“Then God made Trump...” More about this later.
Eighty-two per cent of Trump supporters believe that immigrants are poisoning the blood of America. They consider themselves Evangelical.
But their unshakeable faith is not in the Gospel. It is in Trump. The values of Jesus Christ have been traded for the petty grievances and vengeance hunger that have become the hallmark of the man who now wants to return to the U.S. presidency.
Millions of Americans are worshipping Trump, believing he is God’s messenger. It is a belief deeply rooted in the history of religion in America, a belief that those well-heeled financially are blessed by God. Extrapolate that into the billions in fortune and you can see where it leads. That is why Trump rallies have the feel of a religious experience.
There was a time when Evangelical pastors crisscrossed the U.S. preaching in revival tents. Their influence began to grow exponentially when American big business, faced with higher taxes after the FDR New Deal policies to lift America out of the depths of the Depression, and unsuccessful at a public relations attempt to turn public opinion against higher taxes, turned their funds to Evangelical pastors.
They would be the ones to sell the public on a gospel based on the idea that financial success was a divine reward, framing it as a virtuous manifestation of God's blessings.
This was a pivotal event in turning economic interests into religious rhetoric. It would soon be twisted into a belief that poverty and misfortune were due to God’s displeasure for one’s flirting with the Devil.
“And on 14 June 1946, God looked down on his planned paradise and said: ‘I need a caretaker.’ So, God gave us Trump.” So opens a video posted by Trump on his social media Truth Social site.
“God said I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, fix this country, work all day, fight the Marxists, eat supper, then go to the Oval Office and stay past midnight at a meeting of the heads of state. So God made Trump,” says the thundering voiceover.
“I need somebody with arms strong enough to wrestle the Deep State and yet gentle enough to deliver his own grandchild," continues the video that calls him a “shepherd to the world.”
“I need somebody who can shape an axe but wield a sword, who had the courage to set foot in North Korea, who can make money from the tar of the sand, turn liquid to gold,...will finish his 40-hour week by Tuesday noon and then put in another 72 hours. So, God made Trump.”
Wow!
But many Americans said, Amen!
And they voted that way.
Analysing Trump worship
What is this hold that Trump has over his followers? This devotion that elevates a man to prophet-like status? We must dig deeper into the human psyche to comprehend this strange phenomenon.
Man is a meaning-seeking creature lost in an indifferent world. The banality of modern life leaves us yearning for purpose and transcendence. Our insignificance terrifies us; we crave grand narratives that place us at the centre of destiny. Religions grasp this need masterfully, binding communities under the banner of pious crusades. The Enlightenment dispelled the biblical myths, yet the void remains.
Along comes a man like Trump to fill that void. Bombastic, crude, a caricature of the urgency inside each of us. His followers see themselves in him— their fears, their desires, and their struggle for relevance projected onto an orange screen. Facts, ethics, empirical truth— these dissolve before the longing for myth. Life is not rational, why should its myths be so?
Through Trump forgotten souls craft meaning from their despair. A last stand for the chosen people, besieged by enemies yet moving toward salvation.
They call it Make America Great Again. But it is not a place, it is a time they seek. The nostalgic past, real or imagined, before their privilege eroded and communities changed beyond recognition. Trump's rhetoric taps into this sense of dispossession, weaving disconnected grievances into an epic tale of redemption awaiting.
Such mythmaking is the work of religions, not policies. Its power stems not from truth but from the fulfilment of desperate hope. Who cares about Trump's lies? Truth is negotiable when fundamental needs are at stake.
Trump is a master at creating fear, thus the need for his protection from those who want to preserve yesterday and are afraid of the future: “We won’t have a country anymore.”
His followers revel in conspiracies, for what better way to make sense of a senseless world? The cabals and treasonous plots give security, as if transcendent forces control the chaos we inhabit. QAnon, birtherism; the dance between light and dark is easier to accept than ethical ambiguity.
