Many in the US and UK were astonished that Donald Trump was re-elected as US president. Was there a bigger spiritual backdrop than most people were aware of?
By Andrew Halloway
Donald Trump is the only president since Grover Cleveland in 1893 to be elected to non-consecutive terms, which made his re-election even more momentous. How could a Republican candidate have won against a Democratic vice-president, Kamala Harris, who had the support of the majority of the black community, the pro-abortion movement, a vast array of pop stars and Hollywood actors, a bigger election budget (Bill Gates is reported to have donated $50 million to the Harris campaign) and who was backed by the incumbent president’s political machine?
And how could someone with a criminal record be supported by US Christians?
Prayed for by thousands
First, while political commentators were quick to point out that Trump won because of his policies on the economy and immigration, Trump was also being prayed for by thousands, if not millions, of evangelicals. In his first term, he was the most pro-life president in decades, supported religious freedom at home and abroad, and was pro-Israel. Whatever else he did or said, these things were all close to American evangelical hearts.
Some Christians may say Trump, with his faults that are clear to all, is God’s choice to punish the USA for its disobedience, but most US evangelicals believe Trump’s return will prevent America’s further decline into a liberal, anti-biblical woke agenda.
Moreover, the UK mainstream media gives a biased view. Tim Montgomerie, who co-founded the Conservative Christian Fellowship, said on X: “Every one of Trump’s faults has been endlessly highlighted but the extremism of Biden-Harris on everything from abortion to immigration to climate change to racism has been pushed under the carpet. We were only ever told one half of the story by a media class who are more partisan than they’ll ever admit.”
Misrepresented as racist
One of the worst accusations against Trump has been that he is a racist. Trump is quoted as having called some of the 2017 Charlottesville rioters “very fine people”. But as Heather Tomlinson reports in Premier Christianity magazine, the video quoted from actually recorded Trump explicitly condemning neo-Nazis, white supremacists and racism or violence in any form, including violent leftists who were there.
The “very fine people” comment was about people on either side who were there innocently and peacefully. Yet even Harris and Barack Obama implied these comments are evidence of racism.
Trump was saved from at least three assassination attempts – one of which he survived only by turning his head at the right time, and one of which was a plot by Iran. Did that convince more US Christians that God was on his side? Trump himself says he was told by others that God had saved his life for a purpose.
Spells didn’t work
Secondly, the Christian Broadcasting Network reported that witches were trying to cast spells against Trump, but were frustrated. The Toronto Star gave an example in which around 100 witches had met on Zoom to attack Trump: “Armed with orange candles, tarot cards, and a not-so-flattering photo of the former president, they cast a spell to block his return to the White House. The final words of their synchronised ritual — ‘You’re fired!’ — echo as Trump’s image burns to the ground.”
The witches were led by a woman with 25,000 subscribers who invited all of them to hex Trump. Clearly the spells didn’t work, as Trump won. ABC News reported that one witch said her spells weren’t working because many people were praying: “He has a shield, a flimsy one of course, but a shield nonetheless (I am trying to figure out a way to create spells that can bypass that, but it’s difficult).” Another wrote: “I hate to say this, but don’t do magic against him. He has a form of protection surrounding him that feeds off of (sic) magic done against him.” The witches’ campaign against Trump dates back to his first time as president, when CBN News reported that witches were “publicly trying to bind him and even his Supreme Court picks, casting spells against them”.
Prophesied return
Thirdly, both Trump’s miraculous return to power and the Pennsylvania assassination attempt were prophesied. As reported in HEART (Aug/Sept 2024), a few months earlier Pastor Brandon Biggs had given an uncanny description of a bullet flying past Trump’s ear. Biggs also ‘saw’ Trump praying in the Oval Office with Christians during a financial crisis.
Other Christian leaders, such as Hank Kunneman on Christian TV, also prophesied Trump’s return. Biden’s victory in 2020 dampened their enthusiasm; I remember some US Christians publicly repenting for having made false prophecies. Perhaps they needn’t have, as Trump’s second term was just delayed.
Christian news outlet ASSIST News Service reported on the most famous of these – one by the late Kim Clement, a South African pastor. In two separate prophecies in 2007 – long before Donald Trump ever hinted at entering politics – Clement seemed to predict Trump’s first and second terms.
On 4 November 2007 he said during a church meeting: “’I will raise up the Trump to become a trumpet and Bill Gates to open up the gate of a financial realm for the Church,’ says the Lord.”
That has been taken as predicting Trump’s first presidency. As for Bill Gates, Christian journalist Heather Tomlinson comments: “The latter prediction is interesting given recent allegations that Gates has funded the influencing of evangelical Christianity towards more progressive ideas.”
Trump’s faith claims
Clement also said that a president would enter office as a nominal believer, but his faith would grow: “It shall come to pass that the man that I place in the highest office shall go in whispering my name. But God said when he enters into the office, he will be shouting out by the power of the Spirit. For I shall fill him with my Spirit when he goes into office and there will be a praying man in the highest seat in your land.”
Trump certainly claimed to believe in God before he entered the White House, but his hedonistic lifestyle grated with many Christians. However, it was noticeable that Trump’s personal faith claims grew as time went on – and at least one of his pastoral advisors has claimed that she led him to a personal commitment to Jesus.
Modern-day Cyrus?
Another of Clement’s prophecies also seems to refer to Trump: “For God said, ‘I will not forget 9/11. I will not forget what took place that day, and I will not forget the gatekeeper who watched over New York, who will once again stand and watch over the nation,’ says the Spirit of God.” Trump tried to restrict the immigration of extremist Muslims into America in his first term, and he is a New Yorker who was undoubtedly affected by 9/11.
US evangelicals, painfully aware of Trump’s unpalatable past, have compared Trump to the Bible’s King Cyrus. In his first term he took the bold step of moving the US embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the Jews’ 3,000 year old capital. The Persian King Cyrus was used by God to liberate the Jews from Babylonian exile, and evangelicals are delighted at the outspokenly pro-Israel people whom Trump has appointed.
Whether King Cyrus proves to be a good analogy for Trump over the next four years remains to be seen.
Andrew Halloway