There were the IRS investigation and the business troubles, the divorces and the rumored affairs splashed across the tabloids. And always, there were the biased media that lay in wait, desperate to seize on any hint of internal dysfunction or family drama.
Donald Trump’s spiritual adviser paced the stage in black stilettos, railing against the unfairness of it all.
It was a spring evening in 2011, and Pastor Paula White — the woman credited with leading Trump on a faith journey to Jesus Christ — was speaking at a pastors’ conference about her own experiences. But at times throughout her two-hour sermon, she could easily have been talking about Trump’s.
For the evangelical leaders she now aims to convert to the GOP nominee’s team, that’s exactly the problem.
Like Trump, who for years was best known as a TV star and real estate mogul, White, a televangelist, is new to GOP evangelical activism. She has more experience leading Bible study with the New York Yankees or meeting the Obamas through Oprah Winfrey than hosting pro-life gatherings in Iowa.
And Trump and White share personal track records —divorce, bankruptcy, embracing views outside of the Republican and evangelical mainstreams — that raise hackles among the influential Christian leaders Trump needs on his team as he seeks to consolidate the Republican base.
“I don’t know who she is, I don’t have any contact with her, I’ve never met her, never talked to her, the most prominent her name has been is, she’s tied to Trump,” said David Lane, an influential evangelical leader with whom many of the Republican presidential candidates cultivated a relationship. Adding that her brand of faith does not represent the mainstream among more traditional Christian, he said, “She can’t move evangelicals.”
Yet White, a 50-year-old grandmother who, like Trump, is on her third marriage, this one to rocker Jonathan Cain of Journey fame, has emerged as one of the candidate’s main conduits to the evangelical community. It’s a vote-rich constituency that continues to harbor skepticism about his commitment to their policy views and personal beliefs — and White is fighting a sometimes uphill battle to change that.
“I can absolutely tell you that Mr. Trump has a relationship with God. He is a Christian, he accepts Jesus as his Lord and savior,” White said in a rare interview with POLITICO, reflecting on a relationship with the New York tycoon that has now spanned more than 14 years.
The two first connected when Trump, who was watching Christian television, saw her onscreen and called her, saying she was “fantastic.”
On her next trip to New York, the Florida-based White met with him, marking the start of a close, cross-country friendship.
“Over the years, that [relationship] grew stronger and stronger,” she said of her ties to Trump. “I was in New York for many years. He has a very open-door policy. If I was in town, [he’d say], ‘Hey Paula, come by, hang out with friends, family.’ He’d allow me to sit in his office, be a part of his life, his world.”
White tells stories of walking up Fifth Avenue in New York with Trump and watching the real estate mogul cross the street to shake hands with construction workers. And there was the time when he was showing her a new golf course in California, and he got out of the golf cart to thank a Latino man who was taking care of his sand traps. White, who still owns a unit at a Trump property in New York, said his employees at his buildings were loyal to him.
To her, this serves as evidence that the cussing, controversial Trump is ultimately a man of God.
And now, as Trump works to unify and energize the Republican base around his candidacy, White is aiming to line up endorsements, ready to offer stories of Trump’s kindnesses behind the scenes. She was central to establishing Trump’s evangelical advisory board, which includes several pillars of the traditionally powerful religious right, such as James Dobson and Jerry Falwell, Jr. And some members of the board, like Pastor Mark Burns, a vocal Trump surrogate, have developed a fierce loyalty to White.
“Pastor Paula had a hand and is having a hand in his faith walk,” said Burns of White’s relationship with Trump, calling her “the authority to say if he has a real authentic relationship with God.”
She has opened up at rallies for Trump, and last fall helped organize a gathering, mostly of fellow televangelists, at Trump Tower, where she offered Trump a prayer and a hug.
Now, she is in the process of assembling a bigger group of supportive leaders from across the country, according to her spokesman, Johnnie Moore, himself a Christian author and member of Trump’s advisory committee who is currently representing White.
Dobson propelled White into the spotlight recently when he said, “I ... hear that Paula White has known Trump for years and that she personally led him to Christ.”
White wouldn’t directly answer when she was asked whether that is an accurate characterization of her relationship with Trump, instead pivoting to a story of how they met and saying that while there had been many “moments” in which he had discussed his faith, she wouldn’t talk about any one instance of Trump’s accepting of Christ. That, she suggested, is his story to tell.
“There’s a lot of people that have influenced Mr. Trump’s life,” she said. “One thing I can tell you, that absolutely might be new to some of the media, new to some people, but God is not new to Mr. Trump. He absolutely has a heart and a hunger and a relationship with God.”
But her ability to convince the evangelical world that Trump is a man of faith is impeded by the man himself. Trump has bragged about his sexual conquests, says he’s never asked God for forgiveness, struggles to cite Bible verses (“two Corinthians”) and has waffled on abortion and marriage. What’s more, White is seen as an imperfect messenger for an already deeply flawed candidate.
It’s not that she doesn’t have a compelling story: In her telling, she went from being a “messed-up Mississippi girl” and a victim of abuse to finding salvation in Christ and devoting her life to the church. She speaks openly not only about her relationship struggles — though she maintains that she never had any affairs, rebutting tabloid suggestions to the contrary — and financial problems, but also about the death of her daughter, and her own struggles with addiction to prescription medication. She says that those obstacles ultimately pushed her closer to God and that she feels it’s important to relate that journey.
