Latin Phrase "Deus Vult" Has Become a Right-Wing Dog Whistle — What Does It Mean?

In recent years, the right-leaning end of the political spectrum has been known to adopt a lot of coded language shared within their circles. Common phrases like "states' rights," "woke," and more have turned from something more neutral into some seriously charged verbiage that you'll constantly see being used by folks on the right.

One far-right dog whistle that is becoming more popular in the mainstream is the Latin phrase "deus vult" — in fact, President-elect Donald Trump's appointee for Secretary of Defense, Fox News host Pete Hegseth, even has a tattoo of the words across his forearm.

But what do they mean, and why are they so politically relevant?

When translated to English, the phrase "deus vult" means "God wills it." It's a Christian motto that refers to divine providence, or the idea that God is constantly guarding and caring for mankind. While it doesn't sound politically charged, the phrase has a history that comes with a lot of strong connotations.

Modern usage of "deus vult" as a Republican dog whistle comes from the phrase's historical context, which was that of the First Crusade. Reportedly, the phrase was used as a rallying cry by Pope Urban II, emboldening crusaders to carry out their deeds.

If you're unfamiliar with the Crusades, they were a series of religious wars that took place beginning in the 11th century, supported and often initiated by the Latin church with the goal to "recapture the city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslim control," per the World History Encyclopedia.

While the phrase "deus vult" has taken on an array of meanings in 21st century political vernacular, many believe that it is a call for America to become an entirely Christian nation.

Online, right-wing personalities use the phrase to share rhetoric that paints any other religion, particularly Islam, as being some form of evil that must be dealt with in order for the country to reach an idealized state.

One user on X (formerly Twitter), a priest named Calvin Robinson, wrote, "The West has defeated Islam before and we will do so again. Deus vult!"

Another said, "Tolerance is NOT a Christian virtue. We should not make peace with evil, we MUST destroy it. Deus vult."

Netizens elsewhere on the political spectrum have called out the problematic use of the phrase — and their concern about the upcoming Secretary of Defense having a tattoo of it on his body.

"The tattoos are a confession. Hegseth is openly confessing to a White Christian Nationalist ideology: deus vult, Jerusalem cross. ... He wants conservative, white Christians to wage a holy war on the others. The tattoos confess that ideology. The ideology is the story," said attorney and author Andrew L. Seidel on X.

Another user wrote, "Deus vult is explicitly tied to the Crusades and white nationalist groups. That, combined with a Jerusalem cross, another white supremacist symbol, surrounded by weapons tells you exactly what the tattoos mean to [Pete Hegseth]."