godanddonaldtrump.com/ CHAPTER 7 ETHNIC ISSUES ★★★★★ IN THE WAKE of the riots and violent protests in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2014, the New York Times published a heavily sourced article on the state of race relations in America. “America’s racial divide,” the writers stated, “is older than the republic itself, a central fault line that has shaped the nation’s history.” Point- ing to the “racial fissures between blacks and whites” that erupted suddenly in that summer of rage, the article said, “Five decades past the era of legal segre- gation, a chasm remains between black and white Americans—and in some important respects it’s as wide as ever.”¹ The writers admitted there are “bright spots” in the image of overarching gloom they were painting, including the “rising number of blacks in executive and managerial jobs . . . and converging levels of life expectancy” between blacks and whites. Yet while acknowledging that the gaps between men and women and be- tween Hispanics and non-Hispanics have actually shrunk in recent years, they
nevertheless leaped to the inevitable conclusion that little hope exists of crossing the racial divide between whites and the racial minorities in this country anytime soon.² No one denies that there are significant differences and important areas of dis- agreement between the various ethnic communities in this country—as in any country where there are large and diverse populations. But most Americans, re- gardless of race or socioeconomic status, still want essentially the same things. We all want to live in clean and safe neighborhoods; we want to be safe in our homes, to be able to make a decent living, to feed our families, to educate our children, to be able to work and play without undue restraint, and to be free to worship according to our beliefs and traditions. What tends to divide us—and what has led many minorities into the waiting arms of the Democratic Party—is the rhetoric that persuades people to distrust their neighbors and believe that only government can fulfill their needs. The politics of race has been a huge factor for so long that many people have come to accept the idea, as the New York Times apparently believes, that things will never change. But if there was one factor in the 2016 presidential election that
may prove them wrong, it was the emergence of a wave of spiritual unity, touch- ing men and women in all ethnic groups and all segments of society and drawing them together in the hope that the outspoken political outsider from New York, Donald Trump, may actually be the political leader they’ve been hoping for—not because he is better or wiser than anyone else but because he had the courage to make faith in God, belief in American ideals, and the importance of moral renewal major themes of his campaign. Since the election many sources have reported that the evangelical vote gave Trump the edge he needed to win. I have cited these sources in several places al- ready, and the evidence is compelling. But it’s important to notice that Evangel- icals are a diverse group, made up of all ethnic and socioeconomic groups. There are undoubtedly many reasons why they came over to support Trump in Novem- ber, but I find it most remarkable that so many African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and other minorities—many of whom have supported the Democratic party for generations—decided that this time around they would vote for the Republican. There’s no doubt that Trump moved the needle in making inroads into those
communities. He won 29 percent of the Hispanic vote—2 percent more than Romney.³ While he won only 8 percent of the black vote,⁴ anecdotal evidence suggests that a large number of African Americans stayed home rather than voted for Clinton. They couldn’t vote for Trump, but by staying home they robbed Clin- ton of votes she was counting on in places such as Michigan, Wisconsin, Penn- sylvania, and Florida.⁵ Churchgoing blacks and Hispanics generally reject abor- tion and favor traditional marriage. They are more apt to have a strong work ethic and traditional values. Democrats have used identity politics so successfully that many blacks and Hispanics vote Democratic simply because that’s what you do. But the Trump campaign may have changed that. Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House and former presidential candi- date, writes in his book Understanding Trump that Republicans now have a chance to win those voters. “The truth is,” he writes, “if the Republican Party could shrug off the Left’s brand and engage Latinos, African Americans, Asian Americans, and others, we would build a huge coalition of Americans who favor traditional val- ues. These are Americans who want to work hard, provide for their families, and pursue their own happiness without government intrusion. Frankly, that needs to
be one of President Trump’s main goals. If he’s successful, it would be the most important accomplishment he could achieve for the Republican Party as president.”⁶ When trying to estimate the Hispanic vote, pollsters were expecting single-digit backing for Trump because of his position on immigration and his tweets about building “the wall.” I attended a board meeting of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC) in May 2016—the same month Trump wrapped up the Republican nomination. I knew many of the board members, mostly pas- tors, and I knew they were conservative when it comes to traditional marriage and pro-life issues. Yet I heard them worrying out loud that if Trump deported all the illegals, they could lose 25 percent to 35 percent of their Pentecostal congre- gations. As a result, the board decided to remain middle of the road. At their big conference event they played video greetings from both Trump and Clinton⁷ and endorsed neither candidate. THE TIPPING POINT On Election Day exit polls showed that of the 30 percent of Hispanics who voted
