The World and Everything in It: April 14, 2026

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MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

A new phase in the war with Iran: a naval blockade choking off its economic lifeline.

POMPEO: President Trump … will cut off essentially all revenue that has been flowing into the Iranian regime …

NICK EICHER, HOST: Also today, peace talks in this country between Israel and Lebanon.

And combatting the black market for abortion drugs.

Later: a university symphony gives young students a concert experience all their own.

WOLYNEC: To actually see professional-level musicians performing and presenting this in a program that's been tailor made for them, there's just so many positives for it.

And WORLD Opinions Commentator Denny Burk on the president and blasphemy.

REICHARD: It’s Tuesday, April 14th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher. Good morning!

REICHARD:Up next, Kent Covington with today’s news.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Iran latest » The White House says it’s up to Iranian leaders to decide whether the war in Iran will end or resume. Vice President JD Vance said Monday:

VANCE:  We have the cards, we have the military advantage, we now have additional economic pressure that we're applying on them through the blockade that we've imposed on their oil coming outta the Strait of Hormuz. So, uh, we have a lot of cards. We have the leverage, and we're gonna see what the Iranians do with that.

It was Vance who led the U.S. delegation to Pakistan for those direct weekend peace talks with Iranian leaders.

The White House says Iran wasn’t budging on giving up their nuclear ambitions.

VANCE:  They were unable. I think the team that was there wanted was unable to cut a deal and they had to go back to Tehran, either from the Supreme leader or somebody else, and actually get approval to the terms that we had set.

President Trump has expressed optimism that a deal will still come together. But he says the outcome will be “unpleasant” if Iran refuses to take a deal with the United States.

Pakistan has offered to host more talks, but none have been publicly announced. The 2-week ceasefire is set to expire early next week.

Commission on religious liberty » The Trump Administration’s religious liberty task force held its final meeting on Monday, to discuss threats to religious freedoms in America.

WORLD’s Carolina Lumetta reports from the nation’s capital.

CAROLINA LUMETTA: Commission members asked faith leaders and advocates from across the country how the federal government may have violated their religious conscience.

They also previewed recommendations they plan to hand to President Trump to better protect religious liberty.

Commissioner Kelly Shackelford suggested that the administration allow the IRS to fine a church for preaching politics in order to trigger a court challenge to overturn the Johnson Amendment. That amendment bars nonprofits from endorsing or opposing political candidates.

And Commission Chairman and Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick recommended requiring businesses and schools to post information about employees’ religious rights.

PATRICK: We need to push back every time we hear separation of church and state, we need to say there is no separation of church and state. That's a lie. And every time I'm going to make it very clear, because we know that's what the Constitution says.

LUMETTA: The Commission is set to deliver their final report to the president next month. However, Patrick plans to send a letter to Trump asking him to extend the commission for at least another year.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Carolina Lumetta in Washington.

Swalwell exits » Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell is ending his campaign for California governor and resigning from Congress following allegations of sexual misconduct.

Reports from The San Francisco Chronicle, and then CNN detailed the accusations by a former staffer and multiple other women.

Numerous Democrats had been calling on the congressman to step down, including fellow California Congressman Ro Khanna:

KHANNA: He should step aside, I've called for House ethics investigations. I've called for, uh, law enforcement investigations.

The Manhattan District Attorney's office says it is investigating one of the alleged incidents. Swalwell denied the accusations.

Meantime, Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales of Texas says he’ll file paperwork today to retire from Congress amid pressure from fellow Republicans to step aside. That comes after Gonzales admitted to an affair with a staff member who had later died by suicide.

Pacific typhoon » Super Typhoon Sinlaku is barreling toward the Northern Mariana Islands — a U.S. territory packing sustained winds of nearly 170 miles per hour.

The storm was forecast to be the strongest on Earth this year. It’s expected to cross near the islands of Tinian and Saipan as a Category 4 or 5 typhoon.

President Trump approved emergency disaster declarations over the weekend and FEMA has dispatched nearly 100 staff to the region.

At least 100 dead in Nigeria » Families are mourning in Nigeria after a Nigerian Air Force airstrike meant for jihadi rebels slammed into a crowded market, killing more than 100 people.

WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more.

KRISTEN FLAVIN: Human rights groups confirmed the death toll from survivors in Yobe state. That is near the heart of a Boko Haram insurgency that has ravaged the region for more than a decade.

The military says it struck a terrorist stronghold in the area but made no mention of hitting the market. The Yobe state government said only that people at the weekly market were “affected.

The Associated Press says at least 500 civilians have died in similar strikes since 2017. Amnesty International is calling for an independent investigation of the weekend airstrike.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: a new phase in the war with Iran, a naval blockade choking off its economic lifeline. Plus, peace talks between Israel and Lebanon.

This is The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHER, HOST: It’s Tuesday the 14th of April.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Up first, the latest on Iran and for that let’s welcome Ryan Brobst. He is deputy director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, with a focus on U.S. defense and military strategy. Ryan, good morning!

RYAN BROBST: Thank you for having me.

REICHARD: A week ago, it looked like the war might be ending. But now talks have failed, and the U.S. has imposed a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz that will choke off Iranian exports. The president said the ultimate goal is all in, all out. So how do you assess the strategy here?

BROBST: So right now what we're seeing is that Iran is continuing to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, selectively allowing a small number of vessels to go in and out. And I think the reason why President Trump announced the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is that, you know, if Iran is going to be blockading it, we shouldn't allow them to profit from that blockade at the same time, profit from selling their oil at higher prices, while stopping all of our partners in the Gulf from doing so at the same time. So I think this is a way to increase leverage in negotiations and make it clear to Iran that there's going to be a cost if they continue blockading the strait.

EICHER: Ryan, seems a bit backward in a way, and it may not be, but it seems that way to see U.S. strategy begin with five weeks of all-out military bombardment, and then with a breakdown of talks, the shift goes to economics. I want to play a soundbite from former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who had this to say yesterday:

POMPEO: President Trump has essentially gone for the jugular. He will cut off essentially all revenue that has been flowing into the Iranian regime, and so now they’ll have to decide…

So Ryan, why do you think the administration believes that economic pressure will succeed where military pressure didn't seem to get the job done? Could it be as simple as Iran's leverage over the strait was kind of the only thing they had left?

BROBST: I think that's part of it. And this is part of an effort by the Trump administration to bring all elements of national power to bear on Iran. It's worth noting that during the military campaign, is not, there's significantly less Iranian oil getting out as well. And since these negotiations look like it might stretch on for a longer period of time, it makes sense that we can use these tools that have a longer time horizon, such as, you know, economic warfare to increase the pressure on Iran. So it's a little bit of an interesting order of things. It is also worth noting that economic pressure was also applied to Iran before the conflict began. So I see this as more of a continuation of strategy.

REICHARD: Well, we are seeing mixed signals from allies. There is talk of efforts to help reopen the strait. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the UK is leading efforts to reopen the strait. But Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday contradicted that. So what does that tell you about how aligned the U.S. and its allies are right now?

BROBST: So I think the U.S. and our allies are aligned on the fact that we want the Strait of Hormuz to be open to all commerce. That's a clear goal. What's less clear is how aligned we are on how to actually get to that point. So there's certainly appetite for pressuring Iran to reopen it, but it's seemingly unlikely that European countries are at least in the immediate future going to be sending their warships to help out with these efforts. The Trump administration has, you know, there were significant strains over Greenland earlier in the year, they kind of poisoned the relationship a bit. So it's not surprising to see that there’s more of a reluctance to commit forces right now. That may change in the near future. And our European allies do have some mind sweeping capabilities that could be quite useful. So time will tell.

EICHER: So let's zoom out a little bit more. What do you think this blockade might mean for China? Do you think it increases China's leverage or might it just increase China's vulnerability?

BROBST: They are certainly interested in this and want ships to and from China to be able to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. They don't necessarily have a ton of leverage yet as the People's Liberation Army's Navy does not have a very significant presence in there, certainly not compared to the U.S. Navy. But this could lead to China putting pressure on both the U.S. and potentially Iran to resolve this impasse.

