On January 20, Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. And despite being under constant and vicious attacks from the media, liberals and many moderate Republicans, he is still standing, and standing strong at that. Despite calls for his impeachment (and even death), despite claims that he was losing his health, his mind, and his grip, and despite his own gaffes, missteps, and tweets the president seems stronger than ever, with a sense of momentum entering 2018. While the Russian collusion investigation has dominated the mainstream media, Trump has accomplished a number of things that have gone mostly unreported but are of great importance to Christians.
He won the presidency by reaching out to evangelicals, many of who voted for him because they could not bring themselves to pull the lever for Hillary Clinton and four more years of liberal secularism. Trump’s braggadocio, narcissism, misogyny and race-baiting make him an odd standard bearer for politicized evangelicalism. But politics is inherently transactional and Trump promised to support the causes of politically conservative Christians.
Soon after becoming president, Trump formed an “Evangelical Advisory Council,” later renamed the “Faith Leaders Initiative,” comprised of nationally known evangelical leaders who now have the president’s ear. At more than one of their meetings these leaders have laid hands on Trump and prayed for him.
In late April, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. claimed that evangelicals have “found their dream president” in Trump. On May 4, the National Day of Prayer, Trump signed an executive order promoting religious liberty.
Besides selecting a devout Christian, Mike Pence, as his vice president, Trump filled his Cabinet and administration with many people of faith and there has been a spiritual awakening at the White House. Some of the most powerful people in America have been gathering weekly to learn more about God’s Word. They’ve been called the most evangelical Cabinet in history – men and women who don’t mince words when it comes to where they stand on God and the Bible. Ralph Drollinger of Capitol Ministries stated, “These are godly individuals that God has risen to a position of prominence in our culture. It’s the best Bible study that I’ve ever taught in my life. They are so teachable; they’re so noble; they’re so learned.”
Christians from Trump’s team of advisers say they’ve seen the change in his life. “I can tell you Donald Trump is not the same man that you are hearing about from his past. He has had a heart change toward the things of God and the people of God, and he is surrounding himself with prayer warriors,” says Mary Colbert, an evangelical leader who has attended meetings with the president.
Christians are applauding President Trump’s support of Israel and his decision to recognize Jerusalem as it’s capital. CBN News Senior Editor John Waage says, “Christians should celebrate the pending embassy move to Jerusalem despite the difficulties because it is part of the great miracle of our time: the return of the Jewish people to the land and the city the Lord promised to them.”
One of the Trump administration’s biggest achievements this year was the defeat of the ISIS. They have lost 98% of the territory that it gained while Barack Obama was in the White House. Millions in the Middle East, especially Christians are starting to breathe a sigh of relief.
Another thing that evangelicals are happy about is that President Trump has aggressively followed through with his campaign promise to support the pro-life agenda. “We are on track to seeing the most pro-life president this country has ever seen,” said Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council. Recently, President Trump was awarded the 2017 Pro-Life Person of the Year Malachi Award by the pro-life group Operation Rescue.
Also, the Trump administration is undoing some of the Obama administration’s LGBT activist rulings and laws. At the same hour as he took the oath of office as President, the new administration removed the White House website page pertaining to LGBT rights. Less than one month later, Trump rescinded the Obama Era guidelines allowing transgender to use rest rooms consistent with their gender identity, rejecting the application of Title IX protections for transpeople.”
Over the past year under the Trump administration, 60% of refugees admitted into the U.S. have been Christian. This is a reversal of the religion of refugees who were admitted into the U.S. under President Obama. Under Obama, the majority of refugees were Muslim..
With just days left in the 2017, Congress handed Trump his biggest legislative win by sending a $1.5-trillion tax reform package to his desk. This bill is predicted to lower taxes for over 80% of Americans and jump start the economy. The legislation also allows Trump to say he’s working to dismantle Obama Care: the bill includes a repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate requiring Americans to buy health insurance or face a penalty.
The economy has already made quite a turnaround under Trump which is good news for us all. The stock market has hit record highs more than 60 times during Trump’s presidency. Unemployment is at a 17 year low and Food Stamp use is at a 7 year low. When Trump visited the Middle East, many in the media hailed it as a blistering failure. In contrast, Trump managed to secure over 300 billion dollars in trade deals while in Saudi Arabia. In addition, Saudi Arabia pledged to invest an additional 40 billion dollars into US infrastructure. Further, when Trump visited China as part of his Asia diplomacy trip, the country agreed to a 250 billion dollar trade deal in the US’s favor.
Besides drastically cutting burdensome regulations, he has taken other actions to please conservatives, including moving to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, green-lighting the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines and withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Trump has nominated over 70 conservative judges who could stay on the bench for many years which will help Christians that are forced to defend their religious liberties in court. He also appointed Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court who is a pro-life constitutional conservative. “He’s a true conservative,” evangelist Franklin Graham proclaimed. “This man, certainly, for all of us Christians, we are very, very thankful that President Trump has nominated him, because he will protect religious liberty.” Imagine the nightmare we’d be facing today if Hillary Clinton was elected, and proceeded to nominate a progressive social justice warrior who views the Constitution as a barrier to secular progress. We could have seen the final collapse of religious freedom, and eventually the criminalization of Christianity.
Despite all of Trumps shortcomings, Christians have to be pleased with the results they have seen in the first year of this administration.