His opponents include Democrats, the deep state, RINO Republicans—and now, “evil forces.”
Donald Trump’s Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has painted his administration as engaged in a “spiritual battle,” and suggested that he was “saved by the grace of God” to become president.
The language reflects Trump’s successful appeal to evangelical Christians.
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She told the Christian Broadcasting Network, “I think there were certainly evil forces, and I think that the president was saved by the grace of God on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, and he’s in this moment for a reason,” she said about the assassination attempt that killed crowd member Corey Comperatore and wounded two others. The bullet grazed Trump’s ear.
Trump, who was raised Presbyterian but in 2020 switched to be non-denominational Christian, said that the near-death experience made him “more of a believer.”
“It changed something in me,” he said at a national prayer breakfast on Feb. 6. “I feel even stronger. I believed in God but I feel much more strongly about it.”
At the time Trump also said that God has a “glorious mission” for America and that the country needs to “make religion a much more important factor now.”
Some Democrats have expressed concern about Trump’s newfound spirituality. Although the president has historically surrounded himself with deeply religious figures, it isn’t until his most recent term that he’s been so vocal about Christianity that he committed to “eradicate anti-Christian bias” through a task force led by Attorney General Pam Bondi. The new group will “move heaven and earth to defend the rights of Christians and religious believers nationwide,” Trump said.
The task force aims to “identify any unlawful anti-Christian” actions that took place under Biden’s administration. Trump has taken aim at his predecessor’s apparent “anti-Christian weaponization” due to his prosecution of anti-abortion activists that blocked reproductive healthcare clinics.
Critics say that the task force only further empowers an already majority group and blurs the lines between church and state. Trump also created a special White House Faith Office led by pastor Paula White-Cain, an American televangelist.
Trump’s inner circle has also been connected with the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), a fast-growing evangelical order that maintains that Christianity is supreme over all other religions. NAR leaders are outspoken in their goals to create a Christian government for the U.S. and see Donald Trump as chosen by God to lead the country. White-Cain has been linked to NAR and so has Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, who has appeared on NAR pastors’ radio shows. Catholic convert JD Vance also appeared at a town hall hosted by NAR leader Lance Wallnau last September. Wallnau received backlash from the left after accusing former Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris of “witchcraft.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also attends Pastor Doug Wilson’s church, a conservative preacher who firmly believes in theocracy and Christian nationalism and condemned women’s right to vote.
Other Republican members of Congress like Marjorie Taylor Green have also commented on Trump’s religiosity. The rightwing Georgian representative compared Trump to Jesus at a rally in Las Vegas last year.
Leavitt also said she holds a prayer before each press briefing, and said that she relied on her faith to do her job. “My faith is incredibly important to me, I would argue, now more than ever, being in a role that is very demanding and at times controversial, and there’s a lot of public pressure and discussion online about who you are and your family,” she said. “And you know, it could be difficult for someone who doesn’t have faith but with faith, all things are possible.”
Leavitt, despite using the language of evangelical Christians, is herself a Catholic. The 27-year-old credits her faith and Catholic high school and college education for her conservative values. She had her first child in July 2024 with her then-fiance Nicholas Riccio, 59. They married in January 2025 in a private ceremony. It is unclear if it was at a Catholic church.