EICHER: Well, now we've been talking about the blockade, but let's not forget the one thing the president said is the absolute red line for the U.S. and that is no nuclear weapons for Iran. That's clearly the message the vice president carried into the talks that broke down over the weekend.

VANCE: The simple question is, do we see a fundamental commitment of will for the Iranians not to develop a nuclear weapon, not just now, not just two years from now, but for the long term? We haven't seen that yet, we hope that we will.

Ryan, how does that shape what the U.S. does next?

BROBST: This is likely to be the largest sticking point in negotiations is over Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium as well as their ability to enrich it in the future. Iran likely sees that a nuclear weapon might be able to protect them from similar attacks in the future. But at the same time, continuing to possess that increases the likelihood that there's going to be a resumption of hostilities right now. And this has been an issue with Iran for decades at this point. So it's not surprising to me that we were unable to resolve this issue in just one weekend and negotiations over this are likely to stretch out for quite some time.

REICHARD: Ryan Brobst of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who focuses on U.S. defense and military strategy. Ryan, we appreciate your time today. Thank you.

BROBST: Thank you.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: Peace negotiations between Israel and Lebanon. Negotiators from both countries will meet in Washington today to discuss a potential ceasefire. The aim is to stop rocket and air attacks across their shared border.

NICK EICHER, HOST: At issue: whether Lebanon will agree to rein in the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah. WORLD Reporter Travis Kircher has the story.

TRAVIS KIRCHER: At Israel’s northern border, certain sounds have become a normal part of life.

SOUND: [Air raid sirens in northern Israel]

Like air raid sirens recorded by a resident who witnessed rockets fired across the border from Lebanon late last month. The sounds you hear are Israeli air defenses intercepting the rockets. And on Monday:

SOUND: [Rocket attack aftermath]

Israel rescue services picked through debris after they said a 60-year-old woman suffered injuries from a rocket attack. Those rockets, fired by the Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah.

SOUND: [IDF strike in Beirut]

Over the past few weeks, the Israeli military has conducted what it says are targeted airstrikes against Hezbollah militants, like this one late last month on the terror group’s headquarters in southern Beirut.

SOUND: [Funeral for Red Cross worker]

On Monday a funeral was held for a Lebanese Red Cross worker who died in an Israeli drone attack.

MOTHER: [Speaking in Arabic]

Speaking here, the Red Cross worker’s mother says she’s waiting for a phone call from her son that will never come.

Israel’s actions have increasingly drawn criticism from world leaders.

Spokesman for the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs Pascal Confavreux told Fox News Sunday:

CONFAVREUX: The strikes have to stop on Lebanon. Lebanon is heavily destabilized. There is 1 million of displaced persons. There is almost 2,000 victims. Second, Iran has to stop terrorizing Israel through Hezbollah because Hezbollah chose to bring Lebanon into a war which is not Lebanon's war.

Israeli government spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian says the Israeli military only targets Hezbollah militants, but they often embed themselves in civilian areas.

BEDROSIAN: Our actions are not against Lebanon and its citizens but against a murderous terrorist organization that has taken the Lebanese people as hostages. Now that Hezbollah has been so severely degraded, the government in Lebanon reached out for us for talks. 

Bedrosian says the Israeli government comes to Washington today with firm conditions.

BEDROSIAN: We will not discuss a ceasefire with Hezbollah, which continues to carry out indiscriminate attacks against Israel and our civilians.

Instead, she says Israel will deal only with the Lebanese government, which must promise to deal with the terror group itself.

BEDROSIAN: We're looking to make sure that there is some type of agreement between our two countries that would have to do with peace, peace relations between Israel and Lebanon, and also of course, the first and most important thing right now is to ensure that Hezbollah is disarmed, (that) they are demilitarized, and so is southern Lebanon as well.

SALAM: Speaking in Arabic

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Sunday that he’s committed to finding a way to reach a ceasefire and end the war.

But that won’t be easy, especially amid the U.S. and Israel's ongoing conflict with Iran, currently paused by a fragile two-week ceasefire. Lebanon’s place in that ceasefire has been a point of contention.

