On October 23, former president and current convicted felon Donald Trump attended a Turning Point USA event in Georgia. There, he was photographed kneeling while a variety of Christian Nationalist leaders prayed over him.
Prominently centered in the photo is Ché Ahn, the pastor of Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena, California and one of the most prominent members of the New Apostolic Reformation. The NAR is an evangelical movement that believes the American government should be a Christian supremacy, with faith leaders controlling all aspects of public life. The movement has deep ties in Texas. In 2023, Dallas businessman Lance Wallnau spoke at an NAR event, saying Christians needed to take back the country from a “horned entity” that was destroying the economy and government.
Next to Ahn in the picture, with her hand on Trump’s shoulder, is Jenny Donnelly, arguably the most important woman in the Christian Nationalist sphere. She believes that God speaks to her in dreams, and the Lord’s mandate is for her to lead an army of women to dominate the Earth under Christian extremism by opposing LGBT rights. Donnelly is the head of the Her Voice Movement, one of the most powerful conservative Christian organizations in the country. Her skills as an organizer began in Texas, where she worked for the AdvoCare multi-level marketing (MLM) group and became a top earner.
There is little evidence Trump himself is a Christian nationalist. He has never attended church regularly, though he is still a member of the Marble Collegiate Church. Marble is most famous for being the home base of author Norman Vicente Peale, whose book, The Power of Positive Thinking, is a seminal text in the manifestation movement that is often used by grifters and conmen. Over the years, Trump has stumbled when trying to cite scripture, and in general rarely made faith a cornerstone of his political personality.
Despite this, he continues to draw in support from the rising Christian Nationalist movement. By far, the most powerful Christian nationalists in Texas are oil and gas moguls Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks. The two billionaires and their families have dominated Texas Republican politics over the last decade, building the powerful Defend Texas Liberty PAC, which had to rebrand as Texans United for a Conservative Majority following a scandal involving prominent white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
Combined, Dunn and Wilks have spent nearly $100 million on Texas elections with a very specific goal. They’ve systemically ousted moderate Republicans, replacing them with overt extremists. The notable rightward shift of Texas politics of the last decade starts at their wallets.
Texas has often served as the test kitchen for national policy from the extreme right. The fall of Roe v. Wade was gestated here, as are restrictions of LGBT rights. Trump sees these and their success in the Lone Star State, not the least because Wilks and Dunn are some of his top donors. Dunn is also one of the people backing several architects of Project 2025, a political roadmap of Christian Nationalism ideas written partly by former members of the Trump Administration.
Whether Trump himself is an ardent Christian is a moot point. He has continued to ally himself with well-funded Christian Nationalists who see him as their best chance to seize power. The photo of him from Georgia can be seen as an anointing despite Trump’s lack of Christian bonafides, and it’s a blessing he will possibly use to return to the White House.