What is Trump believe in

The old-new president of the United States takes on religion. And his supporters promise to support the pro -Moscow church in Ukraine

Donald Trump’s public conflict with the capital's bishop of his Church and the threats of members of his team to the Ukrainian authorities, “pursuing” the Moscow Patriarchate, forced many Christians to be alerted

"The church must apologize"

The beginning of the second coming of Donald Trump to the post of US President was marked by a scandal on religious grounds. The day after his official inauguration, January 21, in the National Council in Washington, belonging to the episcopal church of the United States (its follower and Trump), interfaith worship was held. He was headed by Bishop Marianne Budde (Budde) - the first woman in the history of the episcopal church, heading the metropolitan diocese. The Orthodox in the service was represented by the head of the American Archbishopric of the Patriarchate of Constantinople Archbishop Elpidofor. Probably inspired by the example of the apostles (whose successor she considers herself) who was unpleasantly telling the truth in the eyes of this world, Bishop Badde called on Trump to show mercy “to democratic, republican and independent families, in which there are homosexual and transgender children, and some of them are afraid of them For your life. " Moreover, the head of the Washington diocese assured Trump that “the vast majority of migrants are not criminals”, questioning the two key provisions of his “traditionalist” and “protectionist” program.

“Once we were all strangers in this country,” the bishop reminded of one of the foundations of American identity.

During the service, Trump, who was sitting in the front row, said nothing, dropping his eyes, but a few hours later he erupted with an angry post on his social network “Truth Social”, admitting that the statements of the “so -called bishop” and “radical left -handed” were unpleasant for him, because Badde "rudely introduced the church into the world of politics." “She,” Trump explained her anger, “did not mention the huge number of illegal migrants who came to our country and killed people. And even if you leave aside her inappropriate statements, the service was very boring and not inspiring. She and her church should apologize. " A fanatical trox, congressman from Georgia, Mike Collins, even called for Badde from the United States, although she was born in the country and is an American citizen.

The statements of the head of the Washington diocese, in theory, should not be a surprise to the new American administration. Even during the first period of Trump, in 2020, Marianne Badda published an article in The New York Times, where she denounced the president in religious hypocrisy: he referred to the authority of the Bible after his subordinates the security forces harshly dispersed the protesters against racial injustice ( Does anyone else remember the BLM movement?) On Lafayette in Washington. Even then, the bishop called Trump to the Christian look at the “minorities”, which is incompatible with “ridicule, humiliation or demonization”.

Trump and Bible: Everything is difficult

78-year-old Donald Trump, who positions himself as a traditionalist and fundamentalist (in places-very radical), was baptized in the reformist church in childhood, but in adulthood he moved to the episcopal one, which is also sometimes called Presbyterian. This church is part of the International Anglican Community. Probably, it seemed to the future president more conservative, since the reformata had previously recognized the rights of LGBT people for a full participation in church life. Trump harshly criticizes his predecessor Joe Bayden for liberalism and “leftist”, despite the fact that he belongs to a more conservative Roman Catholic Church and maintains trusting relations with Pope.

However, under the influence of some members of his family, Trump in recent years has become actively studying Kabbalah - a rather fashionable Gnostic teaching among the American elite in the framework of Judaism. Commentators of CNN television channels during the direct broadcast of the inauguration noticed that

Trump violated the tradition without putting his hand on the Bible when he swore the president. A copy of the Bible, which also belonged to Abraham Lincoln, at that moment holding Melania Trump in her hands.

When the oath was brought by Vice President Jay Di Wence, he put his hand on the Bible. Trump himself did the same with his first inauguration in 2017, but now, it seems, his views have changed. Such a specific "traditionalism." At the same time, the name of God three times sounded in the inauguration speech of the leader of the Republicans: when he mentioned his “wonderful salvation” from the Panestral Strelka bullet, when he promised that his administration “would not forget God”, and when he spoke of the unity of the American people walking “under God under God ".

Of the more than four dozens of US presidents in the history of this country, only three did not have a hand in the Bible when the presidential oath was brought: John Adams laid a hand with federal laws, Theodor Roosevelt brought the oath without books, and Lindon Johnson used the Catholic Missal (ministry ).

