In the third and final segment of his July 29 exclusive sit down interview with FOX News prime time host Laura Ingraham, broadcast on her program on Friday August 2, President Trump was asked about his spiritual beliefs – for the first time that I can recall in any major MSM interview.
Ingraham introduced the Q & A by noting “Trump has a tough guy image but there’s a side of him we don’t often see.”
President Trump discusses his religious faith with Laura Ingraham, broadcast on FOX News August 2, 2024
Screenshot by Peter Barry Chowka used with permission of FOX News Media
Excerpts from the interview transcribed by me:
LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: What do you pray for? I know you really don’t like to talk about this. But people across the country see you as an important figure, a critical figure at a desperate time for the country. And they want to know that you believe that there’s something more than just this world.
FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I do. I think one of the reasons that our country has lost, sort of, everything — it's lost so much — is we don't have religion to the same extent. I mean, you look at those charts. They're so sad. I mean, it's just going bad, and the Democrats were violent and ruthless to religion during COVID. What they did during COVID — people weren't even allowed to meet outside, and they were 10 feet apart in some big field. They’d arrest everybody. They were fascists, they were horrible. That was a very bad time for organized religion.
But, you know, religion – it gives you some hope. You know, “If I’m good I’m going to heaven.”
INGRAHAM: Do you believe in heaven?
TRUMP: I do! You know, if I’m good, I’m going to heaven. And if I’m bad, I’m going to someplace else – like over there, right? But it gives you – there’s something that’s so good for a country.
INGRAHAM: When you pray, what do you pray for?
TRUMP: Well, I pray for our country. Obviously. I pray for the same things you [do] – I pray for our family and our country. We have a family and we have a country. And I guess we have a world, too. I pray for our world.
Trump then pivoted to his view on the dangerous international situation under Biden, with wars or the potential of wars on several fronts.
TRUMP: When you look at what's going on with Russia-Ukraine, we're spending billions of dollars. Now they want offensive weapons so we can go in and hit Moscow. Let me tell you, we're very close to a world war. The Middle East is ready to blow up. The Russia-Ukraine thing is much more serious than you even know.
Video of President Trump discussing these issues with Laura Ingraham can be accessed here.
It should be obvious to readers of American Thinker that during Trump’s administration (2017-2021), peace was breaking out in the Middle East with the Abraham accords. Iran was prevented from funding Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis because of Trump-imposed sanctions and denying the Ayatollah more billions of dollars that were given to Iran by Obama and Biden. China was not overtly threatening Taiwan and North Korea was not firing missiles across the Sea of Japan.
Maybe the faith of many of our leaders then, including President Trump during his administration, had something to do with this.
Peter Barry Chowka has been reporting on national elections since 1964, starting in high school. Later, he reported from several national political conventions and traveled around the country with presidential candidates. Peter is a frequent invited guest on the BBC, the largest broadcaster in the world (his July 27 appearance is here). He has been a frequent contributor to American Thinker since 2007.