Paula White Cain, spiritual adviser to Donald Trump, has praised the president for putting "Christ back in Christmas" and "prayer back in the White House."
Speaking in an interview Monday with "Fox & Friends" on the Fox News Channel, the senior pastor of New Destiny Christian Center in Florida stated: "Well, isn't it nice to be able to say Merry Christmas and to put Jesus Christ back on the White House lawn? And to have the crusader that we have in our president?"
"It is so vitally important - first off, it's personal to him. He's a man of faith, he is a believer. He's spiritual. I've known him for over 17 years. And Trump just hasn't put Christ back in Christmas, but he's also put prayer back in the White House, he's put justice back into, and religious freedom back into, our courts."
White said that for Trump, Christmas is a "very personal day" because his faith is "such an important part of his life."
"It guides him, it leads him, and one of the things that I love about President Trump is that he is not afraid to take those steps that might be unpopular with other people," she said.
"What makes America great is that we were founded on a Judeo-Christian nation. That's very important for us to understand. He understands it. It is personal to him. Our country, though it is not a theocracy, you will not understand democracy if you don't understand the biblical foundations and traditions and foundation of Christianity and of our faith."
The president pushed back against the "war on Christmas" early in his presidential campaign, telling Iowa supporters in 2015, "I'm a good Christian. If I become president, we're gonna be saying 'merry Christmas' at every store."
During the lighting ceremony at the White House, President Trump spoke on the true meaning of the December 25 holiday, recounting the story of Jesus' birth. The Trump family Christmas card, signed by the president, the First Lady, and their 11-year-old son, Barron, also wished Americans a "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year" instead of the more generic salutation of "happy holidays."
The Trump family Christmas card stands in contrast to the one former President Barack Obama sent last Christmas, which wished Americans a "joyous holiday season" and included a family photo.
On Christmas Eve, the president tweeted: "People are proud to be saying Merry Christmas again. I am proud to have led the charge against the assault of our cherished and beautiful phrase. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!"
Earlier this year, White, who has known President Trump for 16 years, made headlines after stating that Trump has been "authentically" "raised up" by God and declaring that any opposition to the presidency is opposition to God.
"Whether people like him or not, he's been raised up by God because God says that He raises up and places all people in places of authority," she said. "It is God that raises up a king, it is God that sets one down and so when you fight against the plan of God, you're fighting against the hand of God."
She continued, "Principalities cannot control this man because he surrounds himself with Christians, he is a Christian, he is a Christian. He loves prayer...he is fierce, he has a fortitude, he has an inner strength. But no man could withstand in the natural this kind of pressure."
Thus, all Christians have an obligation to pray for Trump whether they like him or not.
"You can't stand in God's word and not be responsible to pray for those who are in positions of authority," White said. "It is our God-given mandate, our responsibility. You've got to pray the will of God to be done for him and through him."
