You started off over here, Jeb. You’re moving further and further. Pretty soon, you’ll be off the end.

One of my biggest issues with politicians is that they have this camera face—like, this is what we show you for the camera, but behind the scenes, I’m a completely different person. I think Trump won in 2016 because he was representing the interests of the voter, actually bringing government back to “we the people” and doing what we want the government to be doing—protecting our rights.

(Trump audio)
I know my competitors. I know who I’m dealing with. They’re politicians—all talk, no action. That’s what a politician is—all talk, no action.

And not going off and pursuing special interests of his own or of his donors. He was speaking exactly what my wife and I talk about at the kitchen table, or what my dad and I talk about in the garage, or whatever it is I’m talking about with my buddies at work. I mean, that’s how he talked from the platform at his rallies.

I’ve really never seen a politician in my life who hasn’t sold out. Maybe this is a guy who’s going to be the exception. Maybe he’s going to be the president who will work for the people because he’s demonstrated it in his business, pre-politics.

People admired Donald Trump—or at least respected him. He was known as a real estate mogul, builder, businessman, ladies’ man, entertainer. It was not uncommon to catch a glimpse of the charismatic figure in the spotlight.

(Music playing)

Anybody could go back to the 1980s, 1990s, early 2000s—everybody loved President Trump. In a sense, he was a hood hero. That’s why the lyrics were, “We’re going to get money like Trump,” or “Be a boss like Trump.”

I kind of knew that he was this billionaire playboy. He did the show The Apprentice, and he was kind of like the Simon Cowell of business—just said what he thought and didn’t think much about it. I didn’t pay much attention at all to Donald Trump. He was in Home Alone movies—I thought that was great when he met Kevin in New York.

As a matter of fact, when he and Hillary went to run in the race together, my initial reaction was, “This is a joke.” And you remember that saying? You know, “Mom says you could be anything you want to be when you grow up if you put your mind to it”? That was the going joke: “I guess anyone can be president.”

The ’90s and early 2000s served as Trump’s stomping grounds, driven by the American dream. During this era, American idealism was at its height—you could be whoever or whatever you wanted to be in America, especially if you already had money.

However, it wasn’t all fun and games over the years. Still, somehow, this icon managed to utilize even some of the most scandalous stories to his advantage. It was as if he had personally coined the phrase, “All publicity is good publicity.”

And not much has changed. Before politics, even if you didn’t like Donald Trump, you still wanted to know what he was up to. At the time, even celebrities seemed smitten with “The Donald.” His acumen for business slowly began to bleed more into the political realm, and it became clear that he had an invested interest in the fate of the country.

I mean, here he was, a playboy billionaire, a Democrat, a darling of the left back then, a darling of the press. And for reasons that are hard to understand, he saw what was going on in the world and in our country, and he felt he had to do something.

I’ve seen some past interviews of him on Oprah, talking about the presidency. I didn’t realize how much this man loved our country.

(Trump on Oprah)
I would never want to rule it out totally because I really am tired of seeing what’s happening with this country—how we’re making other people live like kings, and we’re not.

Despite solid rebuttals to inquiries about running for president in the ’80s and ’90s, Trump’s actions seemed to have suggested a different story. Either way, he was obviously concerned with the way the country was being run.

Could his interest be more than simple patriotism? A man like Trump was assumed to always have an angle, but regardless of any potential hidden intentions, something was unique about Trump’s political interest.

Clearly, if you look at his early interviews, he had been asked a couple of times if he would ever run for president. So, obviously, people thought that maybe one day he would actually be a good presidential candidate.

(Trump interview)
You have flirted with the idea of politics. Now you’re here at your first national convention. Does that get you interested in possibly making the plunge?

You have to tell me something: who told you I flirted? I didn’t know that.

Trump had around $500 million to over a billion dollars at the time. We’re not quite sure, because he’s been accused of fudging the numbers when it comes to his estimated net worth. And despite being pressed by the media to reveal his worth, he remained firm.

(Interview)
Let’s get back to the essence of your wealth for a second. If you had to liquidate, how big would that check be that you put in your pocket when you headed west for the trailer?

Well, I hate to disappoint, but I have zero idea, David. How come this seat is at such a low level? You know, I’m looking at it.

Whatever the number was, why would someone with that bankroll be tempted by such an apparent demotion? Wouldn’t the race for presidency be a distraction from more financially beneficial endeavors?

A lot of politicians—they don’t come in so wealthy. They come to the White House, and then they leave wealthy. Trump didn’t do it for the money; he had the money. So, you think that when he did it, it was just because he loved the country.

And then for him to come back a second time, after all the fake news, the slander, the impeachments, everything they’ve tried to do—it just says to me that he loves the country. Look at all he’s lost just by running for office. He’d have been much better off staying at his golf course, enjoying the life he had—the pomp and circumstance, and the respect that people gave him.

Presidents only make about $400,000 a year, which, if you’re working in a factory, seems like a lot of money. But it’s not really riches, and somehow, they come out millionaires and buy mansions on Martha’s Vineyard, like Obama did.

Trump, on the other hand, sacrificed his net worth. It went down. His family was attacked. In more recent days, he’s been attacked with trials and lawsuits and all kinds of things—unprecedented in American history.

Donald Trump is the only president that became more poor after becoming president, and I think that speaks volumes. I think he counted the cost. He knew that he didn’t need the popularity because he was already popular. That didn’t matter to him. He was investing his own money in the first election in 2016, so he wasn’t beholden to anyone.

(Trump audio)
I don’t need money, so the beautiful thing is I don’t have people giving me—I don’t owe anybody any favors.

