Without evangelicals, there almost certainly wouldn’t be a President Donald Trump. In 2016, they turned out in greater numbers than most other voting blocs, and roughly 80 percent cast for Trump, a number that held steady through 2020 then 2024. Now, angered by war with Iran and the brutal immigration crackdown, Trump’s support has plummeted among evangelicals, hitting 63 percent in November before plunging to the 52 percent approval he holds today. In this political atmosphere, he’s going to need the aid of minister Paula White-Cain — who the Spectator calls Trump’s “guide” to evangelical America — more than ever.
Currently the senior advisor at the White House Faith Office, she began working with Trump in the early 2000s after he saw her preach on TV in Palm Beach. He thought, she told the Spectator, that she had the “It” factor. According to White-Cain, “It’s interesting because that’s what he called it. I turned around and said, ‘Oh, sir, we call that the anointing,’ which simply means God’s presence… and that was our hello.”
White-Cain, writes the Spectator, “is a televangelist, preacher, fundraiser and founder of Paula White Ministries, a global media and evangelical organization. Like the President, she is an outsider in the upper rooms of the Republican Party. Trump appointed her to the White House Faith Office in both of his terms, though she was far from the obvious choice, and for all these years, he has relied on her to help him navigate the complex world of American evangelical elites.”
Her selection was viewed as controversial because of the schism she represented in the “theological turf war” being fought within the administration. As Obama Faith Office staffer Michael Wear explained, “What’s interesting about Paula White is how much easier things would have been for Trump if he had not picked Paula White. Many conservative evangelicals and others will outright call her a heretic.”
According to the Spectator, “White-Cain sees the world the way many Americans do: God, angels and demons all impact outcomes.” She lacks the institutional or denominational background typical of her role, having “brought in more Pentecostals and members of non-denominational charismatic congregations… She has also been accused of preaching a heresy called the ‘prosperity gospel’: the idea that in exchange for faith you might receive material blessings as well as salvation. She often asks people to give money to Israel, which triggers intense backlash from both right and left. There are many conservative Christian leaders who would be hesitant to share a stage with her.”
“And that would include me,” Doug Wilson, pastor to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, told the Spectator. As the outlet explained, “Wilson occupies the other side of the administration’s theological turf war… Wilson does not believe women should be able to hold pastoral positions. He is also among a group of evangelical Christians who view Trump as a political vessel fighting on their side of the culture war, rather than one of their own. This puts a fine point on the irony that Trump’s chosen leader for the Faith Office is a woman.”
As the Spectator notes, many found it strange that “White-Cain did not attend ‘Rededicate 250,’ a large-scale event on the National Mall on May 17 with the sole purpose of recommitting America to Christianity, in person: she appeared via video on a large screen. This has caused some in the evangelical world to wonder if deals are being struck behind the scenes to keep White-Cain away from certain events.”
While Trump often speaks about religion, he avoids discussing his personal beliefs. White-Cain claims this is her doing, saying, “I actually told him, prior to 45, ‘Sir, this is really brutal out here… They’re going to come after you with some theological questions.’ I recommended… that he holds that close to his chest.”
She said she came to this conclusion after a notorious incident at Christian Liberty University. As the Spectator explained, when asked about the Bible, Trump “said ‘Two Corinthians’ instead of ‘Second Corinthians’ in reference to the Pauline Epistle: a minor error but a sure tell that he was an outsider in that world. Trump was teased for it and White-Cain had a hunch he had been led astray. ‘That’s when I realized that even people… in ministry…’ she trails off, alluding to the fact that he might be easily sabotaged if he wasn’t careful. ‘You know, maybe it was innocent, maybe it wasn’t,’ she adds. She told Trump she believed it would be smart to focus on policy. By following her advice, he has been able to court favor with evangelicals who have little in common with him.”