for Trump, the biggest group was Evangelicals, who backed him by 66 percent. In Florida and Pennsylvania the evangelical Hispanic vote made up the margin of victory. Without those two states, analysts reported, Trump would have lost the election.⁸ So what actually happened? My longtime friend Sam Rodriguez, pres- ident of NHCLC, told me it came down to Trump’s support for the issue the His- panic community cares most about: the Supreme Court and what kind of judges would be appointed by either Clinton or Trump. “When it came down to it,” he said, “the Supreme Court trumped Trump’s wall and Trump’s tweets.”⁹ The tipping point came in the third debate, Rodriguez told me, when moder- ator Chris Wallace said to Hillary Clinton that she had been quoted as saying the unborn have no rights, and she did not deny the comment. During the debate he got texts from friends saying, “I’ve shifted. There’s no way I can vote for Hillary now.”¹⁰ Earlier, in an interview with CBN News, Rodriguez was asked if he thought Trump was a racist. “That’s just hyperbole,” he said. “That’s hyperbole from the liberal media for the purpose of attempting to paint a fascist sort of racist moniker on Donald Trump that I do not believe is accurate whatsoever.” He did
say, however, that Trump’s tweets about illegals were counterproductive. Many of those who have entered the country illegally are attending NHCLC churches and are “born-again Christians, committed to biblical orthodoxy, or very staunch conservative Catholics,” he said.¹¹ Later Sam expressed basically the same thing on Fox’s On the Record and on the Spanish-language network Univision in an interview with Jorge Ramos—who had become one of Trump’s biggest media targets.¹² Rodriguez’s comments came to Trump’s attention, and in June 2016, when Trump met with a group of one thousand evangelical leaders in New York, Ro- driguez was pulled into a pre-meeting with thirty others.¹³ The focus of the dis- cussion soon centered on Rodriguez, who told Trump respectfully that Christian Hispanics were apt to vote for him, but his rhetoric about illegals and building a wall was working against him. Trump asked him what issues were most impor- tant to Hispanics. There are five priorities, Rodriguez said, and he had preached on them many times: the Supreme Court, religious liberty, educational quality, racial unity, and immigration reform, in that order.¹⁴ Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign director, exchanged telephone numbers with
Rodriguez and said he and his colleagues wanted more discussions with him. Even though he did not endorse Trump, he began giving advice to the campaign. During that time there was also a pivot, and the rhetoric was scaled down. Thanks to the input he was getting, Trump began showing more concern for the interests of the Hispanic community, emphasizing many of the priorities that Rodriguez brought up.¹⁵ The day after the election one of Trump’s campaign staff members called to tell Rodriguez they were pleased to report that more Hispanics, percentage-wise, voted for the Republican candidate than in any previous election. While the majority of Catholic Hispanics followed the traditional pattern and voted for the Democratic candidate, Trump overwhelmingly won the evangelical Hispanic vote.¹⁶ Two months later Rodriguez was invited to pray at Trump’s swearing-in cere- mony. He would be the first member of his Assemblies of God denomination to be invited to pray at a presidential inauguration.¹⁷ When he came forward to speak, he recited Christ’s words from the beatitudes about serving the poor and oppressed:
God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satis- fied. God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy. . . . God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. . . . You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hid- den. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. —MATTHEW 5:6–7, 11, 14–16, NLT The reading was both a touching tribute to the new president, particularly in light of the mockery he was enduring at the time, and also a reminder of the high calling we’ve all been given to “love the Lord your God” and to “love your neigh- bor as yourself.” HEALING THE RACIAL DIVIDE In the black community Trump had to convince pastors almost one by one that
he wasn’t the racist the Left made him out to be. Pastor Darrell Scott said on The Jim Bakker Show that Trump can’t be a racist because “if he was a racist, what would he be hanging with me for?”¹⁸ In a podcast with me a week before the election, Scott told me about his odyssey to becoming a Trump supporter. He began by relaying how his attitude had changed from his initial meeting with Trump and other Christian ministers at the meeting described earlier, convened by Paula White Cain in 2012 with Chris- tian friends who “know how to pray.”¹⁹ Scott said he was surprised Trump didn’t ask for support, but rather he asked for prayer. He said he was looking for godly counsel on whether or not to run against Obama in 2012. Never one to kiss up to politicians, Scott asked in that meeting why he should vote for Trump because the word in the black community was that he was a racist. Trump answered, as he had done in other settings, say- ing, “I am probably the least racist person you know.” He said he couldn’t work in business with as many people of all races and creeds as he does if he were actually a racist.²⁰ Scott told this story to the podcast audience, saying that Trump impressed him
by not arguing the point or saying he wasn’t racist because he had a black friend in the third grade. Apparently Trump was impressed with Scott as well. After the meeting a Trump aide exchanged cell phone numbers with him and said, “The boss was interested in your boldness, and he wants to keep in touch.”²¹ During his outreach to African American voters Donald Trump was interviewed by apostle Wayne T. Jackson at Great Faith Ministries International in Detroit, Michigan, on Saturday, September 3, 2016. The interview was broadcast on the Impact Network, which reaches some seventy million homes and is one of the fastest-growing faith-based television networks in the country and the only one run by African Americans. Jackson had agreed to interview the candidate on his magazine-style program, Miracles Do Happen, and a miracle is precisely what candidate Trump was hoping for.²² Jackson, a Democrat, was under enormous pressure not to invite Trump. He had also extended an invitation to Hillary Clinton, but she did not respond. He hadn’t intended for Trump to say anything in his church but only to have him sit through the service. When Trump’s motorcade arrived, Jackson went to greet him and felt the Lord tell him, “He’s the next president.” Then he told me he felt led to
invite Trump to speak to his congregation while the secular media’s cameras rolled. The most striking moment of that interview was the moment when Trump was presented with a Hebrew prayer shawl, known as a tallit. Explaining that the shawl represents a very special spiritual anointing, Jackson told Trump, “There are going to be some times in your life that you are going to feel forsaken. You are going to feel down, but the anointing is going to lift you up.” He then draped the shawl over the candidate’s shoulders and presented him with a “Jewish” Bible that has notes and commentary about Jewish feasts and observances, among other things. Then he said, “We have it especially for you, and we have one for your wife. Because when things go down, you can study the Word of God.” Even though Trump didn’t fully understand the symbolism of the moment, he was clearly moved by the presentation, as one can see in the picture of the event in the photo section of this book.²³ Dr. Alveda King, the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was also a Trump sup- porter, although she told me she had to speak up when his daughter Ivanka said that her father was racially colorblind.²⁴ “If white privilege makes you colorblind,”
Alveda said, “then you need glasses.” Alveda has a policy of not endorsing candi- dates but rather praying God’s will be done. At the beginning of the primaries she backed Dr. Ben Carson, who, like her, is politically conservative. When Carson en- dorsed Trump, Alveda began actively supporting Trump and was photographed with him several times, sending signals for all to see whom she hoped would win.²⁵ The crucial issue for her, she told me, was Trump’s strong antiabortion posi- tion. She calls pro-life activism a civil rights campaign for the unborn.²⁶ She works closely with Priests for Life, a Catholic group that hopes to get more blacks to reject the abortion option. She quotes her famous uncle, who said, “The Negro cannot win as long as he is willing to sacrifice the lives of his children for comfort and safety.” She adds, “How can the ‘Dream’ survive if we murder the children? Every aborted baby is like a slave in the womb of his or her mother. The mother decides his or her fate.”²⁷ Alveda believes that Planned Parenthood targets the black community for abor- tion. In the United States blacks make up approximately 13 percent of the popu- lation yet account for 37 percent of all abortions. This compares with about 19
percent for Hispanics and 38 percent for whites.²⁸ She constantly preaches this in the black community and has found a willing audience among African Americans who are Roman Catholic. She says these votes helped push Catholic numbers to be 52 percent for Trump compared with 45 percent who voted for Clinton. In some of the key states Alveda says as much as 18 percent of the black community voted for Trump, although I could not verify that statistic.²⁹ The problem of identity politics remains a fact of life in most of America and something we will have to live with for some time, no doubt. While there are scores of black Evangelicals and pro-family Catholics striving to restore balance and respect between ethnic groups, the political Left embrace groups such as Black Lives Matter, blasts so-called “white privilege,” and foments violence in order to drive a wedge between the blacks and whites. Newt Gingrich says in his book that Donald Trump is doing his best to address the problem of identity politics that has been dividing the country for decades. “He called for all Americans to celebrate their differences,” Gingrich writes, “but to never forget we are one people under God.”³⁰ In his inaugural address Trump said, “At the bedrock of our politics will be a