Christianity has its saints, Hinduism its avatars. For the Trump faithful, their fair, yellow-haired prophet is the focal point of veneration. Criticize him and face visceral fury, for he is the vessel of their fantasies. Physical violence is unleashed upon nonbelievers.
What grandeur do they see in this man? An image carved from their own conceits and insecurities, anointed to shape destiny. His wealth is "Godly favour," his cruelty is “Divine justice.” But even gods fall prey to fleshly sins. How many vices will his followers forgive in their quest for purpose?
Ah, but true belief asks not for forgiveness but for celebration. When Trump ridicules the handicapped, grabs women by their sex, cages migrant children, the faithful see only the wrath of Jehovah cleansing the promised land. This is the prayer they utter: May Trump’s will be done.
What we must understand about human nature is that facts persuade but myths compel. They tap something deeper than reason, an ocean of fears and longings beneath our rational minds. Politics bothers with policies, but Trump intuits this eternal truth— one must first capture the imagination, and then the vote will follow.
So, he spins tales of salvation and destiny, the clarity of apocalyptic combat. His "truths” Trump’s incarnation of the former tweets, are Sunday sermons; his rallies are revivals for the end times. Social media connects fragmented lives just as religions weave scattered souls into purposeful unity and faith.
Trumpism mimics the structure of faith. It fosters tribalism, persecutes heretics, and sacralizes fleeting time on Earth. At its heart is not conservatism but a crisis of meaning in a world where past certainties lie slain by the very forces that created modernity.
Its adherents pray not for grace or wisdom but raw power and narcissistic validation. They have seen the future and want no part of it. Yesterday once more they chant, seeking the half-remembered dreams trumpeted by their anointed prophet.
To understand faith in Trump, it is important to recognise the potency of weaponised nostalgia wielded in desperate times. Facts hold slight currency against escapist fantasy when the spirit is depleted.
The battle is not political but existential. It asks who we are and where we want to go. What story will we tell about ourselves as we walk the lonesome valley between worlds already lost and worlds yet to come? Trumpism triumphs when the future is made to seem terrifying and the past alluring.
There are always politicians, but prophets appear only when the soul is vulnerable. They fill the space where identity and meaning have evaporated. The dangers of the fervent myth are ever-present, yet still we seek larger truths to steer by. Human choice is not between myth and reason, but between myths that ennoble or debase a brief moment under the sun.
Trump's mythic allure
To understand Trump's mythic allure, we must step back and ask— what function do such myths serve in society? What deep psychological need do they fulfil?
Like rligion, the Trumpist myths provide a counterweight to the burdens and emptiness of modern life. Their fantasies of conspiracy and impending redemption lend weight to routine existence. Without such galvanizing narratives, the self is left to construct meaning from the whole cloth. This is a burden on many, not just in America but the world, that is why we see similar phenomena in other parts of the world.
Yet humans also carry fear of the existential responsibility that comes with freedom from traditional myths; comforts are not easily abandoned. And so the Trump crusade arises to restore old certainties, placing believers on the “right side” of providential history.
Life presents each person with a unique predicament, a specific fate. But myth makes everyone protagonist in the same grand drama. Suddenly one’s personal troubles assume world-historical significance. The trumpeted Promised Land becomes a solution to all individual ills.
These myths appeal not to reason but to primal emotions— loss, fear, resentment, tribal pride. They provide an analgesic balm against the modern anxieties of displacement and insignificance. By demonizing outsiders, unity is forged within.
Like communism, Trumpism offers a surrogate religion for the dislocated masses. Its liturgy consists of chanting lock her up, build the wall. Its devil is radical leftism seducing the homeland. Salvation awaits in strongman rule, a new capitalist theocracy to smash the decadent idols of liberal pluralism and collectivism.
Trump is a transparent outlandish exaggerator and prolific liar. Why do his followers accept obvious lies as sacred truth? Because defeating liars matters less than confirming shared myths. Truth is transactional, and Trump knows this better than anyone. Truth is contingent on the needs of the tribe. This relativity allows them to condemn opponents for offenses they excuse in their prophet. Such convenient flexibility greases the machinery of fanaticism.
