She offered a blessing at his inauguration, said prayers at the launch of his re-election campaign, and recently claimed while publicising a new book that he once wanted to construct a vast, glass cathedral, telling her “let’s build this before we’re too old”. Others have called her a fraud.

Now Paula White-Cain, better known as Paula White, a 53-year-old televangelist from Florida, has an official White House role. In what appears part of an attempt to lock down support from evangelical Christians as he seeks a second term, Mr Trump has added Ms White to his office of public liaison, the part of the administration concerned with outreach to groups and individuals the president considers important.

“Paula White is the adviser to the faith and opportunity initiative,” the White House told reporters in a statement. “She is heading up that initiative.”

Ms White enters the job with a reputation for shaking things up. This summer she told a congregation in Florida: “When I walk on White House grounds, God walks on White House grounds. Wherever I go, God rules. When I walked in the river, God walked in the river.” She has praised the president’s intellect, calling him “very much a strategic thinker”, and sometimes she speaks in tongues.

Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Show all 26 1 /26 Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Donald Trump Accused of abusing his office by pressing the Ukrainian president in a July phone call to help dig up dirt on Joe Biden, who may be his Democratic rival in the 2020 election. He also believes that Hillary Clinton’s deleted emails - a key factor in the 2016 election - may be in Ukraine, although it is not clear why. EPA Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal The Whistleblower Believed to be a CIA agent who spent time at the White House, his complaint was largely based on second and third-hand accounts from worried White House staff. Although this is not unusual for such complaints, Trump and his supporters have seized on it to imply that his information is not reliable. Expected to give evidence to Congress voluntarily and in secret. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal The Second Whistleblower The lawyer for the first intelligence whistleblower is also representing a second whistleblower regarding the President's actions. Attorney Mark Zaid said that he and other lawyers on his team are now representing the second person, who is said to work in the intelligence community and has first-hand knowledge that supports claims made by the first whistleblower and has spoken to the intelligence community's inspector general. The second whistleblower has not yet filed their own complaint, but does not need to to be considered an official whistleblower. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Rudy Giuliani Former mayor of New York, whose management of the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001 won him worldwide praise. As Trump’s personal attorney he has been trying to find compromising material about the president’s enemies in Ukraine in what some have termed a “shadow” foreign policy. In a series of eccentric TV appearances he has claimed that the US state department asked him to get involved. Giuliani insists that he is fighting corruption on Trump’s behalf and has called himself a “hero”. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Volodymyr Zelensky The newly elected Ukrainian president - a former comic actor best known for playing a man who becomes president by accident - is seen frantically agreeing with Trump in the partial transcript of their July phone call released by the White House. With a Russian-backed insurgency in the east of his country, and the Crimea region seized by Vladimir Putin in 2014, Zelensky will have been eager to please his American counterpart, who had suspended vital military aid before their phone conversation. He says there was no pressure on him from Trump to do him the “favour” he was asked for. Zelensky appeared at an awkward press conference with Trump in New York during the United Nations general assembly, looking particularly uncomfortable when the American suggested he take part in talks with Putin. AFP/Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Mike Pence The vice-president was not on the controversial July call to the Ukrainian president but did get a read-out later. However, Trump announced that Pence had had “one or two” phone conversations of a similar nature, dragging him into the crisis. Pence himself denies any knowledge of any wrongdoing and has insisted that there is no issue with Trump’s actions. It has been speculated that Trump involved Pence as an insurance policy - if both are removed from power the presidency would go to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, something no Republican would allow. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Rick Perry Trump reportedly told a meeting of Republicans that he made the controversial call to the Ukrainian president at the urging of his own energy secretary, Rick Perry, and that he didn’t even want to. The president apparently said that Perry wanted him to talk about liquefied natural gas - although there is no mention of it in the partial transcript of the phone call released by the White House. It is thought that Perry will step down from his role at the end of the year. Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Joe Biden The former vice-president is one of the frontrunners to win the Democratic nomination, which would make him Trump’s opponent in the 2020 election. Trump says that Biden pressured Ukraine to sack a prosecutor who was investigating an energy company that Biden’s son Hunter was on the board of, refusing to release US aid until this was done. However, pressure to fire the prosecutor came on a wide front from western countries. It is also believed that the investigation into the company, Burisma, had long been dormant. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Hunter Biden Joe Biden’s son has been accused of corruption by the president because of his business dealings in Ukraine and China. However, Trump has yet to produce any evidence of corruption and Biden’s lawyer insists he has done nothing wrong. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal William Barr The attorney-general, who proved his loyalty to Trump with his handling of the Mueller report, was mentioned in the Ukraine call as someone president Volodymyr Zelensky should talk to about following up Trump’s preoccupations with the Biden’s and the Clinton emails. Nancy Pelosi has accused Barr of being part of a “cover-up of a cover-up”. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Mike Pompeo The secretary of state initially implied he knew little about the Ukraine phone call - but it later emerged that he was listening in at the time. He has since suggested that asking foreign leaders for favours is simply how international politics works. Gordon Sondland testified that Pompeo was "in the loop" and knew what was happening in Ukraine. Pompeo has been criticised for not standing up for diplomats under his command when they were publicly criticised by the president. AFP via Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Nancy Pelosi The Democratic Speaker of the House had long resisted calls from within her own party to back a formal impeachment process against the president, apparently fearing a backlash from voters. On September 24, amid reports of the Ukraine call and the day before the White House released a partial transcript of it, she relented and announced an inquiry, saying: “The president must be held accountable. No one is above the law.” Getty Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Adam Schiff Democratic chairman of the House intelligence committee, one of the three committees leading the inquiry. He was criticized by Republicans for giving what he called a “parody” of the Ukraine phone call during a hearing, with Trump and others saying he had been pretending that his damning characterisation was a verbatim reading of the phone call. He has also been criticised for claiming that his committee had had no contact with the whistleblower, only for it to emerge that the intelligence agent had contacted a staff member on the committee for guidance before filing the complaint. The Washington Post awarded Schiff a “four Pinocchios” rating, its worst rating for a dishonest statement. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman Florida-based businessmen and Republican donors Lev Parnas (pictured with Rudy Giuliani) and Igor Fruman were arrested on suspicion of campaign finance violations at Dulles International Airport near Washington DC on 9 October. Separately the Associated Press has reported that they were both involved in efforts to replace the management of Ukraine's gas company, Naftogaz, with new bosses who would steer lucrative contracts towards companies controlled by Trump allies. There is no suggestion of any criminal activity in these efforts. Reuters Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal William Taylor The most senior US diplomat in Ukraine and the former ambassador there. As one of the first two witnesses in the public impeachment hearings, Taylor dropped an early bombshell by revealing that one of his staff – later identified as diplomat David Holmes – overheard a phone conversation in which Donald Trump could be heard asking about “investigations” the very day after asking the Ukrainian president to investigate his political enemies. Taylor expressed his concern at reported plans to withhold US aid in return for political smears against Trump’s opponents, saying: “It's one thing to try to leverage a meeting in the White House. It's another thing, I thought, to leverage security assistance -- security assistance to a country at war, dependent on both the security assistance and the demonstration of support." Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal George Kent A state department official who appeared alongside William Taylor wearing a bow tie that was later mocked by the president. He accused Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trump’s personal lawyer, of leading a “campaign of lies” against Marie Yovanovitch, who was forced out of her job as US ambassador to Ukraine for apparently standing in the way of efforts to smear Democrats. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Marie Yovanovitch One of the most striking witnesses to give evidence at the public hearings, the former US ambassador to Ukraine received a rare round of applause as she left the committee room after testifying. Canadian-born Yovanovitch was attacked on Twitter by Donald Trump while she was actually testifying, giving Democrats the chance to ask her to respond. She said she found the attack “very intimidating”. Trump had already threatened her in his 25 July phone call to the Ukrainian president saying: “She’s going to go through some things.” Yovanovitch said she was “shocked, appalled and devastated” by the threat and by the way she was forced out of her job without explanation. REUTERS Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Alexander Vindman A decorated Iraq War veteran and an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, Lt Col Vindman began his evidence with an eye-catching statement about the freedoms America afforded him and his family to speak truth to power without fear of punishment. One of the few witnesses to have actually listened to Trump’s 25 July call with the Ukrainian president, he said he found the conversation so inappropriate that he was compelled to report it to the White House counsel. Trump later mocked him for wearing his military uniform and insisting on being addressed by his rank. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Jennifer Williams A state department official acting as a Russia expert for vice-president Mike Pence, Ms Williams also listened in on the 25 July phone call. She testified that she found it “unusual” because it focused on domestic politics in terms of Trump asking a foreign leader to investigate his political opponents. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Kurt Volker The former special envoy to Ukraine was one of the few people giving evidence who was on the Republican witness list although what he had to say may not have been too helpful to their cause. He dismissed the idea that Joe Biden had done anything corrupt, a theory spun without evidence by the president and his allies. He said that he thought the US should be supporting Ukraine’s reforms and that the scheme to find dirt on Democrats did not serve the national interest. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Tim Morrison An expert on the National Security Council and another witness on the Republican list. He testified that he did not think the president had done anything illegal but admitted that he feared it would create a political storm if it became public. He said he believed the moving the record of the controversial 25 July phone call to a top security server had been an innocent mistake. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Gordon Sondland In explosive testimony, one of the men at the centre of the scandal got right to the point in his opening testimony: “Was there a quid pro quo? Yes,” said the US ambassador to the EU who was a prime mover in efforts in Ukraine to link the release of military aid with investigations into the president’s political opponents. He said that everyone knew what was going on, implicating vice-president Mike Pence and secretary of state Mike Pompeo. The effect of his evidence is perhaps best illustrated by the reaction of Mr Trump who went from calling Sondland a “great American” a few weeks earlier to claiming that he barely knew him. AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Laura Cooper A Pentagon official, Cooper said Ukrainian officials knew that US aid was being withheld before it became public knowledge in August – undermining a Republican argument that there can’t have been a quid pro quo between aid and investigations if the Ukrainians didn’t know that aid was being withheld. Getty Images Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal David Hale The third most senior official at the state department. Hale testified about the treatment of Marie Yovanovitch and the smear campaign that culminated in her being recalled from her posting as US ambassador to Ukraine. He said: “I believe that she should have been able to stay at post and continue to do the outstanding work.” EPA Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal Fiona Hill Arguably the most confident and self-possessed of the witnesses in the public hearings phase, the Durham-born former NSC Russia expert began by warning Republicans not to keep repeating Kremlin-backed conspiracy theories. In a distinctive northeastern English accent, Dr Hill went on to describe how she had argued with Gordon Sondland about his interference in Ukraine matters until she realised that while she and her colleagues were focused on national security, Sondland was “being involved in a domestic political errand”. She said: “I did say to him, ‘Ambassador Sondland, Gordon, this is going to blow up’. And here we are.” AP Trump impeachment: Who's who in the Ukraine scandal David Holmes The Ukraine-based diplomat described being in a restaurant in Kiev with Gordon Sondland while the latter phoned Donald Trump. Holmes said he could hear the president on the other end of the line – because his voice was so “loud and distinctive” and because Sondland had to hold the phone away from his ear – asking about the “investigations” and whether the Ukrainian president would cooperate. REUTERS

