Trump's religious dealmaking pays dividendsThe president-elect shrewdly courted evangelical leaders during his presidential run, and that transactional style appears likely to carry into the White House.Nine days before the election, Donald Trump was backstage at a rally in Warren, Michigan, listening to a fiery South Carolina preacher-turned-top surrogate prayerfully predicting victory.
After pastor Mark Burns finished relaying religiously hued reassurances in a private conversation ahead of Trump’s speech, the then-candidate turned to Burns’ wife and offered his own, classically Trumpian expression of faith: He handed her a crucifix necklace made, in typical Trump style, of gold.
“We don’t need a religious president,” said Burns, who was touched by the gift and recounted the story in a recent interview. “We need a president who can build relationships with people.”
And for the New York businessman who prides himself on deal-making aptitude, building relationships — often by making policy promises that go well beyond what previous, more traditionally conservative candidates have pledged — has defined his outreach to the network of previously wary Christian leaders who helped him win the presidency. And now, that transactional cycle seems likely to shape his White House agenda on issues of interest to the religious right.
It’s a strikingly different approach from that of the most recent Republican president, George W. Bush, himself a born-again Christian who wore his faith on his sleeve and communicated about religion far more fluently than Trump does.
But as much as religious conservative leaders respected Bush’s personal evangelical bona fides, they say that Trump — a man who has struggled to articulate his faith principles and is unapologetic about his tabloid-worthy personal life — has made more concrete commitments. They range from his pledge to appoint only Supreme Court justices who oppose abortion rights — a commitment Bush wouldn’t make — to his vow to defund Planned Parenthood.
Trump offered those promises as he sought to shore up more support from the evangelical community during the campaign, and it worked: He ultimately won the support of nearly every politically prominent Christian leader and landed 81 percent of the evangelical vote, a higher percentage than Bush netted in 2004.
“I think that he understood that his best and likely only chance to win the nomination and ultimately the presidency was to compete for and win the support of voters of faith,” said Ralph Reed, chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, who says he considers Trump a friend.
As Trump heads to the White House, the leaders who helped guide his policy promises, lending him credibility with evangelical voters in the process, say he is still keeping them in his orbit as the transition process unfolds, aware of the role their community played in getting him to the presidency in the first place.
The first sign that these leaders will continue to have influence after helping him win: He is keeping intact his evangelical advisory board, according to several members of the group, who say that there continues to be a weekly conference call, facilitated by Pam Pryor, a member of Trump’s transition team with a background in conservative politics, including a stint with Sarah Palin. She was not made available for an interview, and the Trump transition team didn’t respond to detailed requests for comment.
“Mr. Trump evidently told his staff he wanted to keep the advisory board intact, he wanted us to continue to meet, to give him advice, and I will tell you, I have been surprised at the level to which the transition team has solicited our input on personnel,” said Richard Land, a longtime leader in Southern Baptist politics, who said top Trump aide Kellyanne Conway has also checked in with the group since the election.
Members of the board are already making plans to be in Washington for the National Prayer Breakfast, slated for Feb. 2 — less than two weeks after Trump’s inauguration, and likely the first high-profile faith event of Trump’s presidency. There are discussions underway for the board to meet in person in Washington. And they have already been asked by the transition team to provide names for key slots in the administration, including for faith-based offices.
“I will say, having been involved with administrations from Reagan’s forward, this is the most solicitous that any incoming administration has been for input from evangelicals concerning personnel decisions that I’ve experienced,” Land said, going on to add, “It’s come from Pam’s office, and she has said, ‘He’s very grateful for the faith community, he wants your input.’ That didn’t even happen under George W. Bush. They were willing to take our recommendations, but they didn’t actively solicit them three times before inauguration.”What Trump himself believes, and how he will practice, is a more open question, and one he doesn’t spend much time addressing publicly — and while his evangelical advisers hope he goes to church, they aren’t stressing the issue right now.
Trump has attended church since the election, making a stop at a Presbyterian church in Bedminster, New Jersey, near Trump National Golf Club, late last month. Trump is a Presbyterian, and speculation is already underway over whether, and where, he might go to church regularly in Washington.
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http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/trump-religious-dealmaking-dividends-232277
