On February 7th of this year, President Trump signed a powerful, unprecedented Executive Order aimed at restoring faith across the nation. This past week, the newly-created White House Faith Office delivered one of the most iconic images of his administration yet, with faith leaders from across the country descending upon the Oval Office and standing over the president in a moment of deep prayer.
President Trump’s historic Executive Order establishing the White House Faith Office, which organized the event and culminated in the iconic photograph, declared that it would “assist faith-based entities, community organizations, and houses of worship in their efforts to strengthen American families, promote work and self-sufficiency, and protect religious liberty.”
In something nearly unimaginable from the Biden administration, Trump gathered these faith leaders from across the country to both showcase the newly-established White House Faith Office and and seek “divine guidance and support for the President,” as a recap on X wrote. Included in the gathering was Paula White, a prominent televangelist and apostolic leader, whom Trump named as head of the now-month-old office. The image from the event can be seen below:
While details of any specific conversations or new roadmaps have been released from the meeting, one thing is clear: the Trump administration is taking American down a new and welcome path. Indeed, as the Executive Order from the 7th reveals, Trump, his administration, and the new White House Faith Office are all recognizing and putting at the center of their decisions the power of religiosity in American life.
As the order states, “[f]aith-based entities, community organizations, and houses of worship have tremendous ability to serve individuals, families, and communities through means that are different from those of government and with capacity and effectiveness that often exceeds that of government. These organizations lift people up, keep families strong, and solve problems at the local level.”
White herself, the aforementioned head of the new office, has long been a supporter of President Trump, both in terms of his politics and also his spiritual guidance. During his 2016 campaign, she chaired his evangelical board. At his first inauguration, she delivered the moment’s powerful invocation. She is clearly no stranger to politics or religion, and it was at this intersection that she also spoke at last summer’s Faith and Freedom Coalition Conference.
Taking the stage at the Washington, D.C. event, White went on a fiery rant against Biden, Harris, and Democrats – though not specifically naming them – while suggesting the American voting public would declare they’d seen enough. “And I believe that there are people in this room that are going to stand up and say, Come on, devil. We’ve had enough. No more. We’re drawing the line here. And what I mean by Devil is Ephesians 612 that says we’re not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, wickedness and darkness,” she railed.
She continued, noting the stark contrast on parties and candidates in no uncertain terms while stressing the important of the Christian vote. “This is an ideology that is against God, against our faith and against our right, and we will put a stop to it. Come November, if every Christian gets up and they vote, come on, only 25 to 30% of Christians get out and vote…But what I do know is you are the majority, and you your friends and your neighbors and the people that you go to church with, when we stand up, we will reclaim the Republic. God bless you. Amen.”
Featured image: The White House