Donald Trump said he hoped he didn't have to ask God "for much forgiveness." | Getty Trump: I hope I don't have to ask 'for much forgiveness' from God

Though he remarked last year that he has never asked God for forgiveness, Donald Trump suggested in an interview published Wednesday that he plans on doing just that.

In an interview with columnist Cal Thomas, Trump was asked, "You have said you never felt the need to ask for God’s forgiveness, and yet repentance for one’s sins is a precondition to salvation. I ask you the question Jesus asked of Peter: Who do you say He is?"


"I will be asking for forgiveness, but hopefully I won’t have to be asking for much forgiveness. As you know, I am Presbyterian and Protestant. I’ve had great relationships and developed even greater relationships with ministers. We have tremendous support from the clergy. I think I will be doing very well during the election with evangelicals and with Christians," Trump said, according to the transcript."In the Middle East — and this is prior to the migration — you had almost no chance of coming into the United States. Christians from Syria, of which there were many, many of their heads … chopped off. If you were a Muslim from Syria, it was one of the easiest places to come in (to the U.S.). I thought that was deplorable."

He added, "I’m going to treat my religion, which is Christian, with great respect and care."

Thomas concluded by asking, "Who do you say Jesus is?"

"Jesus to me is somebody I can think about for security and confidence," Trump said. "Somebody I can revere in terms of bravery and in terms of courage and, because I consider the Christian religion so important, somebody I can totally rely on in my own mind."

The remarks come days before Trump is scheduled speak before the Faith & Freedom Coalition's conference on Friday in Washington.

During an appearance at the Family Leadership Summit last July, Trump said that he has never asked God for forgiveness but that he does take communion, which he described as "[w]hen I drink my little wine -- which is about the only wine I drink -- and have my little cracker, I guess that is a form of asking for forgiveness, and I do that as often as possible because I feel cleansed."

Prior to his endorsement from evangelical leader Jerry Falwell Jr. in January, Trump told CNN's Jake Tapper that he does not "like to have to ask for forgiveness. And I am good. I don't do a lot of things that are bad. I try to do nothing that is bad."