00:03… pic.twitter.com/LurDKGg8WS— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) April 6, 2026
On Monday’s episode of his video podcast, Carlson — now a dominant voice in the conservative online media landscape, with 21 million followers across X and YouTube combined as of late 2025 — attacked Trump during an Easter Sunday post, rebuking the president for using vulgar language and threatening mass violence on a day when Christians celebrate and reflect on the life of Jesus Christ.
In his post on Truth Social on Sunday morning, Trump repeated his threat to strike Iran’s energy infrastructure if the country does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key passage through which nearly 20% of the world’s oil supply passes.
“An entire civilization will die tonight, never to come back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” the president wrote. “However, now that we have a complete and comprehensive change of system, where different, smarter, less extreme minds prevail, perhaps something revolutionary could happen. Who knows?”
“We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the world. Forty-seven years of blackmail, corruption and death will finally end. God bless the great people of Iran!” “Open the strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll live in hell – just watch! Thank God,” Trump added before warning the country.
Carlson’s response on his popular web show was clear and wide-ranging. He called the post “despicable on every level,” criticized the substance and timing of Trump’s message, questioned the scope of presidential power implied by the threat, and distilled it down to a dark theory that the president could be the Antichrist.
“How dare you talk like that on Easter morning to the countryside?” Carlson said. “Who do you think you are? You’re tweeting that on Easter morning.”
Hence, Carlson’s criticism of Trump’s language has given way to a more speculative argument that invokes Christian eschatology, where the Antichrist is described as a deceptive political figure heralding global unrest.
Carlson also urged White House staff and other government officials to resign rather than carry out orders they consider illegal or dangerous.
He said: “These people who are in direct contact with the president need to say: No, I will resign. I will do everything I can legally to stop this, because this is crazy. If you give the order, I will not carry it out. Find out the symbols on the football for yourself.”
This religious framing echoes revelations from Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against Fox News, in which filings showed Carlson sent a private text message in 2021 saying he hated Trump “with a passion” and called him a “satanic force” — a glimpse of tensions that preceded their current public feud.
The two appeared to reconcile in 2023, when Trump defended Carlson after his ouster from Fox News and chose to sit for an interview on Carlson’s web show rather than participate in a primary debate.
More recently, Carlson has emerged as a contradictory voice within the MAGA sphere, at times breaking with Trump while aligning himself with figures like Candace Owens and Megyn Kelly.
Speaking of Kelly, it seems as if Trump can still at least count on her support, despite their on-and-off disagreements. She told her audience this week that there is not much the president can do to make her vote Democratic.
“I mean, frankly, Trump could drop a nuclear weapon, and I would vote Republican over those people,” Kelly joked on her show.
