QUESTION: “Good morning, dear Alan, a question from me….Yes, yes, yes I (think I) understand what you write about Mr Trump. But…Why is this depraved man described by you and various ‘commentators’ as TOTALLY unable, 100% incapable to do ANYTHING GOOD. ZERO. Alan, again thanks for taking time. You know I appreciate it very much”.

ALAN REPLIES: Dear *****. Thank you so much for your question. I love getting questions from folks! I wish I would get more. They keep me on my toes and make me go even further in-depth into a subject, which I love to do. So here are my thoughts about what you ask.

I think that your question raises a very important issue. Or, rather, it enables me to bring to light a very important issue, and it is this: Just because someone could “do some good” (or appear to do some good) does not mean that they actually are good when seen in context and understood for what they truly are. It certainly doesn’t mean that someone who can “do some good” (or appear to do some good) should be revered and held up to be a virtual messiah and Christian saviour of the world, which is what has happened with Donald Trump!

Angel of Light Syndrome

Being able to do good (or make a show of doing good) in itself is not a sign that one should trust that person and it certainly is not a sign that one should put one’s whole weight behind that person in support of all that they do. Here we are getting to what I call the “Angel of Light Syndrome”. Consider this: Even Satan himself can do good — and does do good — because that is how he gains recruits. He “masquerades as an angel of light” and “his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness” (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). If Satan or false teachers or charlatans only ever did what people didn’t want or didn’t like, then people would not be so readily influenced by them or revere them. As Irenaeus of Lyon (c. AD 130 – c. AD 200) wisely put it:

“For no false teaching desires to offer itself to our view openly, lest such exposure should lead to it being detected; but, craftily putting on a plausible dress, it makes itself by its outward form appear to the inexperienced to be truer than Truth itself”. (Irenaeus of Lyon, “Against Heresies: The Refutation of Knowledge, Falsely So-Called”, Book I, Preface, §2).

I am not saying that Trump always consciously sets out to deceive in this manner, though I suspect in some instances he does, for example, holding up a Bible to reporters outside Ashburton House (St. John’s Church Parish House) in Washington as a photo-opportunity on June 1st 2020, yet he admits he doesn’t know the Bible very well ( https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-bible-favourite-quote-anti-semitism-executive-order-a9243236.html ) and even refused point-blank to quote his favourite verse from it ( https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10153577166571880  ) — a great opportunity missed. Plus, he has marketed his own version of the Bible, the “God Bless the USA” version (often called “The Trump Bible”), which although costing $3 per copy to print in China, is sold for anything up to thirty times that amount ( https://godblesstheusabible.com/ ) — not to mention the fact that this bible contains many additions, especially those relating to US political/constitutional documents and so on, thus turning the Holy Scriptures into some kind of nationalistic treatise. You can even buy a “Golden Age Edition” for $100. What a scam!

The issue is not whether Trump can do anything of any good. The issue is the fact that so many folks think that he can do no wrong, whatever he does. As he admitted himself in a shocking boast, he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and he wouldn’t lose any votes! ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTACH1eVIaA# ). That is a cult leader speaking to a cult. To any insightful, intuitive observer with some discernment of spirits, Trumps posture and facial expressions are those of a narcissist, an insincere salesman — someone selling himself and using the products he sells as a way of marketing himself. There is something very “off” about his whole presentation — and that is before you fact-check the things he says, which contain a great many exaggerations and outright lies. Such qualities are nowhere near what anyone should project who claims to be a Christian leader of people.

