Trump Blesses His Kind of Christians at Prayer Breakfast

Trump’s “personal pastor,” the Prosperity Gospel televangelist who will lead a White House Faith Office, lays hands on him during his first term. Photo: Lynne Sladky/AP Photo

For a politician who thinks of himself as having a divine mandate to restore American greatness, Donald Trump hasn’t had the best relationship with Christian leaders at the beginning of his second term. He publicly rebuked the Episcopal bishop of Washington, D.C., Mariann Budde, for begging him to be merciful toward people fearing his presidency in a sermon marking his inauguration. His Catholic vice-president got into a verbal tussle with his own church over its insistence on providing services to undocumented migrants. And his chaos agent Elon Musk went after Lutheran organizations that have refugee-resettlement contracts with the government. Even though many MAGA types were quick to deny the legitimacy of non-MAGA Christianity, it still wasn’t a good look for this self-righteous administration.

It was probably with great relief, then, that Trump was able to speak to his kind of Christians at a pair of National Prayer Breakfast events in Washington on Thursday. (The National Prayer Breakfast is a tradition that dates back 70 years. In a 2023, a dueling event was established over concerns about the private right-wing group that sponsors it.) At his first stop on Capitol Hill, Trump repeated his claim that divine intervention saved his life and his political comeback during last summer’s assassination attempt. “Let’s bring religion back,” he said. “Let’s bring God back into our lives.”

Presumably, that meant the right kind of religion and the God of Trump’s choice. The president was more explicit about his preferences at the second traditional event still favored by many conservative Christians, as the Associated Press reported:

An hour after calling for “unity” on Capitol Hill, Trump struck a more partisan tone at the second event across town, announcing that he was forming a commission on religious liberty, criticizing the Biden administration for “persecution” of believers for prosecuting anti-abortion advocates.

He also said he would name his new attorney general, Pam Bondi, to lead a task force to “eradicate anti-Christian bias.”

And Trump took a victory lap over his early administration efforts to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion programs and to limit transgender participation in women’s sports.

“I don’t know if you’ve been watching, but we got rid of woke over the last two weeks,” he said. “Woke is gone-zo.”

Trump’s transphobic edict was one of the things Bishop Budde had warned against in the sermon that so displeased the 47th president. More generally, his idea of “religious liberty” clearly means accommodating conservative Christian demands for “conscience protections” for those who don’t want to comply with liberal laws on reproductive rights, LGBTQ equality, or public-health regulation of religious gatherings. It presumably doesn’t extend to Christians offering services or sanctuary to undocumented immigrants threatened by his mass-deportation plans. The Bondi task force is very unlikely to “eradicate” government bias against religious organizations that displease the administration.

At the second Prayer Breakfast, Trump was introduced by Paula White, the “prosperity gospel” televangelist and practitioner of “spiritual warfare” against liberals. She is closely aligned with the New Apostolic Reformation brand of Pentecostal Protestants determined to conquer government and every other major institution for conservative Christianity, who were very active in planning and praising the events of January 6. Trump announced that White will return to the White House (where she was an adviser during his first term) to head up a Faith Office. In a rambling and self-indulgent address, Trump attacked the Biden administration as anti-Christian and professed amazement that any Christian might have voted Democrat in 2024. He devoted a significant portion of his remarks to a boast about pardoning anti-abortion activist Paulette Harlow, who was there at the breakfast to show her thanks. Harlow was convicted of violating laws protecting access to abortion clinics.

It’s increasingly clear that in his second term, Trump will continue to cultivate his relationship with Christian Nationalists who are pleased with his appropriation of their religion to his cause, while attacking Christians whose faith leads them in a very different direction. We already know Trump’s 2024 victory touched off a “struggle for the soul of the Democratic Party” among those trying to figure out how to oppose him. But he may have also triggered a “struggle for the soul” of religious believers, whom he is polarizing as part of his drive for power.