Trump's cryptic Easter message confuses some critics

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to include different reactions and more context. The photo and headline have also been updated.

When former President Donald Trump officially began his 2024 presidential campaign, he claimed the United States was on the brink of World War III, suggesting he would ensure a peaceful world if elected again.

Then, last month, the former president declared in a Truth Social video his plans "to avert WWIII," saying, "We have never been closer to World War III than we are today under Joe Biden, a global conflict between nuclear armed powers would mean death and destruction on the scale unmatched in human history. It would be nuclear Armageddon."

He added, "We need peace without delay."

READ MORE: Donald Trump announces plan to avert WW3 but goes off script in attack on neocons and Marxists

On April 9 — Easter Sunday – Trump once again took those three words to his Truth Social account, writing, "WORLD WAR III" — but this time he included no additional context in that particular message.

Ron Filipkowski shared a screenshot of the former president's post to Twitter, saying, "Happy Easter everyone!"

A flood of collective confusion across the platform followed.

@Republicans against Trump: "Is it a response to something he just watched on OAN, or he just got a phone call from the Kremlin?"

@TheSnarkTank99·Apr 9, 2023: "Maybe his last supper didn’t agree with him…"

@Scattered211: "Those easter egg hunts at Maralago must be wild!"

But as the UK Independent later explained, Trump's 3-word message was part of multiple "Truths" posted on the former president's Truth Social account on Easter Sunday. "The former president made a series of all-caps rants on his Truth Social platform on Easter Sunday, just days after he made history as the first current or former US president to ever be charged with a crime."

"It began on Sunday morning with a “HAPPY EASTER” wish to “TO ALL OF THOSE WEAK & PATHETIC RINOS, RADICAL LEFT DEMOCRATS, SOCIALISTS, MARXISTS, & COMMUNISTS WHO ARE KILLING OUR NATION," the Independent also noted.

"The tirade continued throughout the day with posts slamming the Biden administration as “the worst in history” in response to reports that the White House was blaming the Trump administration for issues the US faced during the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan."