"Go forward boldly into your destiny," declares Paula White, the head of Donald Trump's newly-minted White House Faith Office. The charismatic preacher's new video instructs her followers, whose ranks have swollen as a result of her close relationship to Trump, that "you must sacrifice some way during this prophetic season, because it's through sacrifice that your spirit opens up so wide that you can receive divine direction." She promises "increase" for those who sow a "seed," citing Proverbs 1:33, which promises "safety" and "ease" to believers. What is this "sacrifice" White wishes her followers to make for their safety and ease? Why, sending her a check for $133, which she implies will be returned to them many times over by God.
White House faith adviser Paula White says there is a narrow "prophetic season" for God to bless you, but only if you give her $133, so act now.
— Right Wing Watch (@rightwingwatch.bsky.social) March 10, 2025 at 11:11 AM
White is one of the country's most prominent peddlers of the "prosperity gospel." As religious studies expert Kate Bowler explained in Vox in 2018, it's a Christian movement that teaches "God will give you your heart’s desires: money in the bank, a healthy body, a thriving family, and boundless happiness." All you need to do is prove your faith by writing checks to the leaders, even — perhaps especially — if you can't afford it. By doing so, they promise, God will reward them amply, often in cold, hard cash.
Trump built his career on scams, leading to multiple civil judgments against him and his company for defrauding customers and the public. Unsurprisingly, his favorite preachers are the "prosperity gospel" types, an especially shameless grifter style. Even some far-right Christian conservatives, who otherwise back Trump wholeheartedly, are angry about his relationship to White, calling her views "heresy," and balking at treating their religion like a get-rich-quick scheme.
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But what's striking about the prosperity gospel and its empty promises of future wealth in exchange for current privation is how much it sounds exactly like the excuses Trump and his allies are making for the economic wreckage he's inflicting on the U.S. through unnecessary and unjustifiable tariffs. During the campaign, Trump promised, "When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on day one." Instead, he's doing the opposite: Imposing tariffs on most major trading partners, which function like a sales tax that will almost certainly cause inflation, which had been dwindling in the last year of President Joe Biden's term, to skyrocket again.
The argument that financial suffering now will lead to wealth later is magical thinking, of the same sort that fuels prosperity gospel claims that donating to a preacher's private jet fund will inspire God to fill your coffers.
Trump seems motivated almost entirely by spite, lashing out at Americans for mostly not voting for him, at foreign countries for not kissing his ring hard enough, and at former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for being so much better-looking than Trump ever was. But the sales pitch he and his allies are making to the base sounds like the same lie peddled by prosperity preachers: If you sacrifice this money now, you will be rewarded with untold future riches.
"The hard way to do it is exactly what I'm doing," he told reporters on Tuesday. "The results are going to be 20-times greater." Sometimes, he uses euphemisms like "a little disturbance" or a "period of transition" to describe the pain he's inflicting on Americans, but he insists that the country will be "rich" because of it. On Thursday, he posted on Truth Social, "TARIFF RELATED MONEY IS POURING INTO THE UNITED STATES," as if shouting makes the lie more true.
The message spread throughout the Trump propaganda apparatus to command the MAGA base to see their sudden loss of purchasing power as a necessary sacrifice for future riches. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick admitted that the tariffs will likely spur a recession, but insisted it would be "worth it" because they will supposedly "produce growth." "No pain, no gain — that’s what we used to tell our football players," Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., said, falsely equating exercise, which promotes muscle growth, with sales taxes, which suppress consumer spending and shrink the economy. Fox News host Greg Gutfeld also invoked the language of sacrifice, instructing viewers, "don't buy the goods" if they don't want to pay the tax. That may be not possible with necessary goods, like food and fuel. But even with luxury items, the "don't spend money" message is death to economic growth.
"Shut Up About Egg Prices," commanded Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, in an article shared by Trump. Kirk promises his readers that if they're just patient and put their faith in God's, er, Trump's plan, eventually he will "put more money in everyday Americans’ pockets." "We’re just asking you to sacrifice for a little bit for the long-term prosperity of the United States," begged Dan Bongino, the MAGA podcast host nominated to be FBI deputy director. "There might be some pain in the beginning, but ultimately this is to help all of us," declared Steve Doocy of Fox News. The examples are endless, but they're all singing the same tune: If you let Trump jack up your prices now, you will be rewarded with riches in the future.
This is all nonsense, as economists keep patiently explaining. The only thing that happens when prices are artificially raised is that people spend less, which slows the economy down — a recession, the opposite of the "boom" Trump promises. There's this elaborate and vague rationale that this is part of a plan to bring "manufacturing" back, but that's a lie. When he's not levying more tariffs on goods Americans depend on, Trump is demanding an end to large scale investments in manufacturing made by the Biden administration. In addition, the threat of tariffs is causing investors to pull back, afraid to open factories in the U.S. because they have no idea what it will cost to operate in this volatile environment.
In truth, the argument that financial suffering now will lead to wealth later is magical thinking, of the same sort that fuels prosperity gospel claims that donating to a preacher's private jet fund will inspire God to fill your coffers. There's significant overlap between prosperity gospel adherents and Trump's fan base. He's likely counting on that fact to sell his tariff lies, assuming — for good reason — that his base voters are accustomed to calls to ignore reality and to have blind faith in their leaders instead. For his most loyal voters, he's not wrong to believe they have endless patience for being ripped off, which is why so many of them are still writing checks to televangelists when they can barely pay their own bills.
Trump and his allies might do well, however, to look at new Pew research that shows Christianity continues to face a decline, as younger generations walk away from religion. It's not surprising, when the face of Christianity is increasingly shameless hucksters like Paula White. Trump won not because his base of support has grown, but because a large number of voters who had reservations about his personality fell for his false promises to lower prices. Now they're being told they must endure artificially jacked-up costs and take it on faith that they will someday be rewarded for their "sacrifice." Many people will sour quickly, realizing they're being conned. No wonder Republicans are already starting to sweat the midterm elections.
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