It is a terrible thing for a man such as Donald Trump to be a representative of Christianity before the world — a man who is so confused and befuddled by false teaching that he recently appointed as the head of his White House Faith Office a blatantly false teacher, a woman like Paula White who could only bring the true faith into disrepute, yet who Trump describes as “amazing”. ( See https://x.com/Protestia/status/1887533776567476393 ). This is the woman who is running Donald Trump’s White House Faith Office, Paula White. You can see the 1994 “Toronto Blessing” instigator, Rodney Howard-Browne lurking behind her on the left 10 seconds into this video:

That is what is representing Christianity from the White House to the world! You have to realise that when Donald Trump uses words like “Bible”, “Christian”, “Christianity”, “Faith”, and “God”, they do not actually mean what genuine Christians know them to mean. But so many are so eager to hear these words on the lips of a president and to see them lifted up in public life that they run with it and therefore with him. This is all “Angel of Light Syndrome”.

And to anyone who says that Trump has probably never heard the true Gospel so how can he be blamed for spreading false teaching, I say that is not true. Many have tried to share the Gospel with him but he pursues his own heretical path in spite of that. See https://coastalcourier.com/coastal-living/faith/mr-trump-has-heard-the-gospel-duck-dynasty-star-reveals-sharing-the-bible-with-donald-trump/ and https://premierchristian.news/en/news/article/trump-i-can-totally-rely-on-jesus where it is shown that Trump thinks he needs only a little forgiveness and it is clear that he has no understanding of the atonement, even though the Gospel has been explained to him.

The Merry-Go-Round of Politics

Then there is the question of the merry-go-round of politics. A president can only operate in government for four years or a maximum of eight. Then it’s all-change, like it always has been. So, any president and party can only get their policies in place for a limited time period. Do Trump’s followers really believe that he is going to make it so that his professed policies are going to remain written in granite forever? That would be very naïve.

The Question of the True Extent of a President’s Power

Then there is the even deeper question of the true extent of the power of a president. I have addressed this issue many times. A president (or any other politician) can only go as far as the real power-elite allow him to go. Anyone who wants to be informed but who imagines that their elected presidents, prime ministers and politicians are free to pursue fully their own ends should do a modicum of research on the matter. If you do, you will discover a mainstream book published in 2014 by Oxford University Press, written by a Professor of International Law and former Legal Counsel to the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in which the author shows why nothing of any lasting significance changes from one US government to the next, regardless of the professed political ideology and intentions of all the parties and presidents involved. This 260-page book is entitled “National Security and Double Government”. Although primarily addressing the situation in the USA, it is plainly applicable to any other nation’s political system. In its pages, Michael J. Glennon shows that the roles of President, Congress and the courts are an illusion built up by propaganda in the minds of the mass of people. He writes: “Presidential control is nominal, congressional oversight is dysfunctional, and judicial review is negligible”. In this book, Prof. Glennon proves that “security” policy has nothing to do with elected leaders and governments but is really made by several hundred prime movers in the military, intelligence, diplomatic and law enforcement agencies — hence, the idea of “double” government in the title, which clearly implies a “shadow” or “secret” unelected government. In other words, presidents can bluster all they want about changes they want to make, but they will only be allowed ultimately to achieve what the power-elite requires.

Those who have reviewed this book have been entirely convinced of its veracity. Reviewer Jordan Michael Smith, in his “Books of the Year 2014” in The Boston Globe, wrote: “Elected officials end up serving as mere cover for the real decisions made by the bureaucracy”. Another reviewer, Andrew J. Bacevich, Professor of History and International Relations in Boston University, states: “In our faux democracy, those we elect to govern serve largely ornamental purposes, while those who actually wield power, especially in the realm of national security, do so chiefly with an eye toward preserving their status and prerogatives”. Faux democracy! Exactly. Strong words. But if even staid mainstream academics can understand this, why can’t everyone else, without making accusations of “conspiracy theory”?

Why do so many believe that a president is of any real, lasting relevance whatsoever, other than as window-dressing — serving “largely ornamental purposes”, as Prof. Bacevich stated above? The president as “Commander-in-Chief” of the United States of America is a clever illusion fostered in the minds of the people in order to lull them into a passive mindset so that they will leave him to get on with the job which they imagine he will do while seeing only a romanticised character every time he appears on television.

