Donald Trump Said He Wants to Get Into Heaven, but Is He a Religious Person?

Although he has the support of plenty of devout Christians, Donald Trump's relationship with religion has always been a little shaky. During a recent interview with Fox News, Trump said that he hoped to get into heaven, and now, many are wondering whether his religious beliefs are as sincere as he's sometimes claimed.

Following those recent comments, and given his long and confusing relationship with religion more generally, many people wondered whether the president has any deeply felt religious beliefs. Here's what we know.

Since he emerged as a political force in 2015, Trump has claimed ties to various Christian faith traditions, but has never appeared to had very firm roots in any religious organizations. Through most of his life, he identified with his Scottish-born mother's Presbyterian faith, although he said during the 2020 campaign that he was now a nondenominational Christian. Just as crucially, though, Trump has never seemed to have a deep knowledge of the Bible or of religion more generally.

A CNN investigation discovered that many of the churches Trump claims to have attended over the course of his life say that he would either not be welcome there today or that he was never a member. Rev. Scott Black Johnston, in speaking with CNN, described the president as someone who was fairly early on in his faith journey, even though Trump is now in his late seventies.

"It just clicked into place in my head, where I was like, 'Oh, this is a new Christian,'" Johnston said. "He is a Christian who's what I would call a young Christian. He is early on this journey. He has not spent a lot of time exploring the faith."

Trump's public position has always been that he is deeply devout, but most private indications reveal that, while he might be interested in religion, he is not someone who comes from a deeply faithful or spiritual background.

Part of the reason interest in Trump's religious beliefs has been piqued is because he spoke about getting into heaven during a phone interview with Fox & Friends on Aug. 19. The comment came up in the context of Trump's ongoing talks with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy about ending the war between Russia and Ukraine.

“If I can save 7,000 people a week from being killed, I think that’s pretty — I want to try to get to heaven if possible," he explained. "I’m hearing that I’m not doing well. I am really at the bottom of the totem pole. But if I can get to heaven, this will be one of the reasons.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt added that she believed the president was serious.

“I think the president was serious,” she said. “I think the president wants to get to heaven — as I hope we all do in this room as well.”

As for whether he really thinks he's not doing well, that piece is less clear.