Trump Is Jesus?

No doubt you’ve seen the meme that US President Donald Trump reposted with him in an ecclesiastical robe praying over a man in a hospital bed with a glowing hand as if he has special healing power. Trust me when I heard from people about that since they know I support him and pray for him. It was like an unexpected gift for them to make all his supporters see him as the megalomaniac he is and to try and wake them up to how evil he is. When I first saw it I was taken back for a second. However, I know better than to rush to an opinion and admit to the people wanting my thoughts on it that yes, Trump thinks he is Jesus and has divine powers. Let me start off by saying that I never saw Trump as a seasoned Christian and didn’t base my votes or support for him based on that. I didn’t vote for him to be the Pastor and Chief of America. I don’t expect him to use clean language all the time and I certainly didn’t want him in the Oval Office based on his knowledge of the Bible. I am so far from that. God does and will continue to use people who are far from followers of Him to accomplish His will. Knowing all of that I decided to wait to weigh in and research this further. What I’m going to say will not suffice for those who see anything Trump does as evil and morally contemptible first and then ask questions later. Orange man is bad! And there’s no changing their minds. Facts don’t matter because Trump is incapable of doing anything good. For those who think that way I can only hope you become intellectually honest about him. You know, come in willing to change your mind if convincing evidence is given. But know that I’m not losing sleep over your emotional and irrational mindset and no, this gotcha moment isn’t what you think it is.

A Little Background

I decided to find out where this AI generated meme came from for starters. It wasn’t a painting that Trump commissioned. He didn’t talk to his staff and ask them to come up with it as many assumed. No, it was created by Nick Adams on his X account back in February of this year. To be fair, the two memes are different and no one knows why. The differences are, in my mind, negligible and only mean Trump got the meme from someone else’s profile. The overall point is that Adams posted it first and what he says was his inspiration should be noted. He said this in a now unavailable X post:

America has been sick for a long time. President Trump is healing this nation.

To those with Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) this is still offensive, but it makes the point that the intention was not to give Trump divinity powers but it a way to say the he is taking part in healing the wrongs in America done by those who do out of their way to denigrate America. When asked about it in a C-SPAN video on X, the US President said he did post it but saw it as him being a doctor and representing the Red Cross. For those not willing to believe that, many on social media posted another meme showing Trump as the Pope. This was back a year ago as a new pope was being selected and after Trump joked he would like to be the pope. It was a joke, but the TDS crowd pounced on it without nary a scintilla of humor. I can dismiss this crowd back then and now. But for my fellow believers, that’s another story. They’re losing their minds over this and they need to put their time and energy elsewhere and move on. But before I go any further with them, let’s try and see why Trump posted the current infamous meme.

What Was He Thinking?

Ok, so why did Trump think the meme was not controversial? Some think he is delusional and say that he really thinks he is Jesus. They are already wanting to remove him from office using the 25th amendment as the way to do it since they think he is crazy and unfit to serve. Again, their TDS knows no bounds. Others think he is making fun of the current pope who has no kind words for Trump. In this view they note that the robe and sash Trump has on are ones worn by Catholic priests and they do have a point on that. There are reports that the person who brought the meme to Trump’s attention thought it was funny. Of course, there are a cadre of people who think it was meant to distract from the Iran war, kind of a wag the dog tail tactic that has been used by previous presidents to get a bad story out of the headlines. Trump being a man who is hardly into doing things that up until now doesn’t make that thinking plausible. I’m sure there are thousands of more opinions out there that use one of these lines of reasoning. Unless Trump tells us differently we need to go with what he’s on record as believing whether we like it or not. Any other logic is just guessing. But maybe the point is that we all have our own reasons for not liking it and we somehow think we need to show our disagreement over it if only to let our followers know we think it was a mistake at best. I saw one meme intimating that Trump will get worms like King Herod did for blaspheming and saying he was God. Pump the brakes. Now to all the Christians out there saying that the meme crossed the line.

