After bowing his head during a blessing before dinner with evangelical leaders in the Blue Room last month, President Donald Trump cracked a joke.

"I'm the only person on Fifth Avenue that would have a prayer like that," the president said, according to two attendees, seeming to separate himself from much of Manhattan's swanky Upper East Side.


One evangelical leader present offered that Cardinal Timothy Dolan, whose palatial cathedral and residence is blocks from Trump Tower, may also suggest a blessing before dining. Trump agreed before commenting on the cardinal's lavish digs.

He then pointed to several of the religious leaders before saying an iteration of: "The Christians, they know what I'm doing for them, right?" He grinned and nodded as he was praised.

The episode provides a window into Trump's symbiotic relationship with evangelical voters, according to more than a dozen White House officials, advisers and religious leaders.

Several senior White House officials say they've never heard Trump reference the Bible privately or pray in the Oval Office — even though he has, at times, asked Vice President Mike Pence to pray. He swears frequently, even startling some aides with his coarse language. He was famously caught on tape saying he could grab women by their genitals because he is famous. In New York, he was well-known for cheating on his wives and encouraging coverage of his sex life in the tabloids.

Though he has declared the Bible to be his favorite book, just ahead of his autobiography, he has not exhibited a deep knowledge of it. On the campaign trail, one of his more famous moments was calling the communion "my little wine and my little cracker" and incorrectly calling Second Corinthians "Two Corinthians."

Playbook PM Sign up for our must-read newsletter on what's driving the afternoon in Washington. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Yet he has told advisers he sees evangelicals as among his most important constituencies, and he has enjoyed fervent support, as evidenced by another rapturous reception on Friday at the Values Voter Summit. A Reuters poll in September showed more than 60 percent of white evangelicals back Trump, far higher than his overall approval rating, which has often fallen below 40 percent.

“Trump has been focused like a laser beam on the evangelical vote since the day he entered the presidential race in June 2015, and that has never changed," said Ralph Reed, founder and chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, who said Trump called religious leaders repeatedly during the campaign.

Several people who know Trump say he appreciates that evangelicals have been loyal to him — and he wants to keep them in the fold, almost as he would valuable business customers.

Evangelical Christians have been pleased by a number of his decisions, like nominating Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court, his willingness to fight abortion, his religious liberty executive order and his stance on Israel, according to Reed and others.

In the Blue Room meeting last month, he was praised for opposing Planned Parenthood and promising to push for religious leaders to be allowed to endorse in political races. Religious leaders who brought him concerns were promised quick follow-ups by the government.

More than anything, several religious leaders said, they feel Trump is fighting for them in a cultural war that has been heading in the other direction.

"They believe they have a commander in chief that is effectively using the bully pulpit to advance a Judeo-Christian framework that has been minimized, scrutinized and ostracized for the last few decades," said David Brody, who has enjoyed tremendous access to White House officials as a correspondent for the Christian Broadcasting Network. He says his viewers overwhelmingly support Trump and see him as unfairly under attack, a view shared by a dozen religious leaders interviewed for this story.

Trump alluded to that exact notion during Friday's speech, promising that he is “stopping cold the attacks on Judeo-Christian values” and declaring the war on Christmas is over.

“They don't use the word ‘Christmas’ because it's not politically correct,” Trump said to heavy applause. “Well, guess what? We're saying ‘Merry Christmas’ again.”

"Times have changed, but now they're changing back again," he added.

Those who have known Trump longest guffaw at his approach to evangelicals and say they believe he is only pandering. Even some of the religious leaders who wanted to praise Trump publicly asked to go off the record and say they don't believe the self-described Presbyterian is religious.

Barbara Res, a longtime Trump executive, said she was "amazed" at his executive action on contraception, in which he allowed virtually any employer to claim a religious or moral objection to Obamacare's birth control coverage mandate.

"He doesn't care about that, " Res said. "He has no idea what he signed. They just gave him that to sign."

Timothy O'Brien, a longtime Trump biographer, said the president’s family wasn't religiously observant and that Trump had attended church only occasionally over the years. "He has never, ever been consumed with classic Christian values like ‘love your neighbor’ and ‘treat others as you want to be treated,’" O'Brien said. "He has never tried to live by the values of the Bible. He is completely cynical about it."

But Trump and his team have paid special care to their relationship with the evangelical community. The White House has called Christian leaders for input on a range of issues, including economic and foreign policy matters not closely associated with the religious community, said Johnnie Moore, a religious leader close to Trump. "They talk to us constantly," Moore said.

Pence is beloved by many evangelicals, and Reed said many of his friends have visited the White House more often since January than in decades. On several occasions, Trump has brought pastors into the Oval Office for photos, including some showing them gathered around his chair with their hands on his shoulders. Trump has loved the idea of the pictures becoming public, one adviser said.

One adviser said Trump keeps a family Bible in the residence and has told people he has opened it from time to time.

Brody, the TV reporter, has interviewed Trump officials repeatedly on the West Wing lawn — and he scored almost a dozen campaign trail interviews with Trump, as well as the president's third interview in office. Another one of Trump's interviews was with Pat Robertson, the televangelist who leads the network.

Brody is now writing a book about the president's religious "journey," he said, which he admitted has drawn "chuckles" from liberals and skeptics. Trump is expected to participate in the book.

White House officials have told Brody that they see the network as important and that it provides fairer treatment, with questions that often focus on issues that are less contentious than the Russia probe, his administration's legislative failures and chaos in the White House.

"Do we have phenomenal access?" Brody said. "Yes, we absolutely do."

Trump has left many of the pastors impressed with his promises to fulfill their agenda, and Trump often knows how to charm.

At a religious gathering in Colorado on Friday, pastor and Trump evangelical adviser Robert Jeffress recalled a meeting with the president in the Oval Office earlier this year. The religious leaders present for the meeting all began talking before Trump interrupted, according to Jeffress’ account.

"Sorry, pastor, but don't you think we ought to pray first?" Trump asked.