total allegiance to the United States of America, and through our loyalty to our country, we will rediscover our loyalty to each other. When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice. The Bible tells us, ‘How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.’ We must speak our minds openly, debate our disagreements honestly, but always pursue solidarity.”³¹ Gin- grich believes this part of Trump’s message is vitally important because “it ex- presses an aspect of President Trump’s personality that is completely overlooked by the media. To Trump,” he says, “bigotry cannot exist within a patriotic heart. To be racist—to hold any other American in low regard based on their gender, religion, race or heritage—is to be completely unpatriotic.”³² My good friend Bishop Harry Jackson, senior pastor of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Maryland, and a frequent Fox News contributor, made the same point when he was invited by the National Religious Broadcasters to participate in a public debate with a former Bush administration staffer who had taken the posi- tion of “anybody but Trump.” Bishop Jackson began the second round of that de- bate by saying that Trump “may be the only one who’s able to bring some sub- stantive healing to the racial divide.”³³
In his view, Jackson said, Trump could help the country by advancing practical answers on educational and economic opportunity. Black and Hispanic voters have too often settled for “the politics of grievance.” But Trump has made ad- vancement for minority communities a priority of his campaign. There’s no deny- ing that people in these communities have been failed by both parties, but Jack- son said he was convinced Trump could be a “change agent” to move America forward by addressing race and class issues in “pragmatic ways.”³⁴ Jackson went on to list priorities that echoed what Sam Rodriguez had said: is- sues that would be of particular interest to Christians in these large minority communities, such as educational reform, economic development in urban areas, and family-oriented tax policies. And with each of these leaders, high on their list of priorities were a commitment to religious liberty, the appointment of strong pro-life justices to the Supreme Court, and strong support for the nation of Israel—all of which were equally high on Trump’s list of platform promises.³⁵ UPHOLDING THE COVENANT The Jewish minority in America exists in a different category from other ethnic
groups, and Jews occupy a special place in Christian theology. There has been a substantial bedrock of support for Israel among evangelical Christians since the modern nation was established in 1948, but the Hebrew roots of both Christianity and Judaism are as ancient as the Bible itself. Two of the most visible Christian groups supporting the interests of the Jewish state are the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem and Christians United for Israel, headed by megachurch pastor John Hagee. Despite this country’s connections with the nation of Israel, America’s support was seriously eroded under President Obama. Liberal Chris- tians tend to favor the Palestinian cause, but most Evangelicals were horrified by the disparaging remarks made to and about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Ne- tanyahu by the former president. Most faithful Evangelicals are familiar with the words of Genesis 12:3, in which God says to Abraham, the father of the Jewish race, “I will bless them who bless you and curse him who curses you, and in you all families of the earth will be blessed.” The promise of the passage is simple enough: The nation of Israel is sacred in God’s eyes, and His blessings have preserved the Jewish people through destruction and disaster countless times over the centuries. He has
blessed the nation and its people and has promised to bless those who uphold the Jewish nation and to curse those who harm His chosen people. Evangelical Christians believe this to be one of the most fundamental promises of Scripture. Chuck Pierce, the charismatic prophet we met in chapter 2, predicted Obama’s two terms in office, and during those eight years he focused his prayers on the nation of Israel. “The Lord told me that if I would pray for Netanyahu and that if he could remain in office, America would be OK. So instead of getting bogged down in all the issues of America,” Pierce told me, “I would journey to Israel and lead prayer and worship gatherings.”³⁶ This was all going on at the same time Obama was working behind the scenes to defeat Netanyahu’s reelection campaign.³⁷ Pierce and other ministers flew to Israel specifically to intercede and pray that Netanyahu, who was trailing badly in the polls, would win. Fortunately he did. In May 2017 Vice President Pence invited about one hundred rabbis, Israeli diplomats, a few congressmen, and about thirty Evangelicals to the White House to celebrate Israel’s Day of Independence. “He made a public decree that as long as this administration was in place, Israel would be our best friend, and we would
