Donald Trump has weighed in on some of the more pressing matters of theological ethics that’ve otherwise confounded history’s greatest thinkers for thousands of years.
“You know, there’s no reason to be good. I wanna be good because you wanna prove to God you’re good so you go to that next step, right?” the president told reporters, presumably in reference to the eternal rewards of heaven, rather than the alternative. “That’s very important to me. I think it’s really, very important.”
Trump’s second stint in the White House has sparked mounting concerns over his administration’s willingness to uphold the United States’ time-tested adherence to the separation of church and state.
His comments came in response to a reporter’s questions about a new “America Prays” initiative by the White House, under which Trump is “inviting America’s great religious communities to pray for our nation and for our people” to mark next year’s 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
“I’ve felt for a long time that if a country doesn’t have religion, doesn’t have faith, doesn’t have God, it’s gonna be very hard to be a good country,” the president added during Monday’s press conference.
Critics have warned the MAGA administration’s launch of a new Religious Liberty Commission may well open the way for Christian Nationalist organizations to advance a faith-based agenda through the country’s public school system.
Meanwhile, a Texas court ruling earlier in July also overturned a decades-long ban on pastors and churches endorsing electoral candidates, which legal experts have said sends out a clear and singular message to all political actors across the country: “Hey, time to recruit some churches.”
More broadly, however, Trump’s comments reflect a seemingly intensifying preoccupation with the afterlife on the part of a 79-year-old president whose administration finds itself increasingly beleaguered with speculation as to the state of his physical and cognitive health.
It was only in August that Trump sent out an email to GOP funders with the subject line “I want to try and get to Heaven,” in which he repeated his claims that his life was spared during last year’s assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally only by virtue of divine intervention.
“Last year I came millimeters from death when that bullet pierced through my skin. My triumphant return to the White House was never supposed to happen!” the email said. “But I believe that God saved me for one reason: TO MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Not that these theological ruminations would necessarily appear to have proven an anxiety-free philosophical exercise for the high lord of MAGA, with the president offering a candid estimation of his chances when facing the pearly gates during an interview with Fox this summer.
“I’m hearing I’m not doing well,” Trump told network hosts. “I hear I’m really at the bottom of the totem pole. If I can get to heaven, this will be one of the reasons,” he added of his efforts to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine.
He elaborated on how he believes divine forces may weigh his time in the earthly realm, in a subsequent sit-down with radio host Todd Starnes.
“You know, [people] get punished if they’re not good, right? If you don’t think about that, if you’re not a believer, and you believe you go nowhere, what’s the reason to be good, really?” he said. “There has to be some kind of a report card up there someplace, you know, like, let’s go to heaven, let’s get into heaven, and it’s sort of a beautiful thing.”
