Evangelicals supporting Donald Trump gathered at an Atlanta charismatic megachurch Monday afternoon for a National Faith Summit organized by his faith adviser and decades-long friend, Paula White Cain, who lobbed softball questions before an audience she claimed included “thousands of pastors … and faith leaders.”
Jack Graham
Among those participating was Southern Baptist megachurch pastor Jack Graham of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. Graham, a former Southern Baptist Convention president, stood at Trump’s lefthand side during a time of prayer and was the first to pray over him.
Graham prayed: “We thank you O God, and we come to you in the name of Jesus. … We thank you for our country. We love you, Jesus, and we also love our country. We thank you that you have raised up a man, Donald J. Trump, to be a warrior for the word of God and the wisdom that comes from God. Thank you for protecting him, for keeping your hand of blessing on him, and we pray as you raise him up once again to be our president that you would give him strength and wisdom and joy in the journey.”
The Summit was organized by White’s National Faith Advisory Board, which claims to represent “32,000 faith leaders” who want to “proudly continue the work we began in the Trump White House.”
During the Q&A, Trump told White he would revive the White House faith office she helped him set up in his first term if he’s reelected next Tuesday, Nov. 5. He said he would again ask her to lead and find staff for the office.
“We pray as you raise him up once again to be our president that you would give him strength and wisdom and joy in the journey.”
“We have to save religion in this country,” Trump said. “Religion is under serious threat (and) it’s the fabric of our country, the thing that holds it together.”
The event opened with Trump entering the stage to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” White swayed and raised her hands, as if to a Christian worship song, while the crowd offered a standing ovation.
White repeatedly testified to Trump’s robust faith and to God’s presence in his life, but his meandering responses offered little substance. Summarizing his faith and church attendance during his childhood and youth, the most he could muster was, “Bottom line, it made me feel good.”
“God wants our country to be helped,” Trump said later. “It would be a really nice thing to say that.”
Trump also falsely claimed in the interview that he “got rid of the Johnson Amendment,” the IRS regulation that prohibits tax-exempt churches from endorsing political candidates. That law remains on the books but is rarely enforced. However, Trump often claims he got rid of it, which he did not.
At one point, White portrayed Trump as a philanthropist: “You organized and gave $7 million to Samaritan’s Purse for the North Carolina disaster relief,” she said.
US News and World Report says the Trump campaign organized two crowdfunded events aimed to help with Helene relief.
“We have to save religion in this country.”
Trump, who didn’t say if he donated himself, responded with an anecdote about Franklin Graham, who leads the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the relief organization Samaritan’s Purse. Graham recently spoke at a Trump rally in North Carolina, where he prayed for Trump’s reelection.
“You couldn’t give it to a better person,” said Trump of Graham.
This comes on the heels of Trump and his vice presidential running mate, JD Vance, falsely claiming the federal government has not shown up to help hurricane victims. Even though this claim has been repeatedly debunked, the Republican candidates keep spreading the lie.
The Trump session closed with an on-stage prayer during which Trump was said to be “God’s vessel,” followed by the PA system blasting the Village People’s disco classic “YMCA.” Last year the Village People’s manager sent the Trump campaign a cease-and-desist letter over unauthorized use of this and other Village People songs.
The full array of “faith leaders” standing with Donald Trump at Paula White’s rally. (Screencap)
In addition to Jack Graham, Christian leaders scheduled to participate in the event included:
- Evangelist Greg Laurie, who spoke at Trump’s recent rally in Coachella, Calif., and who says Trump was “a true friend to the Christian community” during his first term
- Eric Metaxas, who has written children’s books about Trump and faces a defamation trial for his role in spreading falsehoods about the 2020 election
- Tim Clinton, president of the American Association of Christian Counselors and executive director of the James Dobson Family Institute
- Ralph Reed, the political consultant who has promoted GOP candidates to evangelicals since 1992 and now leads the Faith and Freedom Coalition
Others included Donnie Swaggart, son of televangelist Jimmy Swaggart; former presidential candidate Gary Bauer; Kelly Shackleford of the conservative Christian legal group First Liberty; Jentezen Franklin; Kenneth Copeland; and Christian singer Danny Gokey.
The event was carried live by Right Side Broadcasting Network, which briefly lost its live feed, and was hosted by Worship With Wonders Church, an 18-year-old church that is buying a 30-acre campus. One of the nearly 30,000 online viewers wrote, “President Trump will give GOD back to the people.”
The event followed a raucous Sunday evening rally at New York City’s Madison Square Garden where a comedian disparaged Puerto Ricans, Latinos, Blacks and Jews and another speaker called Democratic candidate Kamala Harris “the antichrist.” Trump also complained about stolen elections in 2020 and 2024 and said he and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson have “a secret” planned that will help with election results.
In his comments Sunday night, Trump claimed he could win in deep-blue California “if Jesus Christ came down and was the vote counter,” the Washington Post reported.
Trump claimed he could win in deep-blue California “if Jesus Christ came down and was the vote counter.”
Publicity for White’s Atlanta event with Trump quoted German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer (“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”).
But direct descendants of Bonhoeffer’s seven siblings decried such exploitation of his name in a recent statement: “We are horrified to see how the legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer is increasingly being distorted and misused by right-wing extremists, xenophobes, and religious agitators.”
White’s National Faith Advisory Board promotes four “pillars:”
- Protect religious freedom
- Promote a strong America
- Defend life at all stages
- Honor family values
Hundreds of people who served in the Trump administration have declared him unfit for office, including his former chief of staff, John Kelly, who warned Trump meets the definition of a fascist.
But White’s National Faith Advisory Board works with administration alumni who’ve remained loyal to Trump, including Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Jared Kushner, Mike Pompeo, Ben Carson and David Friedman. White’s group also “partners” with GOP Senators Ted Cruz, Steve Daines, Marsha Blackburn, Cindy Hyde-Smith and James Lankford.
White is the founder of Paula White Ministries, serves as teaching pastor at StoryLife Church near Orlando, Fla., and hosts the TV program Paula Today, “reaching 195 countries with a potential audience of more than 6 billion people.”
The National Faith Advisory Board has a minimal social media profile, with fewer than a thousand followers on Facebook and fewer than 700 on X.
Anyone can join the National Faith Advisory Board’s “Inner Circle of Pastors Fighting for our Freedoms” with a payment of $120, $1,200 or $12,000 a year. “This unique opportunity allows you to engage, collaborate, and network with a select group of leaders who operate at the highest levels of influence and impact,” says the promo.
Trump also is being hailed as a “man of faith” in a new, limited-release pro-Trump movie, The Man You Don’t Know, which its makers say offers “a balanced, deeper portrayal of Trump as a scholar, successful entrepreneur, man of faith, and devoted family man.”
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