The allure of simplicity in complicated times cannot be ignored. Trumpism reduces multidimensional problems to black and white. Its crude tribalism answers the need for identity and belonging when older anchors of meaning have eroded.
Life is ambiguous but ideology abhors ambivalence. The convenient clarity of Trumpist myths paper over nuance and countervailing facts. The undercurrents roil with the human struggle to assimilate reality’s contradictions into simplifying narratives. Outside the tribe lies only uncertainty and the nameless dread of oblivion. You can see as much in comments of Trump-flag-waiving supporters attending his rallies.
The philosopher Wittgenstein said, “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must remain silent.” But people fear that silence reveals life’s intrinsic meaninglessness. When people are terrified of not mattering, humans crave grandiose purpose.We see this in the lauding, sometimes incoherent, shouts of Trump supporters.
Myths inflate the self by placing it at destiny’s crux. Without them, humans are forced to find dignity and ethics within, not from demagogues promising climactic battles between good and evil. Autocrats of Trump’s vein thrive when existential reflection is eschewed for absolute certainties.
So the Trumpist myth functions as a sanctuary from stark reality. But its warm embrace comes at the cost of freedom. It places adherents on rails towards an end chosen by another. The entire Republican party deferred its 2016 platform to Trump’s wishes and it is poised to defeat a much-needed immigration reform bill merely because opposes it, ostensibly so that he has an issue against Biden for not reforming immigration.
Authoritarian myths allow people to bypass anxiety of choice. They promise deliverance in return for unconditional surrender to tribal orthodoxies. But this is a false salvation; the collective humanity of America dwells in the acceptance or rejection of the Trump myth.
Understanding the Mythic Allure of Trumpism
As with the charismatic founders of religious cults, Trump attracts an intense personal allegiance from his followers. His brash, politically incorrect persona and outsider status have allowed him to garner devotees who feel disenfranchised from the establishment system. Trump is able to connect with their grievances through his populist rhetoric.
His most loyal supporters display an unquestioning faith in his persona, overlooking or rationalising his flaws, and viewing him as a prophet-like bearer of inconvenient truths. This fervent, emotional devotion is a hallmark of both religious cults of personality and the Trumpist movement.
Black and White Worldview
Trumpism fosters a starkly divided worldview. Trump is portrayed as an agent of good, defending patriotic Americans. Democrats, immigrants and leftist groups are scapegoated as evil enemies in this binary world. Dissent and nuance are not tolerated, you are either fully with Trump or against him, Mike Pence found this out. This ‘us vs. them’ mindset mimics religious moral universalism.
Faith Over Facts
Facts and evidence often take a backseat to faith when it comes to religious adherence. Likewise, devotion to Trump frequently persists no matter how many of his claims are debunked.
From conspiracy theories about election fraud to false promises on healthcare, his most loyal supporters exhibit an almost religious conviction, unwilling to waver even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Their steadfast allegiance reveals a faith-based core where belief comes first, and rationalization follows.
Conspiracy Theories
Conspiracy theories proliferate in both Trumpism and religious extremism. When events don’t align with their worldview, conspiracies offer a convenient way to dismiss contradicting evidence without having to examine one’s own beliefs.
From QAnon to Obama birtherism, Trumpism breeds outlandish conspiracy narratives that take on spiritual overtones of a cosmic battle between good and evil. These far-fetched theories allow believers to rationalize adversity and give meaning to current events, while rationalizing the use of violence, deceit and other means in a fight on God’s side.
Cult of Personality
Charismatic figures like Trump or religious prophets often develop cults of personality, with adherents lavishing them with praise and devotion. The MAGA hat, slogans like “Trump 4Ever,” and mass rallies reflect this impulse toward uncritical cult loyalty.
