Donald Trump’s Religion and Beliefs

By White House [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
By White House [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
While some rumors say he is Catholic and others say Episcopalian, Trump’s religious beliefs have always been a matter of debate.

Although his views and relationships with other religions have always been a point of controversy, Trump’s own religious beliefs are blurry. What we know for now is that Trump is a Presbyterian, from his own statements that he was born into a Presbyterian family and he grew up attending a Presbyterian church. In 2011, he openly declared in an interview that he is a Protestant and a Presbyterian.

Donald Trump’s Religion and Beliefs[/tweetthis]

Trump has often claimed to be a staunch Christian. Not only does he attend Church every Christian holiday, but Sundays as well. He calls himself a “Sunday Christian.” Trump insists that his favorite book is the Bible. In fact, he claimed that a lot of his fans send him Bibles that he never throws away. He says that he has a special place in his home where he keeps all the Bibles that he receives for fear of desecrating them otherwise. He even called the Bible the best book ever and insists that nothing beats it.

However, his comments seem to be very vague and generalized, according to critics, and hints at a lack of knowledge about the Bible. His refusal to quote a Bible verse in 2015 only accentuated this fact. And in a speech at Liberty University, when he said “Two Corinthians” instead of “Second Corinthians,” the doubts of his critics were confirmed.

Although his constant claims of being a Christian and his promises to protect Christianity from the attack of Muslims appealed highly to evangelicals, his three marriages, obscene and sexist comments, and obvious lack of knowledge of Christianity have pushed a few evangelical factions, especially women evangelical leaders, away from him. However, he still is one of the most loved candidates by the evangelicals and Catholics for his conservative views on abortion and same-sex marriage. Ironically, the Pope had called him “unchristian” for his proposal to build a wall to stop Mexicans from entering the U.S.


The President-elect’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, converted to Orthodox Judaism after her marriage. Trump said that he is proud and happy to have Jewish descendants. However, the sudden rise of anti-Semitism under him estranged him from the American Jews, most of whom voted for Hillary Clinton.

While Trump’s first marriage was held in his Protestant church, Marble Collegiate Church, his second wife, Marla Maples observes Jewish festivals and the Jewish Sabbath, although she is a Baptist. He married his third and current wife, Melania Trump in an Episcopalian church, which gave rise to the rumors that he is now Episcopalian.

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