The White House quietly scrubbed footage of a bizarre Easter event after a presidential adviser compared Donald Trump to Jesus Christ—and he didn’t exactly look offended.
The now-deleted video, briefly posted Wednesday on the White House website, showed an East Room gathering that quickly veered from prayer into full-blown flattery, with Trump’s spiritual adviser Paula White, 59, likening his legal and political battles to the crucifixion.
The event had initially been scheduled as closed to the press, with a tight guest list for select MAGA allies.
The guests included the son of late evangelical pastor Billy Graham, Reverend Franklin Graham, who told Trump in a letter that his “soul is secure” to go to heaven after Trump helped broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Other religious leaders’ attendance drew ire. Ultra-conservative Catholic Bishop Robert Barron’s appearance was labeled by critics as an “exercise in blasphemy.”
Invitations were also extended to figures within Trump’s orbit, including Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, who has been a frequent attendee at Trump events.
White took the stage after Trump’s remarks and opened with a sermon on sacrifice. As she spoke about Jesus’ death and resurrection, Trump, 79, stood just behind her—stone-faced, barely reacting to her remarks.
“Jesus taught us so many lessons through his death, burial, and resurrection,” she said. “He showed us great leadership, great transformation requires great sacrifice.”
But the mood shifted the moment she pivoted from scripture to Trump himself.
“And Mr. President, no one has paid the price like you have paid the price,” White said, turning her body to face him directly.
That’s when Trump’s expression changed. The stoic look melted into a wide smirk as she locked eyes with him and continued.
“It almost cost you your life. You were betrayed and arrested. And falsely accused,” she said, drawing a direct parallel to Jesus’ suffering on the cross, presumably in a reference to the failed assassination attempt at Butler, Pennsylvania.
White was also apparently referring to Trump’s 2023 arrest in Georgia, when he was booked at the Fulton County Jail over allegations he conspired to overturn the 2020 election. Trump later leaned into the moment, turning his mugshot into a money-grab that reportedly raked in over $7 million in merch sales.
White’s ego massage didn’t stop there.
“It’s a familiar pattern that our Lord and Savior showed us,” she said, before again turning toward Trump. “But it didn’t end there for Him—and it didn’t end there for you. God always had a plan.”
While Trump’s journey did not end after his historic arrest, which made him the first former president to not only be convicted for a crime, but to also win re-election after the fact.
As she continued, Trump raised his eyebrows slightly and mouthed a quiet “thank you” to her.
Pivoting away from comparisons, she explained how Jesus’s resurrection was working in Trump’s favor.
“And sir, because of His resurrection, you rose up,” she went on. “Because He was victorious, you were victorious.”
Trump himself leaned into the comparison earlier in the event.
While discussing Palm Sunday, he referenced how Jesus was welcomed as a king—before quipping, “They call me king now, can you believe it?”
He quickly turned the joke into a gripe about his ongoing effort to build a $400 million ballroom in the White House.
“No king—I’m such a king, I can’t get a ballroom approved,” he complained.
He also invoked a similar note on Jesus’ betrayal, telling the audience: “We know the feeling… Many of the people went through hell."
He also offered his own retelling of the resurrection, claiming that when “the stone was rolled away, and the grave was empty, Christians everywhere rejoiced.” Christianity, by definition, did not exist at the moment of resurrection. In the Gospels, the woman who came to the tomb had to be told by an angel “do not be afraid,” and while they were “filled with joy” later gathered “in fear.”
Despite White’s glowing praise of Trump as akin to the son of God, Trump has previously come under fire from other religious leaders.
In an open letter last year, a coalition of Christian leaders argued that Trump is “far from a protector of Christians” and warned that his administration itself poses risks to Christians.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