It Was Shocking

I have to admit I did a double take when I saw it. And I know that I will be castigated and called less then discerning if my conclusion is it much ado about nothing. People I respect have called for Trump to admit he went too far as we see from an article from Yahoo News:

Sean Feucht, the Christian songwriter and musician who held mass “worship protest” concerts in 2020 and 2021 in defiance of pandemic restrictions, posted on X, “This should be deleted immediately. There’s no context where this is acceptable.”

I’ve met Sean and he’s the real deal. I respect his opinion. But there were others who used the word “blasphemy” and meant it:

Among other conservatives to call out Trump’s post was former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who wrote on X, “I completely denounce this and I’m praying against it!!!” Megan Basham, a well-known conservative Christian commentator, called the meme Trump “OUTRAGEOUS blasphemy” and said the president should “ask for forgiveness from the American people and then from God.” Brilyn Hollhand, the former co-chair of the Republican National Committee Youth Advisory, also posted to X, “This is gross blasphemy. Faith is not a prop.”

I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. Franklin Graham sees things much like I do

“I’m thankful the President has clarified that this was not at all what he intended and has removed the post," Graham, who is president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, told Newsweek Wednesday via email.

After Graham's comments to Newsweek, he shared on X on Thursday morning that he had received multiple questions about the president's posts and reaffirmed his belief that Trump would not knowingly depict himself as Jesus. Instead, he said the reaction had been because of an ongoing effort to bad-mouth the president.

Graham went on to note this:

"When I looked at the illustration, I didn’t jump to the same conclusion as some," he posted. "There were no spiritual references—no halo, there were no crosses, no angels. It was a flag, soldiers, a nurse, fighter planes, eagles, the Statue of Liberty, and I think this is a lot to do about nothing. There is so much ill-intended speculation. I think his enemies are always foaming at the mouth at any possible opportunity to make him look bad."

Trump has survived much worse than this current outrage, but the conservative Christian uproar exposes how wrongly we see Trump and how God is using him. And it exposes how incorrect we are about who God uses to bless America.

A Modern Day Cyrus

On this point we need to look at a Persian King back at the end of the 70 year Israel captivity in Babylon. This political king was the key to the reestablishing of Israel and letting them leave Babylon. Cyrus was not a Jewish believer; He had no religious conversion which made him treat the Jews so nicely. But God moved his hand and used him. In an article from Times Of Israel the connections are made. The author does have concerns about making the connections, though. Bible teacher Lance Walnau has no issues about seeing Trump as being anointed for such a time as this. He’s written two books about it and continues to espouse it. I tend to agree with him. Israel even made a coin during Trump’s first administration calling him a modern day Cyrus. There is no stronger supporter of Israel in my lifetime and it’s not even close. Add to that that he’s done more for the pro-life movement as well. Is he perfect? Hardly. But this whole meme outrage is a blip on the radar when it comes to seeing him the way God sees him. King Cyrus was a heathen leader, ungodly to be sure. And yet God prophesied him helping His chosen people:

This is Jehovah’s message to Cyrus, God’s anointed, whom he has chosen to conquer many lands. God shall empower his right hand, and he shall crush the strength of mighty kings. God shall open the gates of Babylon to him; the gates shall not be shut against him anymore. 2 I will go before you, Cyrus, and level the mountains and smash down the city gates of brass and iron bars. 3 And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness, secret riches; and you will know that I am doing this—I, the Lord, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by your name. 4 And why have I named you for this work? For the sake of Jacob, my servant—Israel, my chosen. I called you by name when you didn’t know me. 5 I am Jehovah; there is no other God. I will strengthen you and send you out to victory even though you don’t know me... (Isa 45:1-5. TLB)

That last part is the key to my seeing this meme as something to move on from. We can debate the Christianity of Trump all we want and I do think he is a Christian now, albeit one with rough edges. That misses the point. It doesn’t matter. Don’t waste your time on social media bashing him and intimating God should smite him. Say you didn’t like it if you must but see through the smoke screen and see him as the perfect man for the job. I for one don’t need perfection for a president. I need one who keeps Israel protected, fights for religious liberty in Nigeria and in the US and keeps America strong. I’ll keep praying for him and his salvation regardless.