Trump Pal Pastor Paula White Has Had Some Major Money Issues

President Donald Trump isn't afraid to surround himself with shady characters to help boost his huge ego, and he has awarded some of them for their loyalty. For example, he formed a bromance with controversial billionaire Elon Musk, who's now leading his Department of Government Efficiency, while he also nominated vaccine denier Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be his secretary of Health and Human Services. His spiritual adviser, Pastor Paula White, is no exception to this designation, and it seems she's gotten herself into some especially hot water before.

During President Trump's first term, White was under fire for a move televangelists like Jim Bakker would have been proud of. In January 2018, she encouraged her supporters to donate funds to her religious organizations. "Right now I want you to click on that button, and I want you to honor God with his first fruits offering," she said on her website, per Newsweek. Otherwise, she threatened they could face possible spiritual repercussions. She's continued to ask for annual donations, as of 2025.

Former White House chief ethics lawyer Richard W. Painter called out White for her sketchy pleas, which he argued were a major sham. "This 'prosperity gospel' scam by ⁦@Paula_White⁩ tests the boundaries between 'religious freedom' and criminal mail fraud and wire fraud," Painter wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, in November 2019. "'Send me money and God will make you rich.' Now she uses her White House position to make her sales pitch."

President Donald Trump's spiritual adviser, Pastor Paula White, had her fair share of shady financial problems before she earned her place in the president's loop. Aside from her attempts to draw cash from her followers, her organization, the Without Walls International Church, notably experienced some money issues after it was formed in 1991, and eventually filed for bankruptcy in 2012.

Despite her money struggles and the ensuing controversy, White still lives an insanely lavish life, and retained her place in President Trump's circle when he began his second term in 2025. Per Reuters, the president named her the head of his White House Faith Office at the National Prayer Breakfast in February 2025. Though such gestures show he values her spiritual guidance, others showed less faith in White, and believe involving figures like her is blasphemous. "Paula White is a charlatan and recognized as a heretic by every orthodox Christian, of whatever tribe," Christianity Today editor-in-chief Russell Moore wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter in June 2016.