Look, you’ve got to hand it to Donald Trump—he knows how to grab attention. In his latest fundraising push, the president is reaching out to his supporters with emails that basically say, “Hey, help me get to heaven by chipping in $15.” It’s part of what he’s calling a “24-hour Trump fundraising blitz,” and it’s got people talking.
The emails started popping up around August 23, with subject lines like “I want to try and get to Heaven.” Trump ties it all back to that scary assassination attempt in July 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania, where he came super close to death. “Last year, I came millimeters from death when that bullet pierced through my skin,” the email reads. “My triumphant return to the White House was never supposed to happen!”
He goes on to say he believes God spared him for a specific reason: to “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” “I certainly wasn’t supposed to survive an assassin’s bullet, but by the grace of the almighty God, I did,” it continues. “SO NOW, I have no other choice but to answer the Call to Duty, but I can’t do it alone.”
This all comes right after Trump appeared on Fox & Friends on August 19, where he talked about wanting to end the war in Ukraine. He said something like, “If I can save 7,000 people a week from being killed, I think that’s pretty—I want to try to get to heaven if possible.” He even joked about his chances, saying, “I’m hearing that I’m not doing well. I am really at the bottom of the totem pole,” which got some laughs from the hosts. “But if I can get to heaven, this will be one of the reasons.”
Later that day, his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, backed him up, saying she thought he was serious. “I think the president wants to get to heaven—as I hope we all do in this room as well.”
And get this—these emails are hitting inboxes amid all sorts of online rumors about Trump’s health over Labor Day weekend. Folks on social media were speculating wildly because his schedule was clear, and there was that recent interview JD Vance did with USA Today. It all added to the buzz.
Trump’s no stranger to mixing religion into his politics. He’s been embraced by the Christian right for years, often talking about praying and invoking God in his speeches. Remember those photos of religious leaders laying hands on him? Or when he sold those Trump Bibles back in 2024? Yeah, this fits right in with that. 8 Whether it’s a clever fundraising tactic or something more personal, it’s definitely got everyone’s attention.