Trump: symbol of faith or business model of demarcation?

Trump: symbol of faith or business model of demarcation?

Donald Trump is back in the White House - and has been since January 2025. The former president, who describes himself as a "non-denominational Christian", has an exciting, albeit controversial, relationship with faith. Raised in the Presbyterian tradition, Trump was influenced by the sermons of the legendary New York star pastor Norman Vincent Peale. His messages linked faith with self-optimization and economic success, which resonated strongly with Trump. It was Peale's teachings that gave Trump the belief that success is closely linked to religious commitment, a connection that he skillfully used throughout his political career to mobilize pious voters like the Church newspaper reported.

Peale's influence on Trump runs deep. Not only did Trump regularly attend the Marble Collegiate Church, which Peale led for decades, but his parents were also faithful attendees of Peale's services. Peale, who popularized the term “Power of Positive Thinking,” was able to reach a wide audience and spread his messages through various media. His bestseller “The Power of Positive Thinking” is considered a milestone, propagating the idea that personal success and religious life must go hand in hand. This is a lesson that Trump repeatedly quotes in his speeches and would use to strengthen Americans' faith in themselves and their country, they said Yale University Press.

Trump and the marketing of faith

But Trump's relationship with faith also has a commercial side. In recent years, he has released products such as a $60 Bible called “God Bless the USA,” released for Easter 2024. This marketing is part of his narrative, which conjures up a “Christianity under siege” and specifically arouses sympathy among pious voters. In a promotional video, he laments "America's lost faith" - a statement that shows how he uses faith to position himself politically while profiting financially, reports Church newspaper.

Meanwhile, his aggressive immigration and Muslim policies have drawn strong criticism from many church leaders. The discussions about Trump's approach to faith are also reinforced by his staging in Lafayette Square in 2020, when he had protesting citizens evacuated in order to be photographed holding a Bible in front of a church - a staging that was seen as an instrumentalization of faith and was sharply criticized by many clergy.

Contradictions in Trump's religious commitment

Despite his success in mobilizing devout voters, Trump's religious approach is often less an expression of deeply held conviction than a backdrop that suggests authority and traditionalism. Church leaders have viewed Trump's behavior in various contexts as alien to Christian principles. While expelling Trump from the Presbyterian Church was under consideration in 2015, it emerged that he was no longer a member, underscoring the complexity of his relationship with the church Patheos expresses.

The combination of faith, business and politics, as embodied by Trump, remains a hotly debated topic. At a time when religion often intrudes into political discourse, his behavior raises questions about what it means to do business with faith and whether this meets the ethical demands of Christianity.