A primary axiom of battle is to know your adversary. The name Satan means adversary. President Donald J. Trump has grappled with The Adversary now for many months. Here’s what the Bible says about this conflict:
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:11-12)
This article explores Trump’s ordeal in the light of this truth and offers suggestions for dealing with him.
Warmup
August 1, 2015, just six weeks after Donald Trump announced his presidential bid, the Ted Cruz campaign organization released a fifteen-year-old revealing photo of Melania Trump in an attempt to disparage and anger his opponent. Trump promptly responded in kind (tat for tit you might say), but in much better taste, with a re-tweet comparing an unflattering facial photo of Cruz’s wife with a flattering one of his gorgeous wife. Trump’s response was an honorable and a bit playful defence of his wife. For this, Trump was lambasted. Cruz was given a pass.
Shot Across the Bow
To kick off the first Republican debate on August 6, 2015, Brett Baier asked any candidate not willing to commit to support the eventual nominee of the Republican Party to raise his hand. In an act of courage and honesty, Donald Trump raised his. No one else on the stage did. After further grilling, Trump gave the simple answer that he was not making the pledge at that time.
Clearly, the media was gunning for Trump and trying to throw him off from the start. Despite taking that shot, Trump held his own in the debate. More importantly, he distinguished himself as being very different in character from every one of his opponents — a man of his word as opposed to a typical politician.
Abortion and Punishment
The first major threat came with Chris Matthews grilling Trump on whether or not punishment should be associated with any law that bans abortion. Trump said he favored a law banning abortions with the three usual exceptions and that some punishment of the mother must be associated with that law. Although pressed repeatedly by Matthews on this, Trump would not tell Matthews what sort of punishment he thought should be in the law.
Was there anything wrong with Trump’s response? Actually, there wasn’t. Even Matthews conceded, a law without consequences is not a law at all. Still, since there is no such law, the whole grilling of Trump was over a hypothetical situation. Mr. Trump could have bowed out as soon as the hypothetical aspect emerged and deflect the badgering by Matthews who was doing his best to trip him up.
The fact is, Trump simply said that if there is a law, there should be a punishment associated with it. What he should have followed with was that whoever was responsible (doctor, husband, wife) for the death of the child should bear the responsibility for breaking the law and should face the punishment dictated by the law. We live in a country of laws. He could have added that as president of the United States, he intends to restore that great principle.
When Matthews pressed for details of what kind of punishment the law should have, he could have told him that the punishment should fit the crime or perhaps tell him to consult his Bible. There’s a lot of wisdom there and our laws to a large degree stand on that bedrock. We need to enforce the laws fairly. He could follow that with that as president, he would be careful to abide by the laws and execute them faithfully.
October Surprise
Of course, the next big bomb dropped on him came about one month before the election. It was released by the Washington Post which received it from NBC. NBC fired Billy Bush for leaking the dredged up video containing what Trump called “locker room talk.” Trump apologized, but the video did give a glimpse into a lapse in Trump’s character over twenty years ago.
The release of this video and its timing clearly intended to be the October Surprise to clinch the election for Hillary Clinton. It didn’t work. First of all, it was just talk and not action. Secondly, most fair-minded Americans will admit at least to themselves that on occasion they too have had moral failings of some sort or another. Christians particularly understand this as they know “there is none righteous” (Romans 3:10).
Finally, Trump had a well-known past affair with Marla Maples while still married to his first wife Ivana. His Hollywood-style rich-and-famous lifestyle was no secret. In fact, it became regular fodder for tabloids at that time. That made this new revelation a bit tainted as old news. The affair with Maples ultimately led to his first divorce and second marriage.
Jill Stein’s Recount Effort
Next, came Jill Stein in the last week of November. The Green Party’s presidential candidate, who received 1% of the vote and no electoral votes, led efforts for recounts in three states where Trump had close victories over Clinton. This whole notion was rather bizarre. Clearly, if any candidate should have requested recounts it should have been Clinton and not Stein.