The bishop, denouncing Trump

The 65-year-old Bishop Marianne Edgar Badda was born in the Swedish-American family and received her scientific degrees on the history of art at the University of Rochester (New York) and theology in the Virzhinsky episcopal seminary. She began her parish ministry in Arizona, and then went to Honduras as a missionary (still pronounces some sermons in Washington in Spanish). At the age of 24, she was elected as a candidate (post -due) for ordination, at the age of 27 she was ordained in the rank of deacon, and in 28 - to the sanctuary of a priest. Having served a little on the parish in a small town in Ohio, Marianne became the abbess of the large episcopal church in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she served 18 years. In June 2011, on the Synod of the US Bishopal Church, its election took place by Bishop of Washington (all eight of its predecessors at this department were men). The metropolitan diocese of the US episcopal church includes 86 parishes and 10 educational institutions in the territory of the Colombia district, as well as in four municipalities of the neighboring Maryland. At the very beginning of her ministry in Washington, Baddy committed a symbolic act: she replaced stained -glass windows in her Cathedral with the image of the Generals of the Southern Confederation of the Civil War Robert Lee and Stonewell Jackson for paintings from the history of the struggle of the African American for their rights. From the point of view of radical trampists, this is a “leftist” gesture.

Even more outrageous from this point of view is the perfect Baddy in 2018, together with the first bishop in the episcopal church-open gay Gin Robinson, burial within the walls of the National Cathedral of Homophobes murdered by homophobes in 1998, a student of Matthew Shepard , who has become a symbol of the warfare against LGBT people. His ashes remained not buried for 20 years due to the fact that Shepard's parents were afraid of desecration of the grave by activists of the homophobic movement. When the probability of the “second coming of Trump” began to seem very high, in September 2024, Bishop Marianne Badde signed an open letter of about 200 Christian leaders in America about the danger of “authoritarian government”, which is disgusting with the Christian faith.

The day after the current incident with Trump, January 22, the official website of the Washington diocese posted its brave sermon in Spanish. Badda interprets the gospel as a call to the unity of all people on the basis of humble adoption of each other's differences, when any way of life is “worthy of respect” and cannot “serve as an obstacle to take care of each other.”

It is not difficult to love a neighbor and a like -minded person, but Jesus from Nazareth resembles a bishop, commands to love enemies and, first of all, pray for those who haunt us.

The bishop expressed anxiety that, under the slogan, “make America Great Again” to American society is returning “a culture of contempt (or arrogance), which threatens to destroy all of us”. Political polarization in the country reaches record values, and the saddest thing is that those in power consider this polarization an effective management tool. Marianna Badd called Trump and his team, calling himself Christians, to humility-“because“ every person is a lie ”, we all make mistakes, speak and do something that we then regret. Each of us has our own “blind zones” and prejudices, and we are more dangerous for others when we are convinced of our own absolute correctness and the equally absolute irreversible of our opponents. ”

Clouds over Ukraine

Trump's “anti -goresteps” is alarming not only among American Christians. On January 20, right on the day of the inauguration, the words of the leader of the youth wing of the Republican Party, the Tricks Katherine Whitford forced many Christians and politicians in Ukraine. In the square in front of the White House, she recorded a brief “prophecy” about the punishment of heavenly and criminal punishment on earth for everyone who limited the rights of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate).

Whitford announced some “quick actions of the administration” of Trump against the “persecutors” of the pro -Moscow church in Ukraine, obviously hinting, first of all, to problems for the president Vladimir Zelensky. “If you stop the persecution and play now, you can save yourself from the upcoming justice, but there is not enough time,” Waitford warned. At the same time, the youth leader proclaimed "the beginning of the end of neoliberal godlessness, which reigned for too long in the Christian West." Such speeches would very organically sound at the next session of the World Russian People’s Cathedral in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior - discourse coincides at all 100 percent.

It is not yet clear to what extent this rhetoric will coincide with the views of Trump himself, who, during the first term, supported the provision of Tomos about autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (PCU) independent of Moscow. His then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was even engaged in “shuttle diplomacy” in the quadrangle Washington - Constantinople - Kyiv - Athena, preparing the international canonical recognition of this autocephaly. One of Trump's advisers during his current term will be the archont (honorary trustee) of the Patriarchate of Constantinople Michael Krazzius. The Greek community of America, which defends the interests of this Patriarchate - the main antipode of Moscow in world Orthodoxy, is much more broadly represented in the Republican Party than in the democratic one.

Despite scandalous statements and loud phrases, it is too early to make any specific forecasts regarding the religious policy of Trump and his team. Although there is, of course, reasons for anxiety.