Heaven has been on President Donald Trump’s mind a lot these days. Recently, he told some folks at Mar-a-Lago that speaker Eric Metaxas was the guy who was “going to get me into heaven.” Soon, a video of the statement had over 6 million views on X.
A few months earlier, he expressed hope that perhaps brokering peace for Ukraine might be his ticket to everlasting life. Later, when asked if helping arrange the Israel-Hamas peace deal could assure his eternal destiny, he thought not.
CAN ENDING THE WAR IN UKRAINE GET TRUMP INTO HEAVEN?
Members of Trump’s generation (he’s 79) often think about the afterlife as they get closer to life’s finish line: “What will happen when I die?” “Is there life after death?” “If so, how can I experience it?”
Cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker’s poignant Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Denial of Death argued that much human behavior is driven by the desire to avoid confronting death’s sobering inevitability. People pursue fame, fortune, friendship, success, fulfillment, service to others, and many commendable activities. Such concentration can distract them from contemplating their own ends.
But, alas, the death rate is still 100%. So, we all must face it.
Will Trump get to heaven? Perhaps some of his fans say, “Certainly.” And some critics may say, “Never!” I’ll steer clear of politics here. I run a nonprofit group, and the IRS frowns on nonprofit political involvement. But I will politely suggest a faith perspective.
The summer before entering university, I devoted significant study to discovering my eternal destiny. Then I decided the issue was too complex and gave up. A faith skeptic, I thought the biblical God was like Santa Claus, rewarding the good and punishing the bad.
That fall, I met some Jesus followers who told me I had the cart before the horse. Eternal life was not a reward to be earned but a gift to be received. They explained that the moral distance between God and me was infinite. If all humanity tried to swim from California to Hawaii, some would get farther than others, but no one would make it. We need a bridge, a provision for human flaws.
I did not believe these Duke University students’ faith positions, but their meetings included attractive young women, so I returned with many questions. They said God loved me, that my self-centeredness separated me from him, that Jesus’s death paid the penalty for that separation, and that his resurrection meant I could receive his gift of forgiveness and eternal life.
Jesus’s close friend John wrote, “God … has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.”
So how does this relate to Trump’s afterlife possibilities? He often wonders whether his good actions will get him into heaven. “I want to try and get to heaven, if possible,” he told “Fox & Friends.” “I’m hearing I’m not doing well. I am really at the bottom of the totem pole. But if I can get to heaven, [peace for Ukraine] will be one of the reasons.”
“There has to be some kind of a report card up there someplace,” he told radio host Todd Starnes. “You know, like let’s go to heaven, let’s get into heaven.”
CONGRESS ESCALATES TENSIONS WITH CHINA OVER RELIGIOUS OPPRESSION
My friends pointed me to a biblical statement that eternal forgiveness comes “by [divine] grace when you [believe] … it is a gift from God … not a reward for the good things you have done.” Evidence for Jesus’s resurrection convinced me that he was reliable, so eventually I received his gift of forgiveness, gaining the best friend ever, plus assurance of eternal life. That was 1968. Life has not been without struggles, but divine peace and guidance have helped me navigate the storms.
So, will Trump get into heaven? I hope so. If I had 20 minutes to talk with him, I wouldn’t discuss politics. I’d want to explain how he can know he has eternal life.
Rusty Wright is an author and lecturer who has spoken on six continents. His film commentaries and columns have been published by newspapers across the country. His books include The other side of life: What will happen when you die.