Despite claiming the Bible was either his favourite or second-favourite book, telling different interviewers over the years that his own Art of the Deal was his number one read, the president has never made a very convincing man of God.

Attending a church service during the 2016 Iowa caucus, he struggled to differentiate between a sacrament plate and a collection bowl, reaching into his pockets for change. He testily declined to tell journalists his favourite Bible stories, and completely mashed up scriptural references when he spoke to students at the Christian Liberty University.

Yet he has always understood the importance of keeping the support of the religious right, and in particular evangelicals, perhaps as many as 80 per cent of whom voted for him in 2016.

Evangelical leaders rarely defended the thrice-married former casino magnate’s private life, or his paying of hush money to a porn star on the eve of the election. But they approve of his appointment to the supreme court of conservative justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, his defence of “religious freedom” and his willingness to permit “religious exemptions” for laws seeking to provide workplace equality to members of the LGBT+ community.

Ms White is not just any pastor. She has also been married three times – her current husband, Jonathan Cain, plays keyboards with the band Journey – and she built up a megachurch in Florida only to file for bankruptcy. She espouses a brand of Christianity sometimes called “prosperity theology”, which states God can reward people by making them wealthy, and at the same time, people can also be blessed for donating to good causes such as churches.

Her website quotes part of the Proverbs chapter from the Old Testament that talks of “honouring the Lord with the first fruits of your increase”. She then writes: “I prophetically decree and declare deliverance and prosperity are yours in 2019 – this is the year YOU inherit YOUR promised land!”

Ms White has also sparked controversy with some of her other alleged doctrinal statements, which have questioned the so-called Trinity, a tradition that sees God in three persons – the father, son, and holy spirit. Ms White has denied making such a comment.

Donald Trump misquotes the Bible at a Christian University

She has also triggered outcry with remarks made last year amid the Central American immigration crisis, when she claimed that although Jesus was a refugee, he was “not illegal”. She added: “If he had broken the law, then he would have been sinful and he would not have been our messiah.”

Mark Tooley, a Methodist and founder of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, based in Washington DC, told The Independent Ms White’s appointment underscored the ascendancy of evangelical - or “born again” - Christianity in the Trump administration. (Mike Pence is also an evangelical Christian, which is one of the reasons some among the religious right are less concerned about the president’s possible impeachment and removal from office.)

“She represents a modern, entrepreneurial style that built up her ministry and now has political influence,” Mr Tooley said.

He claimed she was a controversial figure, even among some evangelicals, who did not agree with her views on prosperity theology, even though the idea – espoused also by the likes of the hugely popular Joel Osteen - has been around in the US for many decades.

As to what change she might bring to Mr Trump, he said: “He’s never made a good job of pretending to be a person of faith, and people have been pretty upfront about that. [Evangelicals] have adopted a sort of realpolitik approach, on the basis he will protect them and address their concerns.”

There is nothing new about a US president associating himself with a leading religious figure. Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan prayed with Billy Graham.

Bill Clinton tearfully attended a national prayer breakfast meeting with clerics and asked for their blessing, just hours before special counsel Kenneth Starr delivered his damning report on the president’s infidelity and his attempts to cover it up to Congress.

George W Bush became a born-again Christian in 1985, part of an effort overseen by his wife, Laura, to turn from him around from being a virtual alcoholic. Barack Obama got into trouble for his association with the black preacher Jeremiah Wright. He also led a congregation in a rendition of Amazing Grace at the funeral of the Rev Clementa Pinckney, one of the victims of the Charleston church massacre, demonstrating his ease in a religious setting.

Jimmy Carter, 95, perhaps the most persistently observant of all recent presidents, still delivers lessons at the Maranatha Baptist Church in the town of Plains, Georgia.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Mr Trump’s pastor is rather different – outspoken, controversial, with her own media empire and a website where people can sign up for a daily homily.

In 2014, her church, Without Walls International Church, in Apopka, a congregation that was once 20,000 strong, was obliged to file for bankruptcy protection. Russell Moore, an influential figure with the Southern Baptist Convention called her a “charlatan”. Others have questioned just how long she has known the president, and what role she played, if any, in his religious journey. Earlier this year, she announced she was handing over responsibly of her church to her son.

“I never would have guessed that Paula White and Donald Trump would be the preacher-president duo people remember like Billy Graham and Richard Nixon,” Kate Bowler, a professor of Christian history at Duke Divinity School,” told the New York Times.

“Paula White survived scandal and little support from the religious right to become one of the only stand-alone women in the male-dominated world of televangelism. She has done what no one thought she could do, scraping out a place for an unpopular theology beside an unpopular president.”

It seems clear she is here to stay, at least for now. Ms White has been photographed often with the president, and when she prayed at his re-election campaign launch, she declared: “Right now, let every demonic network who has aligned itself against the purpose, against the calling of president Trump, let it be broken, let it be torn down in the name of Jesus!”

Ms White did not respond to requests for comment.

In an interview with the Washington Examiner, while promoting her book, Something Greater: Finding Triumph Over Trials, she claimed her relationship with the president went back two decades, when he contacted her after seeing her on television.