President Donald Trump is facing pressure to “fire” pastor Paula White, his controversial pick to lead the new White House Faith Office, just one day after announcing her appointment.
Scores of pastors, priests, and Christians of all denominations reacted harshly to Trump’s pick on X after it was announced. Trump faced similar criticism when he picked White to be involved in his 2016 campaign and first presidential administration.
“I’m hearing from a credible source that President Trump is well aware that Paula White has been trending all day on X and that the response to him appointing her the head of the White House Faith Office is receiving a TON of negative backlash,” former Bay Area sports broadcaster Jon Root posted.
While Root is one of the leading voices calling on Trump to “fire” and “replace” White, podcaster Chris Hohnholz called on the president to “reverse course on this ASAP.” Pastor David Reece suggested Trump replace White with Voddie Buacham, and another user wrote, “Dear @POTUS, please don’t do this. Worst decision you will ever make.” Each post received more than 1,000 likes.
One of the main points of criticism being levied at Trump is that he appointed a twice-divorced female pastor to lead the White House Faith Office. Most Protestants and Eastern Catholics believe a pastor should be the husband of one wife, while Roman Catholics believe he should remain celibate.
Many also point to the fact that White told the Jerusalem Post that Christians should not try to convert Jews but instead learn from them. Others claim that White denies the Trinity, a core doctrine of Christianity. While she has made statements that many perceive as undermining the doctrine of the trinity, White called allegations that she denies the trinity “patently false.”
White is also accused of being a proponent of the prosperity gospel, which teaches that God will bless believers with health and wealth. She has denied this, but has preached that if a viewer donated $1,144 to her ministry they would receive “resurrection life.”
She was the subject of a United States Senate Finance Committee investigation for allegedly inappropriate spending of ministry donations in 2007, and in 2023 was accused of improperly accessing the band Journey’s bank account.
The charismatic Christian also praised a South Korean cult leader known as “Mrs. Moon” or “True Mother” as “a jewel from God” who does “great work as a spiritual leader” in 2021.
The editor-in-chief of Christianity Today magazine, Russell Moore, was one of many prominent Christians who came out against Trump’s decision to appoint White as chairwoman of the evangelical advisory board for his first presidential campaign. Moore described White as “a charlatan and recognized as a heretic by every orthodox Christian, of whatever tribe.”
Loud pushback did not stop Trump from having her deliver the invocation at his first inauguration, making White the first female clergy member to deliver the invocation. Trump went on to appoint her special adviser to the Faith and Opportunity Initiative at the Office of Public Liaison under his first administration.
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According to Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, White has known Trump for years and “personally led him to Christ.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to White for comment.