President Donald Trump angered some of his Christian supporters on Friday when he named a televangelist who even some conservative evangelicals have labeled a “heretic” as part of his White House administration.
The president signed an executive order establishing a White House Faith Office and chose Pastor Paula White-Cain, his ally and spiritual advisor, to lead it.
White-Cain, 58, is a megachurch preacher from Florida who has endorsed biblical interpretations that some evangelical Christians believe go too far.
White is the longtime personal spiritual advisor to Trump. / NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP via Getty Images
She is a proponent of “prosperity theology,” which teaches that God rewards the truly faithful with material wealth and personal success.
Critics say that by blaming financial woes on a lack of faith, prosperity theology can be used to exploit vulnerable churchgoers. Many Christians consider it a form of heresy, according to The New York Times.
Some of Trump’s Christian MAGA supporters took to social media to express their disappointment in the president’s pick.
“Even though President Trump is enforcing laws that line up with our values, that doesn’t mean he has any clue what biblical Christianity is or why it matters,” Christian podcast host John Mason wrote on X. “Paula White is a known heretic and known false teacher who has no regard for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Scott Ross, a Texas-based leadership coach and self-described “Orthodox Christian,” called the move “an abomination.”
“Paula White, head of Trump’s White House Faith Office, is no Christian leader,” he wrote. “She preaches the heresies of Word of Faith & Prosperity Gospel, both utterly opposed to authentic Christianity. Worse, she has lived a life of scandal, with multiple husbands, twisting the Gospel for profit.”
White-Cain, who is twice-divorced, is currently married to Journey guitarist Jonathan Cain.
“Arguably, this is the worst and most dangerous thing President Trump has done—putting a false teacher at the helm of faith outreach. Lord, have mercy on our country and this administration,” Ross added.
Conservative commentator Jon Root, who typically posts in support of Trump, wrote, “This is the worst decision President Trump has made since taking office… Paula White is a heretic, who pedals the prosperity gospel. Plus, women should not be pastors according to The Bible.”
White-Cain first caught Trump’s attention in 2002, when the then-businessman called her up after seeing her long-running TV show, Paula White Today.
White-Cain was also a White House advisor during Trump’s first administration and gave the invocation address at his inauguration in 2017.
In 2020, as Trump was pushing the lie that the presidential election had been rigged against him, White-Cain held emergency prayer sessions to fight the “demonic confederacies” trying to steal the election from him.
A press release announcing White-Cain’s new role reads, “In the last 40 years, White-Cain has expanded her influence globally in almost 200 countries, ministering, fighting for religious freedom and humanitarian rights, and advocating for the voiceless.”
