Donald Trump and the Christian Right

Trump’s Personal Contact with Charismatic Christianity

As a young man Trump attended a Presbyterian church where Norman Vincent Peale preached positive thinking. In 2002 he saw Paula White on television — a charismatic Pentecostal pastor preaching a form of prosperity theology. Trump invited her to Trump Tower and she became his spiritual adviser and contact with charismatic Christianity. She later took a role in the White House, overseeing support for faith-based organisations. 

Unlike Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, Trump himself has never been a regular churchgoer. Some of his most devoted Christian followers do not consider him a Christian; others claim he has been converted. 

Christianity as an Identity Marker for Republicans

Trump enjoys strong support from various Christian groups in the United States. Rasmusson notes that right-wing populism in the U.S. intersects with broader socio-cultural divides, often described in political science as a contrast between cosmopolitans and populist communitarians. Here, religion — particularly Christianity — serves as a cultural identity marker. 

Since the 1980s, the Republican Party has often been perceived as the Christian party, while the Democratic Party is associated with an educated, urban upper-middle class that some perceive as increasingly critical of Christianity and progressive on social issues. For many voters this cultural divide reinforces support for Trump. Ultimately, economic concerns were the decisive factor for many Christian voters — but many are also personally devoted to Trump. His polarising media presence allows him to frame issues in stark, competing realities, a strategy embraced by the MAGA movement, in which Trump is seen as the one who will restore democracy, uphold the rule of law, cleanse the state of corruption, reinstate a Christian society, and secure peace and prosperity globally.

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More Extreme Factions

Christian Trump supporters are not monolithic. Traditional elements of the Christian right have focused on family policy, opposition to abortion, strong defence and free-market principles. More recently, independent Pentecostal movements led by self-appointed prophets have grown in prominence. These groups view Trump as God’s chosen instrument for returning the United States to a Christian nation. This has helped foster a form of ‘Trump cult’ in which opposition is demonised and unconditional support is expected. Many among these groups were present during the events of 6 January 2021, despite leaders distancing themselves from the violence. 

Another emerging group is neo-Calvinist teonomists, who are active on social media. Although they may not see Trump as a Christian, they support his policies with the goal of creating a culturally Protestant, ethnically homogeneous nation with restricted female authority and limited suffrage; some even entertain the idea of a temporary dictatorship. 

A Tool in a Populist Revolution

In academic circles a range of Catholic lawyers, political scientists and theologians advocate for a strong state grounded in national community, an expanded welfare system, strictly regulated capitalism and conservative (Catholic) family policy. From this perspective, Trump can be seen as a tool for an alliance between an emerging elite and broad masses in a populist revolution aimed at overturning the old liberal order. Vice-presidential figure J.D. Vance has been linked to such ideas, although how they align with Trump’s actual policies is debated. 

Criticism and Division Among Major Denominations

Mainline denominations typically avoid party politics but may take stances on specific issues. The Catholic Church, for example, has sharply criticised Trump-era immigration policy and the dissolution of the U.S. federal aid agency USAID. Several older Protestant denominations have expressed similar concerns. At the same time, the Southern Baptist Convention — which underwent a conservative realignment in the 1980s — tends to support Trump, even as it faces internal accusations of being “woke” for apologising for its past support of slavery, segregation and racism. 

There are still many tens of millions of evangelicals and Catholics who do not support Trump. Publicly outspoken Christian critics — even those who are conservative both theologically and politically — report harassment and, at times, threats. 

Jesus Quotes Become “Left-Wing Propaganda”

Many Catholic and evangelical theologians argue that MAGA Christianity has sold its soul for political power. According to Rasmusson, Trump and this form of Christianity stand in complete opposition to their critics’ understanding of core Christian values such as truth, justice, trust, humility, care and mercy. Pastors recount that when they quote Jesus in sermons, they are accused by congregants of spreading left-wing propaganda. 

More extreme supporters argue that personal Christian life and politics follow distinct moral logics: one rooted in Jesus’s teachings and example, the other in what they view as a divinely ordained political order where politics is about defeating enemies, often by force. 

Text: Hanna Erlingson