Over a dozen Christian leaders prayed with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office this week, with one saying that the assassination attempt last summer has caused the president to embrace faith groups even more than he did in his first term.
Led by White House Faith Office Senior Advisor Paula White-Cain, Trump’s longtime spiritual advisor, the faith leaders met with Trump on Wednesday. Pictures from the event show several faith leaders placing their hands on Trump in prayer around the president.
Attendees included, among others, the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, Pastor Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Pastor Travis Johnson of the multi-campus Pathway Church based in Alabama, David Barton of WallBuilders, former presidential candidate and longtime social conservative activist Gary Bauer and William Wolfe, the executive director of the Center for Baptist Leadership.
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Rodriguez, who serves as a faith advisor to the White House Faith Office and participated in Trump’s first inauguration in 2017, offered a prayer for Trump. The contents of the prayer were shared with The Christian Post:
“With gratitude and humility, we pray for President Trump. You assigned him, you appointed him, you anointed him for such a time as this. We ask You to cover him with the blood of Jesus, empowering him to advance an agenda of righteousness and justice, truth and love.”
“Protect him from all evil as he undergirds our nation with the firewall of our Judeo-Christian value system. Fulfill Your purpose in his life,” Rodriguez, the lead pastor of New Season megachurch in California, added.
“And as a result, we pray by faith that through his leadership, the following will take place in America — the fulfillment of Isaiah 58:8: Salvation will come like the dawn. Wounds will quickly heal. Godliness will lead us forward as the glory of God will protect us from behind. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Rodriguez told CP that it is “an honor” to partner with White-Cain and Special Assistant to the President Jenny Korn “to support the incredible and important work they are doing through the White House Faith Office.”
“I am grateful to them for the opportunity to be a voice for Christians and the Latino community in this most important of times,” Rodriguez said.
Before meeting with Trump in the Oval Office, the leaders met without the president.
“Our meeting time as a faith-based team focused on faith-based policies, initiatives and just strategic planning and that was the gist of that meeting,” Rodriguez said. “The time in the Oval Office was very cordial and just time for us to just relate with the president and time in prayer.”
Rodriguez called Trump “unbelievably gracious” and “truly just remarkable,” praising him for his hospitality.
“It felt more like a family reunion … around the president, but it felt real, it felt authentic,” he said. “It was just an incredible gathering.”
“This is the No. 1 most pro-faith president in my lifetime. This is the fulfillment of Ronald Reagan’s dream,” Rodriguez proclaimed. “I was a kid, but I remember being inspired by Ronald Reagan, and he would talk about faith and America being a city on a hill, and the faith that guides us as Americans is our Judeo-Christian values system. This is taking his dream and bringing it to reality.”
During Trump’s first term in office from 2017 to 2021, the White House held several briefings and events with Evangelical leaders, including the likes of Rodriguez, Franklin Graham, James Dobson, and others. On different occasions, Evangelical leaders similarly prayed for Trump in the Oval Office.
In August 2018, the White House hosted what was dubbed a “state dinner” in which over 100 Evangelical leaders were invited.
When asked if he felt there were any differences in Trump’s attitude toward Christian leaders between his first term and second, Rodriguez said he thought the assassination attempt on Trump’s life at a campaign rally last summer produced a noticeable change.
“God spared his life, and hence, the faith factor is even elevated through his personal testimony. So, President Donald Trump is in the Oval Office because God intervened and protected him and that was obvious,” Rodriguez said.
“So, he is the byproduct of a miracle. Hence, faith is more important than ever before, even than in his first term,” Rodriguez asserted.
Trump first announced the creation of the White House Faith Office during a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast last month, just over two weeks after he took office. He identified the purpose of the new entity as helping to combat “anti-Christian bias.” He elaborated on his vision for the new office in an executive order published on Feb. 7.
“The Office shall have lead responsibility in the executive branch to empower faith-based entities, community organizations, and houses of worship to serve families and communities,” the executive order stated. “The Office shall be housed in the Domestic Policy Council and headed by a Senior Advisor to the White House Faith Office, and supported by other positions as the President considers appropriate.”
The functions of the White House Faith Office include consulting with and seeking information “from experts and various faith and community leaders identified by the White House Faith Office and other [Executive Office of the President] components, including those from outside the Federal Government and those from State, local, and Tribal governments.”
Another responsibility involves making “recommendations to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, regarding changes to policies, programs, and practices, and aspects of [the Trump] Administration’s policy agenda, that affect the ability of faith-based entities, community organizations, and houses of worship to serve families and communities.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