I am fascinated to discover what really lies behind the power-elite’s shoehorning of a man like Trump into the White House by pitting him against a weak and already wounded candidate (Kamala Harris was just seen as a protégée of the dementia-afflicted Joe Biden). For what purpose is he really being used? This is an intriguing thought and I look forward to what will be revealed. Let’s face it, Trump is a billionaire six times over. Billionaires are part of the power-elite.

Can a President Really Make America or the World Great Again
(if it ever was great beforehand!)?

Then there is the even deeper question still concerning the fact that anyone in a leadership role who may manage to “do some good” is operating in a particular world, the whole of which lies “under the power of the evil one [Satan]” (1 John 5:19). The Bible does not portray this world as one in which good will prevail. Quite the opposite, in fact. It portrays a world which will increasingly fall into apostasy and which will ultimately — on a grand scale — not only idolise satanic world government, ‘beast-government’ (which ultimately will be under the dominion of the Antichrist, Revelation 13 and 2 Thessalonians 2:1-11) but this world will also “believe the lie” (2 Thessalonians 2:11). The identity of that “lie” is that the Antichrist is God (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:4) — that the created thing is revered above its Creator. This is the same process that we see in Romans 1:25, where it is said — describing how idolatry came into being — that people “exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator”. I see the same kind of idolatry in the attitude of so many to Donald Trump. If they cannot see through a man like Donald Trump, how will they see through the Antichrist when he is revealed, for he will initially present himself as a man who could make the world great again — a man who will seductively use demonically-energized power, signs and lying wonders to impress the world (2 Thessalonians 2:9) to such an extent that he will be worshipped globally. But it will all be a chimera.

Confusing Christianity with Jingoistic Nationalism

So I hope the above answers your question. I have never said that Trump is 100% unable to do any good, as you put it in your question. I have said that the fact that he may appear to do some good does not mean that he should be in a leadership position and it does not mean that he should be treated as if he can do no wrong. The big problem is that so many American people who call themselves “Christians” have confused their Christianity with jingoistic nationalism. They confuse their image of “making America great again” with some kind of spiritual revival. But it is all based on Hopium — an addiction to false hope.

Conclusion: For a Christian, “This World is the Only Hell they Will Know”.

I hate to break this to people but genuine disciples of Christ will not someday wake up to a “Christianised” America or wider world due to some politician machinating it in the White House. The reality is that in this world we will have tribulation (affliction) and be hated by the world right through to the end (John 16:33; John 15:18-19; 1 John 3:13), being in a world in which “evil men and imposters go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:12-13). Genuine disciples of Christ will even have to go through the greatest tribulation (affliction) of all (Matthew 24:21), in which they will most likely be tortured and most certainly be killed (Daniel 7:21-22; Matthew 24:9; Revelation 11:7; 13:7). In the end, in this hellish nightmare world, the power of God’s people will be shattered and broken (Daniel 12:7). As A.W. Tozer put it: “For a Christian, this world is the only hell they will know. For the unbeliever this world is the only heaven they will know”. This is the reality.

However, that isn’t the end of the story. Certainly, there can be some amelioration here and there. But they are temporary tweaks rather than ‘making something great again’ in a fit of empty triumphalism. But although the Christian’s triumph does not manifest in this world being transformed into some kind of religious or political utopia (for that is merely a pipe-dream) it does rest in Christ’s finished work, which will not issue in peace, security and fulfilment in this present fallen world, but we must wait until the new heaven and new earth for the full flowering of all that Christ has accomplished (Revelation 21:1-7). Anyone who claims to be able to make a huge country or this world into a “golden age” is a false teacher.

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© Copyright, Alan Morrison, 2025
[The copyright on my works is merely to protect them from any wanton plagiarism which could result in undesirable changes (as has actually happened!). Readers are free to reproduce my work, so long as it is in the same format and with the exact same content and its origin is acknowledged]

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