Perhaps Stein was acting as Clinton’s surrogate. The three states disputed were Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. The effort quickly went down in flames.
The new tally from Wisconsin came in virtually unchanged from the original. Trump challenged the legal basis for recounts in Michigan and Pennsylvania and promptly won the Michigan decision. On December 3rd, Stein threw in the towel and withdrew from the Pennsylvania dispute due to escalating costs.
Overturn the Electoral College
The next attempted roadblock involved the electors themselves. The plan was that if thirty-seven or more electors would renege on their pledge to vote for Trump, they could throw the election into the House of Representatives where a suitable (establishment) candidate could be selected. A group called Hamiltonian Electors was formed for the purpose of influencing electors to change their votes.
Hollywood even put together slick commercials designed to convince electors pledged to Trump to change or at least withhold their votes. These electors were bombarded with relentless, harassing telephone calls and emails — some of which went so far as to make death threats. This effort too went down in flames. Few electors pledged to Trump budged. In all, Trump lost two votes pledged to him and Clinton lost five. None of those defecting voted for either frontrunner.
Senate Confirmation Ploy and Popular Vote Slam
On January 6, 2017, a joint session of Congress convened. The purpose of the session was to count votes and certify the election results. The final tally, taking into account defections, was Trump 304 and Clinton 227. The meeting took a half hour as numerous Democrats voiced their opposition citing Russian interference and various issues with the voting process. Their objections were to no avail. Donald Trump was certified the victor.
Donald Trump did not win a majority of the popular vote. As such, the media attempted to frame his victory as hollow and his authority tainted. Of course, he did win the lion’s share of the counties in the country and the electoral college by a wide margin.
The Boogey Man and Slander
Next came an effort to delegitimize Trump’s victory with a charge that Russia “hacked the election” to favor Trump. The whole issue that the media pressed was not to deny the validity of the information uncovered and published, but rather that the Boogeyman stole the election from Hillary Clinton and gave it to Donald Trump. This then makes Trump obliged to Russia and therefore Russia’s pawn.
The mainstream media pressed on. President-elect Trump faced a relentless barrage of new charges from the press regarding his morality. These charges centered around a slanderous thirty-five-page fictional document about him. President Obama and Trump were given a summary describing it as part of a briefing on January 10, 2017. That day, BuzzFeed released the full document.
Forget that this was a known fabrication. Forget the fact that Trump and Putin denied it. The internal evidence from the document itself proved it to be a lie. But that didn’t seem to matter. Those interested in disparaging Trump latched onto it and embraced it with a vengeance.
Inauguration Madness
The presidential inauguration should be a time of celebration and smooth transition. Unfortunately, some Americans do not see it that way. Most regrettably scores of congressional members boycotted the event making the false claim that Trump’s election was illegitimate.
Others plotted to bring Washington D.C. transit to a standstill and even disrupt celebration events with poisonous gas. Law enforcement responded with temporary walls, airport-style screening, and an army of officers from military and police forces across the nation. They lined the Pennsylvania Avenue parade route standing arm’s length apart behind a double barrier to protect those in the parade.
Protesters chanted, displayed signs of discontent, and of course could not restrain themselves from violence. The destructive violence took place away from the parade route in a less secure area. Unfortunately, six police officers suffered injuries as rioters smashed windows and resisted arrest. In all, two-hundred seventeen protesters were arrested.
The news media was quick to point out that Trump’s massive crowd size likely did not compare to that drawn by President Obama’s first inauguration. Aerial photos (without timestamps) emphasized the difference. Perhaps a better indicator related to Metro rider count where Obama’s first inauguration crowd drew more than twice the number of riders as did Trump’s. A photographer who stood next to me along Pennsylvania Avenue across from Trump Hotel that day commented that he felt the crowd size was large, but not as large as for Obama’s first inauguration.
The news media was slow to mention that only five percent of Washington D.C. voted for Trump. A check of the Maryland vote count shows Trump received less than forty percent of that vote. A smaller crowd should be expected for anti-establishment Trump in that hotbed for big government should be expected. With a massive advantage of overwhelming local support, it’s no surprise that Obama’s crowd could have been larger.