“Not only do I think that’s helped me connect with Mr. Trump, I think it’s helped me connect with so many people,” she said of her willingness to air her personal challenges.
But she has also emphasized her wealth in her preaching and public appearances, causing critics to deride her as one who pushes “prosperity gospel,” a doctrine that says God wants people to be rich — and that is more traditional religious leaders frown upon.
“Paula White is a charlatan and recognized as a heretic by every orthodox Christian, of whatever tribe,” read a recent tweet from Russell Moore, a prominent Southern Baptist leader and vocal Trump critic, who wasn’t available for an interview.
White rejects the notion that she is a prosperity gospel preacher, clearly aware that it’s a loaded term in some circles.
“Do I recognize that I’ve been labeled as a prosperity preacher? I recognize that,” she said, adding that her main focus is not on wealth but on cultivating “disciples for Christ.” “Do I believe that God is a sugar daddy? Not at all.”
But like Trump, she has a track record of talking about money — a lot — and that rubs some in the evangelical establishment the wrong way. In one televised sit-down with Trump, White asked him about “those life lessons that really caused you to succeed financially today.” Trump pointed to his father, a workaholic who was passionate about his career.
“That’s the principle I teach,” White responded. “Find your passion in life and figure out a way to make money.”
White, an author and TV personality who at one time had “millions in the bank,” has had financial challenges of her own. In the early 2000s, the ministry’s spending habits drew scrutiny first from the IRS, and then from Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who launched a congressional probe. The probe was eventually dropped (her ministry didn’t fully respond to congressional inquiries, according to reports at the time). The Tampa-based church that she and her ex-husband founded and led — which began to fall apart after their 2007 divorce — declared bankruptcy in 2014, though by then she was leading another church, in Orlando.
Despite her decades as a faith leader in Florida, she is not well-known in Florida GOP circles. The GOP chair of Hillsborough County, the Tampa area where she and her then-husband ministered for years, does not know her, nor does Mark Phillips, who is helping to run evangelical outreach for the Republican National Committee in the state.
It’s the same story at the national level, which raises questions about how helpful she can ultimately be in arranging introductions and finagling endorsements from the most influential Christian leaders. Like Trump, she is an outsider to the evangelical establishment.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, head of the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List, does not know her, nor does Penny Nance of Concerned Women for America. Both groups, which focus on curbing abortion, have substantial grass-roots networks.
“She’s not active in my world,” Nance said. “I don’t think she’s been active in the pro-life movement, to my knowledge. I’ve never worked with her.”
And in 2007, FEC records show, she donated $2,300 to Barack Obama (she also donated to George W. Bush and Mitt Romney). Asked about the donation, she said it was the price of attending an event to meet then-Sen. Obama, hosted by Winfrey. She has voted Republican “my entire adult life,” she added.
Trump, too, has donated to Democrats.
But if there are parallels between their personal experiences, stylistically, White and Trump have big differences. Where Trump is brash and unapologetic for his aggressive style, White, in a recent interview, was soft-spoken, apologizing for sounding sleep-deprived as she awaited the birth of a new grandchild. While Trump has managed to alienate substantial swaths of minority voters through his harsh rhetoric and hard-line views, White’s churches have drawn diverse attendees.
It’s on social media that Trump tends to make particularly controversial statements; White keeps her Twitter account focused on inspirational messages about God; and her Instagram bursts with motivational messages and images of herself with Cain (#hothubby is a favorite hashtag), along with the occasional picture of a pair of shoes. “Love the shoes my Baby @jonathancainmusic got me for my bday... Going to see him tonight — thinking about wearing them??” she posted recently, next to an image of strappy cream-colored sandals. “Hmmmm ... Or save them for another special occasion. Decisions, decisions ... #shoes #heels #love #giftfromhubby #beautiful #sexy #hot #grateful.”
“Paula White is not only a beautiful person both inside and out, she has a significant message to offer anyone who will tune in and pay attention,” Trump says in a statement on her website. “She has amazing insight and the ability to deliver that message clearly as well as powerfully.”
And she is finding her footing in the 2016 evangelical landscape. She played a role, behind the scenes, in assembling a thousand-person gathering of prominent Christian leaders in New York City last month to meet with Trump, and Trump gave her a shout-out, said Nance, who attended. Many leaders walked out of that gathering still unconvinced by Trump, but appreciative of the outreach.
And White has worked with plenty of leading evangelicals over the years. She secured for Trump a Bible signed by the Rev. Billy Graham, and, she noted in the interview, she worked with another leader, Gary Bauer, on a sendoff for Danny Ayalon, then Israeli ambassador to the U.S. (Bauer declined comment for the story through a spokeswoman, citing a family vacation.)
White insisted that she has enough both political and religious cachet with evangelical influencers to engage on Trump’s behalf.
“We all connect on the exact same things,” she said. “Jesus Christ is our lord and savior, we connect the same on [the] trinity, on redemption, on basic principles, the fundaments of our faith. When you get to that, there’s not too many places where you can go, ‘She’s a lot more different.’”