Trump’s big tent religious appeal doesn’t care about creed or denomination

President Donald Trump is a non-denominational Protestant who has offered little in terms of his personal convictions or theological beliefs, but he has made catering to all denominations a signature aspect of his second administration.

Many of these denominations do not get along. Some are diametrically opposed to one another’s beliefs. Some do not even consider each other fellow Christians. But none of that matters to a president who built his coalition on these distinct communities.

“[Trump has] a very good intuitive sense that the country benefits greatly from communities of faith, from churches, synagogues and other faith communities and that it’s really one of the secrets to our success as a country,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) told the Washington Examiner. “Robust institutions of civil society are inextricably intertwined with faith.”

Earlier this month, the Pentagon published an updated list of religious affiliation codes. It left the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints — formerly known as the Mormons — out of the “Christian” category. Most Christian denominations do not acknowledge the LDS church as one of their own for a multitude of reasons, but that self-identity is stridently asserted and fought for by LDS believers.

Lee, a member of the LDS church himself, was outraged. Lee told the Washington Examiner that he made contact with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth right away and asked for the codes to be changed. The senator claims Hegseth “expressed some skepticism as to whether he could” and he was “seeing no indication that it was about to get fixed.”

So he picked up the phone and called the president.

“Within moments, he understood it. I mean, it took me far longer to just explain it to him — maybe 20, 30 seconds — than it took him to react. As soon as I explained it to him, I could tell he grasped it immediately.” Lee said Trump called LDS believes “hardworking” Americans who “love this country” and promised to personally ensure the situation would “be fixed by tomorrow.”

“And it was,” Lee said. The Pentagon opted to drop the “Christian” designation altogether and stick to denominational names like “Presbyterian” or “Methodist.”

Lee said the entire affair confirmed his perceptions that Trump “has a really good intuitive sense for how to handle these things appropriately.”

Members of the Catholic Church have been among the greatest beneficiaries of Trump’s campaign on the margins of American religion. Trump has centered explicitly Catholic holy days, turned to high-ranking clerics for input on his Religious Liberties Commission, and

Following a rough few weeks in which the president placed himself as Pope Leo XIV’s chief critic over the pontiff’s opposition to the war in Iran, Trump made an “unprecedented” gesture of commending the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for their consecration of the country to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

“This seems to me to be unprecedented and demonstrates the esteem Trump Administration has for the [Catholic] Church in the United States and how mindful the President is of the many positive contributions Catholics have made to this country,” Bishop Robert Barron previously told the Washington Examiner about the occasion.

Theresa Peyton, a former White House Chief Information Officer and a devout Catholic, told the Washington Examiner that there has been a “deliberate strategic decision by the administration to champion various traditional religious expressions and secure a vital political coalition.”

She points to a slew of initiatives launched since the second administration began, including the establishment of bodies like the White House Faith Office, Religious Liberty Commission, and the DOJ Task Force Against Anti-Christian Bias.

“The administration frames faith not merely as a private preference, but as the public bedrock of American civic strength and liberty,” Peyton observed. “This vision acknowledges the nation’s historical success as deeply rooted in its Judeo-Christian heritage, while simultaneously maintaining a broad, inclusive embrace for all people of goodwill, regardless of their belief system.”

Douglas Wilson, a Presbyterian pastor entrenched in the Trump sphere who regularly gives sermons at the Pentagon, sees Trump’s embrace of religious pluralism as “theologically confused” for what should be a more rigidly Christian nation with common beliefs. But he is “nonetheless grateful for it” compared to what has come before.

“I prefer this set-up to the secularist hegemony, as it gives us more room to maneuver… more room to evangelize and teach,” Wilson told the Washington Examiner. He doesn’t believe it would be possible at the current moment for anyone to handle American religious identity properly, because “before a rightly ordered set-up could come about, there would have to be a massive reformation and revival in the Christian church.”

Wilson, who has said that Catholics shouldn’t be allowed to have public processions, says he is nagged by a sense that modern America is suffering a bout of religious incoherence that ultimately chucks “all religions into a blender” and celebrates the uninspiring “puree.”

“The puree is when Fox News runs Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah all together in a cheerful jumble,” he explained. “This, of necessity, creates a situation where all the religious can get along, but only provided that nobody takes it seriously.”

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Trump was raised as a Presbyterian, the religion of his Scottish mother. He identified with the denomination for most of his life, including during his first term as president, but announced his conversion to non-denominational Protestantism in 2020.

His second administration has been replete with unexpected references to the fate of his eternal soul.

Trump has at various points said he doesn’t “think there’s anything going to get me in heaven.” After the press began to write about his apparent existential crisis, he downplayed the seriousness of his comments at the 2026 National Prayer Breakfast.

“The New York Times did a front-page story that Donald Trump is questioning his life and the meaning of his life. No, I was just having fun,” he said to laughter from the audience. “I really think I probably should make it. I mean, I’m not a perfect candidate, but I did a hell of a lot of good.”