Donald Trump has responded to claims that he was chosen by God to be the President of the United States. In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), Trump was asked about the popular US evangelical assertion that he was appointed by God to serve as President "for such a time as this".
Trump replied: "I almost don't even want to think about it. Because you know what, all I'm gonna do is, I hope it's true. All I'm going to do is, I'm going to do my best."
Many senior Trump administration officials have suggested the president was raised up by God for the highest office in the land. According to the President, when running against Trump, now Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson said that his political rival would win "because God put you here for this occasion".
Last November, former Energy Secretary Rick Perry said that President Trump is “here at this chosen time because God ordained it", while former Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has previously remarked on Trump's presidency: “I think God sometimes places people for lessons and sometimes places people for change".
In January 2019, former Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told CBN that "[God] wanted Donald Trump to become president."
She added: "That's why he's there and I think he has done a tremendous job in supporting a lot of the things that people of faith really care about."
Trump's support extends across vast swathes of the US evangelical community. One such high-profile supporter is Rev Franklin Graham, the son of the famed evangelist, Billy Graham. While he has claimed to never fully endorse the President, Graham often uses his enormous social media platform to praise Trump for his conservative policies and to urge Americans to pray for the President. Last year, the prominent preacher suggested that Trump's rise to the Oval Office may have indeed been a divine appointment, remarking: “God was behind the last election".
According to a Pew Research study released earlier this year, 27% of U.S. adults believe Trump’s election "reflects God’s will in the sense that the 2016 outcome must be part of God’s overall plan". However, just 5% said that God chose Trump because He approves of his policies.