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Pastor Paula White speaks as President Donald Trump listens during the White House Faith Office luncheon in the State Dining Room, Monday, July 14, 2025, in Washington. <\/span>AP Photo\/Evan Vucci<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n On Monday,<\/span> President Donald Trump spoke<\/a> for nearly 90 minutes at the White House Faith Luncheon, a gathering of faith leaders and CEOs whose companies support faith-based groups. Though his speech wasn\u2019t all about religion\u2014he touched on the election, his \u201cBig Beautiful Bill,\u201d and foreign policy, among other topics\u2014he devoted a portion of it to celebrating the recent decision<\/a> by the IRS to redefine the rule against political activity at churches. The agency clarified that it considers political endorsements in the context of religious services to be private communications, and therefore not in violation of the Johnson Amendment<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cAs President, I\u2019ve ended the radical left\u2019s war on faith, and we\u2019re once again protecting religious freedom like never before in our country!\u201d he told the approximately 60 people who had gathered. <\/strong>\u201cWe\u2019re getting rid of the Johnson Amendment that didn\u2019t let the pastors and ministers and everybody speak about politics. Now you\u2019re able to speak about politics!\u201d As my colleague David Corn wrote<\/a> last week, the IRS\u2019s decision represents a major change from how churches used to navigate political concerns:<\/p>\n Churches have long been allowed to participate in politics in various ways. Clergy could address political issues from the pulpit, and churches could distribute so-called educational material related to elections (such as the voting guides that the Moral Majority and other fundamentalist outfits have produced comparing candidates, which functioned as de facto endorsements). Inviting candidates to speak to congregations has been a popular action within Black churches. But churches were explicitly\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0allowed to back the election of a specific candidate. Support had to be delivered with a nod and a wink.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Trump recalled that when he was first campaigning for president in 2016, he was shocked to learn that a group of faith leaders he met with wasn\u2019t allowed to publicly endorse him. \u201cI said, \u2018You have more power than anybody, but you\u2019re not allowed to use your power.\u2019 I said, \u2018We\u2019re going to get rid of that, because people want to hear what you have to say more than anybody else, pretty much.\u2019 And we did get rid of it!\u201d<\/p>\n Several members of Trump\u2019s White House Faith Office were present at the luncheon, and he occasionally addressed them directly. \u201cPaula, you can say, \u2018I don\u2019t like that guy, and they won\u2019t take away your tax-exempt status,\u201d he said. The \u201cPaula\u201d in question was likely Paula White, Trump\u2019s senior adviser to the Faith Office.<\/p>\n White is a leader in the New Apostolic Reformation<\/a>, a growing charismatic movement led by a loose network of self-appointed prophets and apostles. Many NAR leaders teach that Christians are called to take dominion over all aspects of society, including politics. Last fall, I wrote about<\/a> her years-long influence on Trump\u2014and her involvement in the lead-up to the 2021 attack on the Capitol:<\/p>\n Since 2016,\u00a0many NAR prophesies have concerned Trump, whom adherents see as having been divinely chosen to lead the country. Trump\u2019s introduction to the movement came in 2002 when he\u00a0invited<\/a>\u00a0Florida apostle Paula White to be his personal minister after seeing her preach on television.<\/p>\n [\u2026]<\/p>\n As the 2020 election drew near, their role became more important. White warned her followers that Christians who don\u2019t support Trump will \u201chave to stand accountable before God one day.\u201d Shortly after Trump\u2019s defeat, Sheets became an influential figure in the \u201cStop the Steal<\/a>\u201d campaign, leading rallies across the country. He warned that the results of the presidential election were \u201cgoing to be overturned and President Trump is going to be put back in office for four years.\u201d Around the same time, White-Cain gave a\u00a0speech<\/a>\u00a0imploring religious Americans to \u201cstrike and strike and strike and strike and strike and strike and strike and strike and strike and strike until you have victory.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n During the speech, Trump also compared his own legal struggles with those of persecuted Christians. \u201cI stopped the Biden administration\u2019s persecutions of Christians and pro-life activists,\u201d he said. \u201cThey would put people in jail if they even uttered the word, and well, look at me. I mean, look what happened to me! I was under investigation more than the late great Alphonse Capone!\u201d<\/p>\n At the end of the speech, Trump called on White to lead the attendees in prayer. Before she bowed her head, she praised Trump for his support of religious leaders. \u201cHe is our greatest champion of faith, of any president, that the United States of America has ever had,\u201d she said. Quoting the Old Testament story of Esther, the brave queen who saved the Jews from a wicked ruler, she assured the attendees, \u201cYou\u2019ve been called by God to his kingdom for such a time as this.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
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