The protest continued the next day when women wore pink hats with corners representing cat ears to mock President Trump as they marched in that same area. The bottom line was that they opposed Trump’s pro-life stand. Paradoxically, for this they branded Trump as a “hater.” They claimed the high ground of “love.” Yet Trump was the one defending the innocent while they marched for the right to kill the unborn and sported profane and hateful placards.
Advice to Our New Leader
In the wake of this continual onslaught, if I could speak to President Trump, I would first thank him for his courage and sacrifice on behalf of all Americans. We owe him a great debt of gratitude for what he has given up, what he has done, and what he will do. While he may not be given a Nobel Prize, within months, he will earn the title The Great Negotiator.
It’s humbling to offer advice to a man who has achieved much more in his life than few can imagine. But President Trump does make himself approachable and has expressed his desire to connect with and hear from real people. It’s in that spirit these words are given. Hopefully, something here will resonate with him and help him in his battle against the adversary.
First, the greatest example of a leader that this world has ever known is the Lord Jesus Christ. To the extent that President Trump can lead by example, uphold the highest moral principles, give of himself, and be empowered by God, he too can be a great leader.
Handling the Press
Second, our president must guard against adversaries in the press. These people are empowered by The Adversary and use his same methods. When Jesus was tested in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11), Satan attempted to have Jesus follow his orders. Each time, Jesus saw through Satan’s scheme and refused to do what they requested.
Members of the press try to put words in Mr. Trump’s mouth. They try to tell him what to do and trick him to say a particular thing. President Trump needs to be vigilant of this ploy. They did it, as mentioned, in the first debate as they tried to pressure him to support any Republican candidate and throw him off from the very start. In his recent press conference, which he handled masterfully, the most virulent among the press tried to ask him to commit on the spot to agree to support their cause.
He needs to tell them flat out that his positions are published, and he will not be told what to say. With that he should move on abruptly. Something like the following will work nicely:
I will not have the press put words in my mouth. My commitment is to the American people. They will be treated fairly and with respect. My oath of office covers your question. I suggest you read it — next question.
A second example from the Bible comes from the scribes and pharisees questioning Jesus with trick questions in order to trap him. President Trump needs to be on the lookout for this. When he receives such a question, if he does not have a good answer on the spot (as Jesus always did), he needs to expose the question for what it is or at least say he cannot answer that on the spot but will get back to him with an answer.
One Jesus’ favorite methods of dealing with his critcis was to respond to a question with a question. We find this many times in scripture. One classic example is in Matthew 21:23-27. The most famous one is in the following chapter.
Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk.
And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men.
Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?
But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?
Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny.
And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?
They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.
When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way. (Matthew 22:15-22)
In short, President Trump must recognize his adversaries in the press as the minions of Satan. Similarly, his other enemies — home and abroad — fit into this same category. Jesus had a simple retort: “get thee behind me, Satan.”
Class Warfare
The concept of special rights for a particular race, ethnicity, religion, or whatever, fosters division. Mr. Trump needs to be color blind. The phrase in his inaugural address that “we all bleed the same red blood of patriots” encapsulates that idea. Everyone should have equal justice under the law and everyone should have the right to pursue “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Special rights boils down to unequal rights. This has to stop. Hate crime laws should be abolished as well as affirmative action laws. Survey and census questions regarding race, ethnicity, religion, etc. should be eliminated and outlawed. Whatever the crime, justice should be served based on the crime itself and not the class of persons involved. If Donald Trump can stop this madness, he can send home all of the whiners clamoring for unequal rights in their favor based on who they are.
President Obama divided the country through his constant appeal for unequal rights. He did this in part to gain political advantage. The rift he left is deep and wide. President Trump can and must repair wound if he is ever going to “make America great again.” If he does, he can bring healing and unity to our land, set America on course, and defeat The Adversary.
God bless you President Donald Trump. You, your family, and your administration are in our prayers daily as we ask for your strength, wisdom, and safety. Thank you!