Nine months into his second term, President Donald Trump sees himself as divinely chosen, a preacher for the White Christian church of MAGA. But a preacher without a flock is powerless. Polls show that many Americans see Trump and his far-right movement in prophetic, even messianic terms.

In his personal and public life, Trump violates almost every tenet of the Christian faith. But for the Christian right, this is mostly an inconvenient fact that can be explained away by the belief that God uses flawed men to fulfill his will.

In recent weeks, the president has publicly expressed his anxieties about salvation and the state of his soul. Those confessions, related in interviews and emails to his followers, are part of a grander strategy: To shore up his base in the face of political headwi

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