be their best friend. That was the first time in history, since Israel had become a nation, that the White House had done that,” Pierce told me. “All of the media covering the event at the White House were there when the decree was made, but it was not publicized, and that shows you how there is such a strategy in this na- tion not to align with God’s covenant.”³⁸ From Pierce’s perspective, aligning with God’s purposes is infinitely more important than temporal issues such as taxes, education, or immigration reform. While support for Israel is not usually perceived as swinging elections, among Evangelicals it is almost always a huge factor. And among those who identify as Christian Zionists, that issue trumps all others. So Pierce, who has never been ac- tively political, did what he felt he could do “in the spiritual realm.” He felt the Lord tell him to fly to Israel and pray for three days.³⁹ “We were on our way to negating our relationship as a nation with the God of Israel,” he said. “I knew that was really my intercession, that we had to remain in covenant with God, who had sovereignly chosen Israel. And if we would do that as a nation, we would prolong our status in the world. So we were on the verge of negating that covenant alignment.” Pierce told me he watched the US election
from Israel on November 8. It was incredibly important for America to realign with Israel, he said, adding that he believes Trump will align with Israel and reestablish this nation’s covenant with that ancient land.⁴⁰ Author, minister, and longtime friend Mike Evans is someone who under- stands the bond between evangelical Christians and Israel. He told me he raised more than thirty-five million dollars to build an impressive state-of-the-art mu- seum called Friends of Zion in Jerusalem, which I have visited twice. It shows in creative ways what most Israelis do not know—that some of the earliest Zionists were Christians, as far back as the nineteenth century. One of the Christian Zion- ists featured in the museum was George Bush—not either president. This man was the cousin of an ancestor of the Presidents Bush.⁴¹ In 1844, more than a cen- tury before the modern state of Israel was born, he published a book titled The Valley of Vision; or The Dry Bones of Israel Revived.⁴² In it he denounced “the thral- dom and oppression which has so long ground [the Jews] to the dust, and ele- vating them to a rank of honorable repute among the nations of the earth” by restoring the Jews to the land of Israel.⁴³ Evans is the oldest Christian friend of the Israeli prime minister. As one of the
highest-profile Christian Zionists, he understands Pierce’s spiritual meaning, but Evans sees things more politically. “Not only has Prime Minister Netanyahu scored his greatest victory with the Trump presidency, so has Trump with Ne- tanyahu,” he told me. “Israel’s finest days are yet to come with the Netanyahu- Trump alliance. Ultimately Trump will have a naval base in the Port of Haifa, where US troops can be protected and special ops forces can move in and out to decapitate radical Islam.” Evans believes Trump has no interest in nation building in the region and no interest in fighting a conventional war. He stands adamantly opposed to the Iraq war and understands that the wars of the twenty-first century will be proxy battles, on economic, media, and ideological fronts rather than old- fashioned battlefields.⁴⁴ Radical Islam has labeled Israel “The Little Satan,” while calling America “The Big Satan,” he said. When Menachem Begin was prime minister of Israel, he showed Evans a strategic plan he was going to present to the president of the United States. Israel had concluded that America could not effectively win wars in the Middle East.⁴⁵ Most of America’s wars were fought over a lengthy period of time, but Israel’s wars happened much faster. By the time the United States could
reach the region to fight a war, it would be over. In reality, during the Communist era Israel was a US proxy and strategically deterred the spread of Communism in the Middle East. Today, thanks to the Jewish nation’s strong connection with the United States, Israel is becoming a proxy against the spread of radical Islam. ONE NATION UNDER GOD Trump has been clear about his support for Israel. In an interview with the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom, published February 26, 2016, Trump said, “My friend- ship with Israel is stronger than any other candidate’s.” When asked about his plans regarding a possible compromise agreement with the Palestinians, he said, “I want to make one thing clear: I want to strike a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. It’s what I aspire to do. Peace is possible, even if it is the most difficult agreement to achieve.” But, he stressed, “It is a little difficult to reach an agreement when the other side doesn’t really want to talk to you.”⁴⁶ More than eight months before his election, Trump sent a goodwill message to the people of Israel, saying, “Don’t get confused there in Israel: I am currently your biggest friend. My daughter is married to a Jew who is an enthusiastic Israel
supporter, and I have taken part in many Israel Day Parades. My friendship with Israel is very strong.” Trump also said he likes the idea of moving the US em- bassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and added that the Obama administration’s nu- clear deal with Iran is the “worst deal that Israel could have gotten.”⁴⁷ His daughter’s conversion to Judaism is, nevertheless, an issue that has raised concerns among Christians and Jews on both sides of the Atlantic. Although she was raised Presbyterian, Trump’s daughter Ivanka converted to Judaism in an Orthodox rabbinical court in July 2009 at age twenty-seven and not long before her marriage to Jared Kushner. Today the couple are Orthodox Sabbath and Jew- ish holiday observers. Her father, Ivanka told reporters, had to get used to the fact that from dusk Friday until nightfall on Saturdays she and her husband are inaccessible by phone, text, or e-mail. Despite serving as executive vice president in the Trump organization, she puts everything else aside and follows traditional Jewish customs and religious practices.⁴⁸ In a February 2015 interview for Vogue magazine, Ivanka said, “It’s been such a great life decision for me. I am very modern, but I’m also a very traditional per- son, and I think that’s an interesting juxtaposition in how I was raised as well. I
