If Donald Trump gets a little bored on his flight home from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he can always page through a book handed to him by a delegate not long after he arrived: God and Donald Trump.
The volume, written by Stephen Strang, a leading Pentecostal figure and the longtime publisher of Charisma magazine, is an easy read — part spiritual hagiography, part Fox News bulletin and part prophecy. It ultimately says far less about Trump than about the charismatic Pentecostals who were some of his earliest religious supporters and who now view his election as the fulfilment of God’s will …
From early in Trump’s presidential candidacy, his biggest religious supporters — indeed, his only religious supporters for a while — were charismatic Christians like pastors Paula White and Darrell Scott …
Other religious conservatives, Strang argues, supported Trump in 2016 for reasons familiar to any Fox News viewer: a fear of globalism, the deep state, George Soros the former Nazi collaborator, wide-scale election fraud. They liked Trump because he said he liked them, told them they were persecuted, and vowed to stand up for them. He said he would bring back ‘Merry Christmas’. He told them they were important.
But there were other, more spiritual reasons as well. Strang outlines a string of charismatics who had visions – or who now retroactively claim to have had visions – that Trump would one day win the White House. A Catholic holy man named Thomas Zimmer who spent much of his life in Italy even claimed to have received a prophesy in the 1980s that Trump would ‘lead America back to religion’. And the book is filled with testimony after testimony from Christian leaders who were amazed to find themselves supporting Trump in 2016, who each claim that he was their very last choice up until he won the Republican nomination. Politico Magazine online article 27th January 2018, ‘Millions of Americans Believe God Made Trump President’
He’s P T Barnum. Dirty Money VI: The Confidence Man, critic
We are now all living in a Simpsons episode. ibid.
Historically bad at judging risk and reward. ibid.
Fred Trump was authentically self-made. ibid.
Donald Trump has been party to over 4,000 lawsuits, involving every area of his business empire. Since becoming president, he has been sued over 130 times. ibid. caption
The Taj Mahal was the worst casino opening in the history of gambling … A financial disaster. ibid. critic
By the early 1990s, the Trump Organization was facing over $3 billion in debt. The Taj Mahal, Trump Castle and Trump Plaza casinos all went bankrupt. ibid. caption
The Apprentice overnight re-positioned him. ibid. critic
They start doing business with some of the sketchiest people in some of the sketchiest countries.’ ibid.
Trump has had a business interest in over 140 companies across 25 countries including United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Philippines, Qatar, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan. ibid. caption
Trump University was a fraudulent scheme. ibid. litigation document
The president has spent roughly one third of his time in office at Trump Properties. ibid. television news
Today another woman has courageously come forward to accuse Donald Trump. Seeing Allred, Gloria, 2018
In the first year of Trump’s presidency, The New York Times newspaper opened its doors to cameras. This is the story behind the headlines. Storyville: Reporting Trump’s First Year: The Fourth Estate I, BBC 2018
We knew we were about to encounter totally unorthodox administration. ibid. Mark Mazzetti, NYT Washington investigative editor
Trump Aides Spoke to Russian Intelligence: Intercepted Calls Show Contact During 2016, Officials Say by Michael S Schmidt & Mark Mazzetti. ibid. headline
FBI Sees No Evidence of Trump Wiretap. ibid.
President Trump’s decision to fire FBI director James Comey is now under intense scrutiny. Storyville: Reporting Trump’s First Year: The Fourth Estate II, press report, caption
Not only is the Trump administration rolling back lots of environmental rules but it is also changing the way that it enforces the rules. ibid. reporter
Charlottesville: 24 hours later, one woman is dead and 35 people are injured. Storyville: Reporting Trump’s First Year: The Fourth Estate III, caption
‘The knives are out for Steve Bannon.’ ibid. news report
‘You would think they’d [media] want to make our country great again. And I honestly believe they don’t. These are sick people.’ ibid.
Defend DACA [placard] … ‘No justice, no peace’ [crowd chant]. ibid.
‘These stories are not just about whether or not the president had affairs, they’re about whether or not he lied, they’re about whether or not he and the people around him engineered a cover up.’ Storyville: Reporting Trump’s First Year: The Fourth Estate IV, editor
Less than a year into Trump’s presidency, allegations of sexual misconduct and links to Russia continue to dominate the news. ibid.
He [Trump] is the least vain person in the world … It’s never about him. Sacha Baron Cohen: Who is America? II, Billy, 2018
If he [Trump] was a racist, why would he have moved into a black man’s house? Sacha Baron Cohen: Who is America? V, Billy Wayne
CNN, the Communist News Network, put out a myth that was called Vaginalgate when they scurrilously tried to imply that the president had said horrendous things about women, which was completely untrue. Sacha Baron Cohen, Who is America? VII
‘Fake realities will create fake humans. Or, fake humans will generate fake realities and then sell them to other humans turning them eventually into forgeries of themselves.’ Our New President, Philip K Dick, 2017
After meeting the princess, Hillary’s problems began. Her husband Bill began a romance with an intern and then truly strange things happened. Fits of uncontrollable coughing, fainting spells, disorientation … ibid. Russian TV, following visit by Hillary to view mummified princess
What other diseases is she said to have? ibid. news bulletin
Pardon the phrase, but Clinton is shit on a stick. ibid. old Russian woman
When Trump announced his candidacy, Melania became beloved of the press. ibid. Russian TV
WrestleMania 23: ‘Donald Trump! Oh my God!’ The Mad World of Donald Trump, wrestling commentator: enter Trump in suit, Channel 4 2016
Meet millionaire businessman Donald Trump: he’s always provided Americans with entertainment … ibid.
Donald Trump is the result of a long process of decay, of democratic institutions, an assault against the economy, and the culture by corporate power, he’s the natural consequence of a degenerate society; he is the symptom not the disease. Chris Hedges, lecture Centre for International Governance Innovation August 2018, ‘The Collapse of the American Empire’
He [Trump] is the classic con artist that rises up out of a decayed state. Chris Hedges, lecture Seattle University 2018, Corporate Totalitarianism: The End Game *****
Listen to him [Julian] back there – Donald Trump. Trailer Park Boys: Dear Santa Claus, Go Fuck Yourself, Netflix 2004, Bubbles re Julian’s Christmas lights competition
He [Trump] had a stunningly short attention span. Tony Schwartz, lecture Oxford Union, ‘The Truth About Trump’, Youtube 56.28, ghost-writer of Art of the Deal
He had almost no interest in his wife or his children. ibid.
His utter disregard for the truth and his lack of conscience … He is guarded entirely by what he perceives as his immediate self-interest … His inability to ever admit that he is wrong about anything: none of those qualities seemed highly desirable in a president. ibid.
More than any human being I have ever met, Trump has the ability to convince himself that whatever he is saying at any given moment is true, or sort of true, or at least ought to be true. ibid.
Often the lies he told were about money. ibid.
Friendships for Trump were entirely functional. ibid.
This American carnage stops right here and stops right now. The Trump Dynasty I, History 2019, Donald
His presidency and the lead up to his presidency will be studied for the rest of American history. Donald Trump is a streetfighter. ibid. dude
He can catch bullets in his teeth. ibid. dude #2
Many of these very wealthy people have chosen Trump Tower, and I think it’s a very important step for New York, I think it’s a vital step for New York. ibid. Donald
I learned from the best. ibid.