Trump, Constantine, and the Politics of Providence
In 2016 Donald J. Trump rocked the political world. The first female President wasn’t yet meant to be. His jaded opponents now suffer from a highly contagious mind virus called “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” Its biggest symptom is comparing Trump to leaders of Axis powers from World War II.
History will remember Constantine and Trump as the most consequential and controversial figures of their respective times.
As far as I know, I’m not infected. I am free to match him with other leaders who aren’t comic book villains we all love to hate. As I study early church history I see striking similarities with the controversial Roman emperor Constantine the Great. Let me humor you with these four parallels.
Christian Ally and Liberator
As a devout Christian I wish everyone shared my faith, including the President. Yet, wishful thinking is the bane of the zealot. I urge fellow Christians to keep a level head about Trump. Spare yourself the heartbreak that he’s not a pietist apostle of Jesus Christ. Think of him, rather, as a flawed but timely ally who fights for your liberty.
The Bible praises Cyrus of Persia as a servant of God but never claims him as a proselyte. Likewise, emperor Constantine I of Rome became a liberator for Christians suffering at the hands of his predecessors. The nature of his conversion to Christianity is still debatable. If we make room for doubts, he is at worst a syncretist.
The previous emperor of the Tetrarchy, Galerius, persecuted Christians. He and Constantine’s father-in-law also may have arranged separate assassination attempts to keep Constantine from rising to power. Similarly, Trump faced two attempts to keep him from winning a second term. Toward the end of Galerius’ reign, he was ill with bowel cancer. Trump’s second predecessor Joe Biden struggled with dementia and terminal prostate cancer.
Trump lived as a New York playboy before he became a political ally of Christians. Before the plight of Christians caught his attention, Constantine also lived as a pagan. Seeing the Tetrarchy conspire against him, he recognized that he and the Christ followers had a common enemy.
Both Trump and Constantine overcame odds against their life in their rise to power. During Maxentius’ rebellion the day before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, Constantine claimed a sign of the cross shined in the sky with the caption “in this sign, conquer.” He emblazoned his soldiers’ shields with a transfixed Chi-Rho for victory. While outnumbered two-to-one, Constantine’s forces defeated his entrenched opponent. This victory turned the tide for his perspective on Christianity as he became emperor.
Likewise, Trump experienced a seemingly miraculous escape from death at an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. In his inauguration speech, Trump declared, “my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again.”
In 313 Constantine and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan. This made Christianity a legal religion and ended the persecution. In Trump’s inaugural address, he further declared, “Never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents — something I know something about.” On the campaign trail, Trump promised Christians “In four years, you don’t have to vote again,” implying they won’t have to fill out ballots for their own survival.
Even if Trump isn’t a “saint,” we can treat him as an ally who rises above his checkered past. He aids Christians in ways other leaders who wear their faith on their sleeve may never do. Let’s not compromise our own beliefs just to claim Trump as one of us. He can be a liberator even if we aren’t sure of his heart and eternal state. We should continually pray for him.
Economic Reformer
Trump and Constantine both inherited record-breaking inflation from the previous regime. During the Crisis of the Third Century, foreign invasion and civil war ravaged the Roman empire. Traveling merchants faced heightened dangers, crippling trade. Diocletian’s coins debased to as low as 2 percent silver, sending prices soaring.
The United States, once a unified power in World War II, became a thinly spread world empire in the following decades. Like the Roman empire, the American empire saw higher taxes, a floating currency, and skyrocketing debt to fund shady international adventures. Internal ideological divides grew with the nation’s purse.
After defeating Licinius and becoming ruler of the whole Roman empire, Constantine sought to put inflation in check. He minted and reintroduced a gold coin called the solidus. He even melted down old pagan statues to mint more coins. The solidus avoided debasement for about five centuries. Constantine tried to make taxes less painful for the poor and clergy while enacting new ones on senators and wealthy merchants.
Trump favored the freedom of cryptocurrencies as a check on fiat currency. His Department of Government Efficiency led by Elon Musk attempted to find fraud, waste, and abuse in agency spending. Trump promised to make the income tax repealable and fund a leaner federal government through tariffs. His “No Tax On Tips” promised relief for blue collar workers while his tariffs targeted international merchants wanting to do business with the United States.
Strong Leader for Unity
Trump never led armies into battle like Constantine. As President and Commander in Chief, however, his “America First” agenda promised a strong country that would avoid foreign nation building. His controversial military operations in Iran and against Venezuelan drug boats have been swift and decisive.
Trump’s goal was to keep outside threats in check, not to control foreign territory with boots on the ground. For American shipping interests, he pressured China to renegotiate its economic control over the Panama Canal. Similarly, Constantine’s battles in the Danube were to reclaim neglected border lands from the Samaritans and Goths.
Both Constantine and Trump largely focused on internal threats. Trump deployed the National Guard to fight crime and to keep “sanctuary cities” from importing hostile and divisive foreign interests. Constantine’s battles against Maxentius and Licinius were to end civil rebellions. Like Constantine with the Council of Nicea, Trump desired a cultural and vanilla “Christianity” to unify the empire politically.
Lover of Big, Beautiful Structures
Both loved elaborate arches. Constantine built the Arch of Constantine to celebrate his military victory over Maxentius. Trump unveiled plans in October 2025 to build “Independence Arch,” nicknamed “Arc de Trump” after the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
They both renovated existing structures. Constantine expanded the Hippodrome that Septimius Severus built a century earlier, doubling its size into an arena that could hold an audience up to 100,000. While hardly building an arena, Trump tore down the east wing of the White House built nearly a century earlier to expand it into a gold-encrusted ballroom to serve up to nearly 1,000 dignitaries.
They both placed their name on buildings. Constantine built a new capital city and named it Constantinople after himself. Trump added his name to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and to the Institute of Peace in D.C. It remains to be seen if the new ballroom will bear his name.
Conclusion
History will remember Constantine and Trump as the most consequential and controversial figures of their respective times. Both forever place their stamp on culture. Both leave an undeniable legacy. Both have ardent admirers. Both have critics who wish they had never seen the light of day. Neutrality toward either shows ignorance. To understand Trump and Constantine is to have polarizing opinions of them.
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