Both the United States and Israel claim the current ceasefire deal with Iran does not include Lebanon. But Iranian leadership insists that it does. Tehran says it will only guarantee an end to the war in Iran if Israeli attacks in Lebanon stop.

SOUND: [Beirut protests]

In Beirut, demonstrators gathered over the weekend to protest against the negotiations.

And calls by Israel for Hezbollah to disarm drew sharp criticism from the head of the group:

QASSEM: [Speaking Arabic]

Speaking here, he said his organization rejects any negotiations with Israel, calling them pointless.

Today’s talks are considered a starting point for negotiations. If successful, those talks could continue in the days and weeks ahead.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Travis Kircher.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Up next on The World and Everything in It, pro-lifers and lawmakers sound the alarm over online abortion-drug providers.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Black market abortion pills are nothing new. But since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, pro-life advocates say more websites are offering to ship the drugs to women. And they’re not adhering to the few remaining protections.

Now, members of Congress are calling on the Trump administration to crack down on the illegal pills. Here’s WORLD’s Lauren Canterberry.

LAUREN CANTERBERRY: Heather Lawless is no stranger to buying abortion pills online. Last year, she spoke to someone on the Signal app who said they could help her do just that.

LAWLESS: I said I need them sent to me. I’m in Idaho, is that allowed?

Idaho protects nearly all women and babies from abortion and abortion drugs. But the anonymous stranger on the other end of the Signal chat replied.

LAWLESS: Yes, you can take abortion pills in the state of Idaho. Email this email and they’ll send you the abortion pills for free.

Lawless wasn’t pregnant, and the drugs were not for her–or anyone else. She’s the founder and CEO of the pro-life Reliance Ministries and she says she and her team have seen the number of black market abortion pill sites skyrocket since the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court decision.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not recommend buying abortion drugs online, and has only approved mifepristone for use in at-home abortions through 10 weeks.

But on Signal, the user went ahead with telling Lawless how to get the pills, even when she said she was 12 weeks pregnant.

LAWLESS: I filled out the form and then they sent me an email and they sent me a protocol for 11 to 16 weeks.

The abortion drugs Lawless has received come in packaging different from the manufacturers’, usually with little to no instructions or information about risks and side effects.

LAWLESS: They come in these little black baggies that like heroin would come in or fentanyl would come in.

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions has taken notice of the same problems Lawless has found: that many abortion drug suppliers that market to American women do not comply with the U.S. government’s requirements.

In March, it asked the FDA and mifepristone makers to combat the online sale of unapproved and misbranded abortion drugs. But they missed the committee’s deadline last week to respond to questions about how they regulate abortion pills.

Dr. Ingrid Skop is the vice president and director of medical affairs for the Charlotte Lozier Institute.

SKOP: Abortion has been able to follow its own rules outside of the normal way that medicine is practiced.

In 2011, the FDA recognized mifepristone posed serious health risks, and so it implemented a REMS. a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy program to ensure it was prescribed correctly and to track adverse outcomes. But the agency has since expanded the drug’s use from 7 weeks of pregnancy to 10 and removed key protections—like the in-person dispensing requirement.

SKOP: It continues to require the prescriber to accurately assess the gestational age, to rule out ectopic pregnancy, and to be available if a woman has a complication that requires surgery.

But Skop said since many women and girls order the drugs without ever speaking to a doctor or even visiting a pharmacy these requirements are nearly impossible to follow.

SKOP: You don’t have to look very far to discover that abortion drug prescribers are not following the REMS.

The FDA also requires the three approved mifepristone manufacturers to decertify prescribers who don’t follow the REMS plan. Something they have NOT been doing.

According to the Senate HELP Committee’s letters, all three direct women to third-party websites which openly advertise the drug for use after the 10th week of pregnancy. The senators argue that the companies appear to be promoting prescribers who are not following regulations. And they say the FDA has not done enough on their end either.

SKOP: I think it is absolutely critical that the FDA police its own prescribers. Their job is to serve the American public. Their job is to protect women and girls from dangerous drugs.

During the first Trump administration, some effort was made to hold illegal sellers of abortion pills accountable, though with little success. Now in Trump’s second term, pro-lifers say there’ve been even fewer attempts.