really find that with Judaism, it creates an amazing blueprint for family connec- tivity.” She said, “We observe the Sabbath. From Friday to Saturday we don’t do anything but hang out with one another. We don’t make phone calls.” And she added, “It’s an amazing thing when you’re so connected, to really sign off.”⁴⁹ On April 12, 2016, during an interview with Donald Trump and several family members, Ivanka answered questions from CNN host Anderson Cooper about her conversion to Judaism. When asked about her father’s reaction to her conver- sion to Judaism, Ivanka said, “My father was very supportive. He knows me. He knows and he trusts my judgment. When I make decisions, I make them in a well- reasoned way. I don’t rush into things.” She added that her father’s close rela- tionship with her Jewish husband helped ease the process. “He loves my hus- band,” she said. “They’re incredibly close, which I think was obviously helpful. And he has been very supportive with me in that decision, as in many others I’ve taken throughout the years.”⁵⁰ Her husband was an active member of Trump’s campaign team and now serves as special adviser to the president. He helped write Trump’s speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference in March 2016.⁵¹
During a 2015 event Trump said in an off-the-cuff remark, “I have a Jewish daugh- ter. This wasn’t in the plan, but I’m very glad it happened.”⁵² During his interview with James Robison, pastor Jack Graham offered an in- sightful assessment of Kushner’s Jewish faith: “Being an orthodox Jew, Jared is full of the Old Testament. He speaks Hebrew, and he can even lead the teaching in the synagogue. He is very bright. We had a sweet time of prayer and he was moved and profusely thankful. I saw something in him that I told him after we prayed. I looked at him and said, ‘Jared, I see in you the spirit of Joseph in the Old Testament. It says that Joseph had an excellent spirit . . . ’ I believe he was thank- ful for that analysis. He’s got an excellent spirit about him like Joseph in the Old Testament. He said, ‘My son’s name is Joseph and my grandfather’s name was Joseph.’”⁵³ For many Christians it may be a little difficult to think through the implications of Ivanka’s conversion. Evangelicals love the nation of Israel but pray that the Jewish people will come to know and love their Messiah as we do. However, an- other aspect may have longer-term significance, in that Ivanka’s conversion and Trump’s amiable acceptance of the marriage assures Israelis who are often
skeptical of America’s commitment that they can trust this Christian president to defend their interests. Trump has made this promise repeatedly. When he made his first international diplomatic tour, Trump visited Saudi Arabia, the Vatican, and Jerusalem, the homes of the three great Abrahamic religions. In Jerusalem he did what no other sitting US president has ever done: he visited the Western Wall of the Temple Mount, standing at the holiest place where Jews are permitted to pray, and said a few words before inserting a note between the stones. He said later he prayed for wisdom as he reached out and touched the walls.⁵⁴ As reported by the Reuters news agency, “(Trump) said that he understands the significance of the Western Wall for the Jewish people, and that’s why he de- cided to visit here during his first trip to Israel,” said Shmuel Rabinowitz, the rabbi of the Western Wall. “He is certain he will come here again, perhaps many times. He was very moved.” The president was joined on the trip by his son-in- law, Jared Kushner. Both men wore black kippahs, the skull caps worn by reli- gious Jews. While Trump and Kushner visited the area set aside for men, Melania Trump and Ivanka visited a separate section where women are allowed to pray.⁵⁵
Whether or not the national media can perceive it, President Trump has as- sured the American people of his commitment to unity and to restoring the sense of community among all ethnic groups that has been missing for so long in America. At the national Celebrate Freedom event hosted by Dallas pastor Robert Jeffress at the Kennedy Center on July 1, 2017, Trump concluded his remarks by saying, “Whether we are black or brown or white, and you’ve heard me say this before, we all bleed the same red blood. We all salute the same great American flag, and we are all made by the same Almighty God. We face many challenges. There are many hills and mountains to climb, but with the strength and courage of the patriots assembled in this room tonight . . . we will get the job done. We will all prove worthy of this very important moment in history, and we will prove worthy of the sacrifice that our brave veterans have made. As long as we have pride in our beliefs, courage in our convictions, and faith in our God, we will not fail.”⁵⁶ So what kind of man is Donald Trump, and what led to his election? The next section seeks to answer these questions.