A President Who Loves Jesus: What South Africa Could Learn from Trump’s Easter Message

What a privileged to have such a president.. pic.twitter.com/XRqOEMnYtn

— WesternPulse (@WesternPulse88) April 2, 2026

On Good Friday, the Son of God was nailed to the cross, crucified, and he died. For all of us, it was a day of darkness, but it wasn’t the end. By any means, it was not the end. On Easter Sunday, the stone was rolled away and the grave was empty. Christians everywhere rejoiced, and we continue to rejoice. Easter is one of the incredible days. It was the miracle in all of history, the resurrection of Jesus Christ… He told his followers, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Because of the events of Holy Week twenty centuries ago, people from every nation, language, and background can take on any difficulty, press through any trial, and endure any hardship. With Christ, not one thing can separate humanity from the powers of God’s everlasting love.

These are not the words of a theologian or a pastor. They are the words of President Donald J. Trump, spoken with the unashamed boldness of a man who knows the power of the cross. In a world that increasingly treats faith as a private hobby or a political liability, Trump stood before the nation and preached the Gospel on the most sacred weekend in the Christian calendar. He didn’t water it down. He didn’t hedge his bets. He declared the resurrection as the greatest miracle in history and reminded every listener that Jesus is with us always, even to the end of the age.

And as South Africans, we read those words with a deep ache in our hearts.

We wish—how we wish—we had such a president.

Not a perfect man, for none of us are. But a leader who loves Jesus so openly, so publicly, so unapologetically that he is willing to proclaim the hope of Easter from the highest office in the land. A president who understands that real power does not come from alliances, from markets, or from international applause, but from the One who rolled away the stone.

Instead, we watch our own President Cyril Ramaphosa bend the knee to all kinds of idols. We see it in the quiet compromises, in the elevation of political ideology above biblical truth, in the tolerance of corruption that steals from the poor while the powerful grow richer. We see it when ancestral spirits and cultural rituals are given more public honour than the name of Jesus Christ. We see it when Scripture is treated as just one opinion among many, while the true idols—power, money, ideology, and self—are bowed to without shame.

And it angers the Lord.

The Bible is clear: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). When a nation’s leader leads the people away from the living God and toward the empty promises of man-made idols, the people suffer. We have seen the fruit of it in our country—crumbling infrastructure, failing schools, rampant crime, and a growing despair among the youth. When leaders do not fear God, the foundations shake.

We are deeply saddened and angered by how the ANC has reacted to President Trump. Instead of engaging with humility or seeking common ground, the ANC has repeatedly condemned Trump in the strongest terms, labeling his remarks as “false, inflammatory, and racially charged,” accusing him of “imperial arrogance,” “disinformation,” and even “racism.” They have rejected his concerns about the safety of wh South African farmers, land expropriation without compensation, and policies like bl Economic Empowerment as mere distortions, while refusing to acknowledge the very real suffering, farm murders, and expropriation threats that many citizens face. This knee-jerk hostility—dismissing a world leader who speaks truth to power—reveals a government more interested in defending its ideological idols than in protecting all its people or pursuing genuine righteousness. It stands in stark contrast to the open-hearted faith Trump displays.

Trump’s Easter message reminds us what leadership rooted in Christ can look like. It is not about forcing religion on anyone. It is about a leader who himself is humbled before the cross, who finds his strength in the empty tomb, and who dares to tell a weary nation: “With Christ, not one thing can separate humanity from the powers of God’s everlasting love.”

We believe God has a plan with President Donald Trump. The world may hate him, mock him, and relentlessly attack him, but God protects this man because there is a greater plan at work. Just as the Lord preserved David through the threats of Saul, and shielded Daniel in the lions’ den, He is shielding Trump for purposes far beyond what the media or political elites can see. In a time when darkness seems to be advancing across the nations, God often raises up unlikely servants to stand as lights and to accomplish His will on the earth.

Imagine a South African president who spoke like that.

Imagine a president who, in the face of economic collapse and moral decay, pointed not first to policy or partnerships, but to the risen Saviour. Imagine a leader who understood that the greatest need of our people is not another grant or another summit, but the living hope that only Jesus can give.

We are not asking for a theocracy. We are simply longing for a leader whose heart belongs first to Christ, not to the shifting winds of politics or the pressure of global elites. We are longing for a president who knows that when the stone was rolled away on that first Easter morning, it was not just for Americans or Europeans—it was for every tribe, tongue, and nation, including ours.

South Africa is bleeding. Our people are tired. Many of us are on our knees in prayer, crying out for mercy. And in moments like this, when we hear a world leader speak so tenderly and so truthfully about the Gospel, our hearts stir with both gratitude and grief—gratitude that such faith still exists at the highest levels somewhere, and grief that it feels so far from the Union Buildings.

But Easter teaches us this: the grave is never the end.

The same Jesus who rose two thousand years ago is still alive today. He is still with us, even to the end of the age. And He is able to raise up leaders after His own heart, even in South Africa.

Until that day comes, we will keep praying. We will keep proclaiming the same Gospel Trump boldly declared. And we will keep hoping—heartfelt, tear-stained, unshakeable hope—that one day our own president will stand before the nation and say, without shame:

“He is risen. And because He lives, South Africa can live again.”

Come, Lord Jesus. We need You.