Many pro-lifers say the best move would be to reinstate the in-person dispensing requirement for abortion drugs that was in place during Trump’s first term.

Jamie Dangers is the director of federal affairs for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.

DANGERS: The pipeline now is so wild west and so there's, there's no way of protecting women.

She says requiring women to obtain abortion drugs from a prescriber in-person is an obvious way to protect them from the dangers of chemical abortions.

DANGERS: This letter, I think, really lays out how low the bar is right now.

But even if the administration does not reinstate the dispensing requirement, Danger said holding abortion drug sellers accountable for failing to follow the REMS plan would still be a good step. Whether the FDA will do so, remains to be seen.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Lauren Canterberry.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Gimme a break.

And not just a piece of that Kit Kat bar. 

Thieves in Europe broke off an entire shipment— more than 400-thousand candy bars — about 12 tons of chocolate when it’s all tallied.

A truck was carrying the Kit Kats from a factory in Italy on its way to Poland.

The truck itself? Still missing. As are the chocolate bars.

Now the company behind Kit Kat is asking for help—launching an online tracker … so customers can check the batch code on their bars … and see if their chocolate is hot, so to speak.

No suspects so far.

But here’s hoping the candy culprits soon find themselves behind less tasty bars.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Tuesday, April 14th.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: A musical mission. Teaching young students about music doesn’t just check extracurricular boxes. It can boost literacy, strengthen math skills, and even raise graduation rates.

REICHARD: And when live performances are crafted specifically for kids, the experience can spark new interests.

WORLD Senior Writer Kim Henderson recently attended just such an event. Here’s her report.

KIM HENDERSON: It’s 10 a.m. on a Friday. Sunlight is streaming through a bank of sky-high windows in historic Bennett Auditorium at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Gregory Wolynec is the university’s director of orchestral activities. He takes the mic and gives some background on the composer of the piece the audience is about to hear.

WOLYNEC: His name was George Gershwin . . .

The audience is mostly elementary students. Rows and rows of them.

WOLYNEC: And George Gershwin was famous because he wrote lots of popular hits, things that you would hear, maybe on the radio, . . .

The university’s internationally recognized orchestra begins to play George Gershwin’s composition, An American in Paris.

The music is beautiful. Very polished and professional. But it’s mid-morning on a workday. Why would a university symphony go to the trouble of putting on a concert just for kids?

WOLYNEC: The target audience usually for these programs is third to fifth grade. That's the couple of years before they decide whether or not they want to get involved within instrumental music in their schools. So if we can do something to sort of light that spark that's a primary objective for me with the children's concerts.

Wolynec is enthusiastic and relatable. He has an easy rapport with this crowd.

WOLYNEC: George, can we hear a little of our special instrument? [sound of horns] Taxi horns! [crowds laughs] . . .

The kids love it when Wolynec introduces another instrument.

WOLYNEC: The tuba! [Crowd claps.]

He teaches them about Mississippi’s musical connections.

WOLYNEC: The blues developed over in the Mississippi Delta . . .

MUSIC: [BLUES]

Still, Wolynec doesn’t like to interrupt the performance too much.

WOLYNEC: It's really better if the students can also get sort of the context of the piece. So if we took a work that's 20 minutes long and then divide it into four sections that are about five minutes each, that's a manageable chunk that children of this age can follow.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, students who study music develop more than just musical abilities. They benefit in science and math, too. Also, at-risk students enrolled in music and arts courses find school more engaging. They’re less likely to drop out, and they’re more likely to pursue higher education.

For children’s concerts, Wolynec likes to add a layer of visual stimulation to keep students’ attention. The orchestra members are dressed in black, and above them a video plays on a huge screen.

WOLYNEC: One of my graduate assistants, Carlos Tello, spent many hours mining archival footage to find, you know, Paris in the 1920s. There's some very famous taxi horn sounds that go on and sort of the bustling city. So he was able to capture that through archival video. And then he and another student also worked to animate a figure of George Gershwin, who was sort of walking around Paris…

The choice of Gershwin’s music for today’s concert was intentional. An American composer for America’s 250th birthday.