To many, Trump is above critique or accountability, you can see this in those cheering anytime he skewers judges or prosecutors and in the millions he has raised every time he was indicted and when he was ordered to pay $83 million in damages to a woman whom Trump was adjudicated as having raped long enough ago for the statute of limitations to bar criminal prosecution. This highlights people’s susceptibility to authoritarianism when political ideologies become too fundamentalist.
Demonization of Outgroups
Religions have often scapegoated outsiders as threatening and warranting elimination. In that vein, Trumpism vilifies groups like immigrants, liberals, Muslims and progressives as dangers to their vision of America. Trump regularly dehumanizes those groups in pursuit of maintaining privilege for his largely white Christian base. This mimics how religious extremists foster hate and distrust of non-believers.
Promise of Salvation
Religious adherence often hinges on promises of salvation from suffering, if not in this world then the next. Likewise, Trump promises salvation from his supporters’ angsts— displacement, job loss, and changes to cultural status.
By tapping into their fears and directing them at scapegoats, Trump offers a return to an imagined past era of greatness via his leadership. This saving vision appeals to those who fear social change.
Defense of Traditionalism
Religions frequently defend tradition and traditional morality as sacred. Trumpism exalts an idealized American past of cultural homogeneity, “traditional family values,” and unquestioned national prestige as a cure for modern societal ills. Trump trades on a backward-gazing impulse, downplaying the positives of social progress. Resistance to change is central to his cult, as it is in religions.
Anti-Intellectualism
Cults and Trumpism harbour antipathy toward intellectual elites who challenge their worldview with critical thinking or empirical facts. Just like religious dogma rejects science that contradicts scripture, Trump derides expertise, data, and facts that make him look bad or weak.
Intellectuals are deemed arrogant and their knowledge claims are treated as untrustworthy or dangerous. “I love the poorly educated,” Trump famously said after getting the bulk of their support. Critical thinking and science are attacked when they undermine the belief system, think of Dr. Fauci, and how he was derided during Trump’s presidency.
Promised Land Myth
Biblical religion proposed a Promised Land awaiting the righteous after exile and tribulation. Trump taps into mythic narratives of an American golden age awaiting restoration by his loyal legions who endure current trials. This vision consecrates partisan political goals with spiritual significance, allowing supporters to perceive themselves as protagonists in a providential historical mission. That is why you see that fervor among groups of his supporters.
Persecution Complex
Trump supporters cultivate a strong sense of oppression by demonized external evildoers seeking to destroy their way of life. Imagined leftist, immigrant and minority cabals are accused of inflicting harm on “true” Americans, poisoning the blood of the country. This is merely Trump’s version of the religious apocalyptic narrative of satanic threats to the divine elect, nurturing a siege mentality for political support
A Sense of Divine Destiny
Religions often invoke a sense of divine destiny, that adherents are part of God’s righteous plan. Trumpism displays similar exceptionalist delusions of historical grandeur, portraying his followers as fulfilling America’s glorious providential mission. Echoing Manifest Destiny, they perceive themselves as instruments of divine will, labouring under prophetic leadership to restore national and spiritual greatness.
Longing for Meaning
Philosopher Ernest Becker wrote that religion answers to humanity’s need for meaning and transcendence in a seemingly meaningless world. The myths spun by Trumpism provide a sense of existential purpose. His facile folk narratives offer adherents a feeling of psychological security, control and communal solidarity in the midst of the complexity and anxieties of a world that is changing By dividing the world into heroes and villains, Trump masterfully situates his followers in a morally clarified reality.
Escape from Freedom
The existential philosopher Sartre contended that humans, unable to bear the burden of forging their own purpose and destiny, flee into the comforting certitudes of tribal myths that circumscribe consciousness. Trump caters to this craven need for cognitive closure and a prefabricated identity.
A critical look at Trump’s trajectory since coming down the escalator shows that he has managed to place his followers’ minds within a protective cocoon of simple certitudes centered around salvation, destiny and the scapegoating of others.
This makes Trumpism a surrogate religion spun out of Christianity and conservatism, where the bastions of those groups, American Evangelicals can now be defined as simply older, white people who support Trump.