US president’s handling of the Iran war, Epstein files and allegations of corruption work against him

Doug Pagitt is used to people confiding in him. The pastor of Solomon’s Porch in Minneapolis has remained tight-lipped about the many secrets confessed to him.

But there is one confidence he cannot stop himself from sharing.

In April, one of his parishioners, a plumber and lifelong Republican, whispered the words he was too scared to utter in public: he could no longer support Donald Trump.

“Look, Trump’s been my guy. I voted for him three times. I’ve defended him, and I can’t do it any more,” the plumber told the pastor, with tears forming in his eyes.

Mr Pagitt can recall many encounters with disillusioned Christians across America turning their back on the US president before the Nov 3 midterm elections.

The mishandling of the Epstein files, the decision to go to war with Iran and allegations of corruption have left Mr Trump’s core base facing a dilemma: back their former political hero or cross the aisle?

“I find him to be a moral void,” the pastor said, standing on the campus of Virginia State University, before a rally on a hot autumn afternoon in October.

Corruption is now one of the top issues on voters’ minds, with 88 per cent extremely or very concerned, according to a recent Fox News poll.

Standing 6ft tall, balding and wearing a short-brimmed fedora, he faces a blue and orange bus, which is adorned with the words “Faith, Hope and Love”.

“I don’t think there is a moral centre to him or a moral frame. He’s just a transactional person that tries to get the most he can out of people,” he said.

During the 2024 presidential election, 80 per cent of white evangelicals voted for Mr Trump, a self-described non-denominational Christian, propelling him to the White House for a second time.

Protestants make up the core of his Christian voter base. In 2024, roughly four in 10 voters, or 43 per cent, were Protestants, while about a quarter were religiously unaffiliated and 20 per cent were Roman Catholics, according to the Pew Research Centre.

Mr Trump’s approval rating has fallen among every religious group since the start of his second term, including white evangelical Protestants, whose support has dropped from 78 per cent in January 2025 to 58 per cent in October 2026.

He had systematically cultivated and capitalised on the backing of conservative religious voters by framing himself as the defender of a Christian America under siege, acting as something of a human shield for his base.

His closest spiritual advisers, and indeed Mr Trump himself, have directly linked his survival of the assassination attempt at Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024, as unmistakable proof of divine intervention.

“It was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening. We will FEAR NOT, but instead remain resilient in our Faith and Defiant in the face of Wickedness,” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform in the hours after the shooting by Thomas Crooks.

His administration has sought to frame the conflict against Iran as a Holy War. And Pete Hegseth, the defence secretary, has relied heavily on religious language throughout the conflict.

In one instance, he likened the rescue of a downed US airman inside enemy lines in Iran to the resurrection of Christ.

But since then, outbursts against Pope Leo XIV and a post featuring an AI-generated picture of the president as Jesus have left Catholic and Protestant communities reflecting on the faith he claims to defend.

Read More: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/politics/2026/10/26/trumps-immorality-turning-off-his-base/