Another intentional component: making sure the orchestra members buy in on the importance of playing for kids.

WOLYNEC: The first day of the semester, I called a mandatory meeting for everyone that would play over the course of the semester, explained what the calendar was, and then said, we have the opportunity to do a children's concert. . . .

Mariah Atwood is a member of the orchestra. She’s getting her masters in trumpet performance. She was there when they voted unanimously to do the concert.

ATWOOD: This is always super fun for us. It's another opportunity to perform it before our big performance, and we always like entertaining the kids when they come.

WOLYNEC: We have a trumpet solo, and it sounds something like this: [sound of trumpet] Oh, yeah! [Kids clap.]

Going forward, Wolynec says his orchestral conducting students will be expected to design and present a children’s concert like this one, where students listen until the very end.

INTERACTION: Thank you. Thanks for coming. That was such a treat. Thank you, because usually the concerts are at night with kids.

As some adults stop to thank Wolynec after the concert, a mom explains in one word why she drove her children more than an hour for the experience. Exposure.

MOM: It's not something I can offer my kids at home, so I think it's neat they can see it firsthand, see what it's like.

Wolynec agrees.

WOLYNEC: We can watch videos, we can listen to recordings, we can talk about music, but to actually see professional level musicians performing and presenting this in a program that's been tailor made for them. There's just so many positives for it.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kim Henderson in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. One image posted online—then quickly deleted—has stirred backlash, even among the president’s supporters.

It showed Donald Trump in a way many Christians say crosses a line.

EICHER: WORLD Opinions contributor Denny Burk says the explanation for it doesn’t hold up—and the deeper issue shouldn’t be ignored.

DENNY BURK: Sunday night, President Trump posted an image that offended even some of his strongest Christian supporters.

By yesterday, it was gone.

But the explanation that followed only made things worse. Listen:

REPORTER: Mr. President, did you post that picture of yourself depicted as Jesus Christ?

TRUMP: Well, it wasn’t depicted. It was me, I did post it, and I thought it was me as the doctor and had to do with Red Cross. There was a Red Cross worker there, which we support. And, ah, only the fake news could come up with that one, so. I, I had, ah, I just heard about it and I said, ‘How do they come up with that? It’s supposed to be me as a doctor making people better.’ And I do make people better. I make people a lot better…

That explanation strains credulity. The image didn’t depict a doctor. It showed Trump in flowing robes—radiant, healing, surrounded by symbols of power and reverence. People looking on… even appearing to pray.

No reasonable person sees that and thinks physician.

What makes this worse is not just the image—but the defense of it.

Some supporters have argued that the president is simply expressing faith… that Christians are overreacting… that prayer and healing are part of Christian life.

But that misses the point entirely.

The issue is not prayer. The issue is blasphemy.

Scripture is not silent about this kind of thing.

When King Nebuchadnezzar took glory for himself, God brought him low—driving him from his throne until he recognized who truly rules.

When King Herod accepted praise as a god, the book of Acts says he was struck down on the spot.

These are not obscure warnings. They are clear. God will not share His glory.

There is a pattern here. Irreverence. Carelessness. A willingness to treat sacred things as tools—for humor, for messaging, for effect.

And it shows up in moments like this—where something plainly serious is waved away with a casual explanation.

None of that changes the central issue: God is not mocked. There is a limit to how long such things go unanswered.

Whether judgment comes now or later is not for us to say. But Scripture is clear that it does come.

There is still time for repentance.

But repentance is more than deleting a post, or offering a thin explanation.

It means taking responsibility. Turning away. And turning toward Christ.

Making blasphemy “great again” will not end well—not for the president, and not for those who excuse it.

For WORLD, I’m Denny Burk.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Tomorrow: Congress returns to work, we’ll talk politics on Washington Wednesday with Hunter Baker. And, athletes in an endangered college sport, find and share good news. That and more tomorrow.

I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

The World and Everything in It comes to you from WORLD Radio. WORLD’s mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires.

The Bible says, “Say among the nations, ‘The LORD reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.’ Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it!” —Psalm 96

Go now in grace and peace.

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