Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Evangelical Leaders ‘Lay Hands’ On Trump In Oval Office

Amidst the latest revelations about Russian involvement in the Trump campaign, a group of evangelical leaders gathered in the Oval Office on Monday to “lay hands” on President Donald Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence, and to pray for “supernatural wisdom” and protection.

“What a humbling moment standing in the Oval Office — laying hands and praying for our President,” the evangelist pastor Rodney Howard-Browne wrote on Facebook, posting images of the gathering. “Supernatural Wisdom, Guidance and Protection – who could ever even imagine — wow — we are going to see another great spiritual awakening.”

Trump’s spiritual advisor Paula White-Cain can be seen in the photos at the president’s side. Members of Trump’s “religious advisory executive board,” were also present, including Johnnie Moore, a former senior vice president a large evangelical university in Virginia and Michele Bachmann, the former Republican congresswoman from Minnesota.

White-Cain and other leaders have “laid hands” on Trump before — in 2015, a similar ceremony was held in Trump Tower, including a Hebrew blessing from a Messianic televangelist.

Email Sam Kestenbaum at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter at @skestenbaum

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.