President Trump’s memorandum of understanding with Iran is drawing sharp reactions from the evangelical leaders who helped power his political coalition — with some defending the president’s strategy while others warn the deal risks betraying Israel.
The split comes as Trump works to convert military pressure into a diplomatic framework without losing the faith bloc that delivered him the White House.
Dr. Mike Evans, founder of the Friends of Zion Heritage Center in Jerusalem and a close Trump ally, told Fox News Digital that critics are underestimating the president.
“Donald Trump was key to ending the Gaza war, he was key to getting hostages out of there and he was key in breaking the back of the Iranian regime, including destroying its navy, air force, missile defense and leadership.”
Evans said there are 750 million Bible-believing Christians worldwide who identify as Zionists. While they may disagree on Israeli political issues, he said, they agree Israel is the biblical homeland given by God to the Jewish people through Abraham.
Before the election, Trump met with Christian groups and asked whether they would support him, Evans said. They agreed — on the condition that he support Christian values in the United States and stand by Israel.
“He promised to do both and so far he’s exceeded all of our expectations,” Evans said.
The White House defended the agreement, noting that Operation Epic Fury dismantled Iran’s military capabilities in February during a 38-day campaign coordinated with Israel.
“President Trump and his negotiating team have brokered an excellent, performance-based MOU that advances the interests of the United States by ending the fighting, reopening the Strait of Hormuz to significantly lower energy prices, and forcing Iran to commit to abandon its nuclear ambitions,” White House Spokesperson Olivia Wales told Fox News Digital.
Rev. Johnnie Moore, President of The Congress of Christian Leaders, told Fox News Digital that opposition to President Obama’s catastrophic Iran deal was one of the top three reasons evangelicals rallied to Trump in 2016.
“Evangelicals know, and President Trump knows, that words on paper don’t change terrorists. Accountability does. Action does. This President has been willing to confront the Iranian regime in ways no predecessor would, and the regime has never been weaker,” Moore said.
“Evangelicals trust President Trump entirely. That does not mean that we trust many of those now involved in the negotiation.”
The risk Trump must manage, Moore added, is that Tehran turns this into a stalling game — as it tried with his own team at least twice and did successfully with Presidents Biden and Obama.
Other evangelical leaders expressed sharper concerns.
Laurie Cardoza-Moore, president of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations, told Fox News Digital that evangelical Christians were largely responsible for the election of the current administration — and the Iran agreement is extremely worrying.
“One of our core issues is the Biblical requirement to stand with Israel and G-d’s chosen people as described in the Books of Genesis and Obadiah. As the Bible teaches, those who stand with Israel will be blessed, and those who curse her will be cursed,” she said.
“There is a strong feeling that Israel is being betrayed and thrown under the bus in favor of the Islamic Republic of Iran. We are particularly concerned about recent harsh and false statements made by Vice President Vance, which could be perceived as cursing Israel,” she added.
Vance has supported Israel but has also said he is willing to criticize the country when he believes its actions warrant it. He condemned antisemitism in February, telling the Daily Mail, “I think Jew hatred is disgusting.”
But Vance has also made clear that support for Israel does not mean automatic agreement with Netanyahu’s government.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu, look, he governs a country that has obviously been a very close partner of the United States. But, even when we’ve been close partners, sometimes we have interests that are perfectly aligned, and sometimes we have interests that are misaligned,” Vance said in an interview on “CBS Sunday Morning” June 10.
The Trump administration publicly released details of the memorandum outlining plans for immediate waivers on Iranian oil exports, a framework for at least $300 billion in reconstruction and economic development assistance if a final agreement is reached, and a 60-day negotiating period aimed at securing a comprehensive deal on Iran’s nuclear program.
Pastor John Hagee, founder and chairman of Christians United for Israel, told Fox News Digital that in its current form, the MOU appears ill-advised at best, as the military gains achieved by Washington and Jerusalem have yet to be fully realized.
“I have yet to hear from anyone who was not surprised by such an about face in signing the MoU. Who would not be concerned with the U.S. effectively agreeing to forever negotiations with a highly militarized radical Islamist regime, flush with cash, in pursuit of nuclear weapons.”
Most evangelical Christians, Hagee added, see what everyone else sees: The U.S. negotiating team appears to have fumbled the ball on the one-yard line.
“From a religious perspective, we have a divine mandate to stand with Israel. From a national security perspective, we have no stronger or wiser ally anywhere in the world,” Hagee said.
“The Islamic Republic declared war on the West the day it was founded nearly half a century ago. That has not changed. Democracies rarely get to decide who their enemies are. The only conclusion to this conflict is regime change through domestic revolution in Iran,” Hagee added.
Evans predicted Trump is likely to extend negotiations beyond the initial 60-day timeframe, carrying them through the end of the year and beyond the midterm elections. President Trump, Evans said, will then break the economic back of the regime, take Kharg Island and completely bankrupt Iran.
“I am not panicking because I know Donald Trump. I am the strongest supporter in the state of Israel of Donald Trump. I am the one that hosted the embassy gala, put up all the billboards and gave him an award. I am not panicking over this,” he said.
Dr. Jürgen Bühler, president of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, said his organization has witnessed up close for decades how the Iranian regime has progressively raised the sword of radical Islam over Israel, as well as over indigenous Christians throughout the Middle East.
“Given the current deal being worked out with Iranian leaders, we share the sense of most Israelis that the war against this intolerable Iranian threat has been stopped short of its needed objective,” he told Fox News Digital.
Ultimately, Bühler said, the best and most just answer to the Iranian threat is genuine regime change in Tehran.
Heather Johnston, founder and president of the U.S.-Israel Education Association, said in a statement to Fox News Digital that the U.S.-Israel relationship has advanced American interests for decades and should be strengthened — not strained — by U.S. diplomacy with Iran.
“Iran’s long record of supporting terrorism and threatening Israel gives Americans ample reason to assess this agreement carefully and skeptically. Any diplomacy with Iran should be measured against whether it advances or undermines that progress,” she said.