Was it Trump’s internal drive to conquer something new, or was it as simple as desiring the spotlight on a major scale? Or is it possible that something completely outside of his own will drove Trump forward?

In the early days of Trump’s notoriety, he made his intentions clear about his political aspirations—specifically that he had none.

(Trump audio)
And you don’t want it to be Donald Trump.

I do not want it to be Donald Trump. But I do want the problems to be solved.

You know, there are a lot of people they speculate will run for president. In fact, someone said that all 100 Senators hum “Hail to the Chief” every morning when they look in the mirror, seeing if it feels right. You know, indicating that the Senators are always running for president, and every governor, etc., etc. So, I would lump Trump into that category.

The year is 1999, and Trump quietly slips into the presidential race, after much back-and-forth between running with the Reform Party under Governor Jesse Ventura’s sponsorship or under the Republican Party, where he would have to battle against then-Governor George Bush.

(Trump audio)
I am absolutely serious about conceivably running for the office of President.

He finally had enough. And I think that’s when he said, “Okay, I have to run.” I think God put something in him where he just had to do it.

(Trump audio)
If I won, I think I’d be a really good president.

He eventually chose the former, having a stronger alignment with the Reform Party, and even went so far as to propose his ideal presidential cabinet.

(Trump audio)
You have a vice presidential candidate in mind?
Oprah. Oprah would always be my first choice. She’d be fantastic. She’s popular, she’s brilliant, she’s a wonderful woman.

Yet, only convincing a mere 15,000 people to vote for him in the Reform Party’s California primary, from there on, throughout the entire probing campaign, he remained on the fence, regularly reminding the public that he wasn’t fully committed to running for president. Even though it may have looked serious, he was only exploring potential.

His exploration process concluded as the Reform Party suffered internal conflicts too great to overcome, causing Trump to reconsider his involvement.

(Trump audio)
I’m not going to be running. The party is, as you know, self-destructing.

In February of 2000, Trump officially announced his withdrawal from the presidential race, fading into the political ether while remaining at the forefront of American culture. Accusations that his political interest was a publicity stunt splattered the headlines.

(Trump audio)
They say a job like President requires a big ego. I’m not sure my ego is big enough.

(Interviewer)
That’s one of the things I can really… can I write that down?
(Trump)
You can write it down.

I don’t think Donald accepts any bad press. I think, just as long as you spell his name right, he’s pleased. I think he sees it as a help to his business because it also helps Trump the brand.

Not only did Trump gain attention, but his involvement in the Reform Party left a whirlwind behind that ultimately sent the party into irrelevant oblivion—a likely result, with or without him. Trump himself even denounced the Reform Party at the end of its demise, criticizing it as not conducive to victory.

Was Trump merely testing the waters? Could he have been planting a seed for later? Or did he really think his persona and money were enough to overcome the power of the two-party system? Either way, he suddenly pushed pause on his political career.

In 2002, a famous televangelist pastor received a surprising phone call. Her curiosity was piqued when her assistant informed her that Donald Trump was on the line. He was watching Christian television and called up and said, “Hey, you’re fantastic,” and repeated almost verbatim three of my sermons on the value of vision. A friendship formed, and a relationship—not just with Donald, but also with his staff, his family, his children, and his friends.

Moments later, she agreed to fly to New York to answer some questions and ultimately became Trump’s spiritual advisor—perhaps, for once in his life, giving Trump a small taste of what it feels like to be The Apprentice in the room.

Pastor Paula White’s story is the classic rags-to-riches tale, replete with miracles and controversy. Born in Tupelo, Missouri, in 1966, she suffered the pains of poverty and abuse. At five years old, her mother separated from her biological father, followed closely by the eventual suicide of her father. White recounts having experienced a range of abuses until her mother remarried a two-star admiral and moved the family to Washington, D.C.

At age 18, she became a Christian, claiming to have received a vision from God to head up a national ministry. Armed with this vision, she worked in the inner cities of D.C., impacting thousands of people—but not without its troubles. Throughout her ministry, she has been accused of fraud, laundering, adultery, blasphemy, and general deception. These accusations provided fuel for the rhetoric against Trump and his campaign years later.

As his advisor, televangelist White has a lot in common with Trump. Both are in their third marriage and have endured decades of moral and financial scandal. They labeled me “muddy authenticity.” I said, “Yes, I have mud on me. Some of it was thrown on me, and some of it I fell down in. But thank God for the grace of God.”

Regardless of the history, one thing is certain—with Pastor White added to the Trump equation, events unraveled that some have dared to call miraculous.

(Trump audio)
He asked his friend Paula White to get some of her preacher friends together to pray. Should he run for president? He said, “I’m not going to ask for their endorsement.” And they got together. They had a time where they talked to him, and they prayed together for several hours. This is fairly well-documented by people who were there.

Once he made up his mind in 2016 to run for presidency, there was no stopping him.

Was Trump’s partnership with Pastor White the key to his popularity with evangelicals? Why would this morally superior audience give a man like Donald Trump a pass, considering his questionable background? And what about the ones who did not give him that pass?

Unfortunately, a great divide occurred in the church at this time.

Perhaps the better question is: what key did Trump hold that unlocked the doors to a Christian America? Or did he simply open a door that was always unlocked—one that his predecessors never even bothered to try? Or was this door bolted shut by former politicians wanting to barricade American citizens from the promises of the Constitution?

Trump takes pride in overcoming challenges that appear to be impossible. Could the presidency have been the next level up from previous challenges?

I don’t remember the exact year, but when he was a businessman in New York City, they wanted to build an ice skating rink, and it took forever. There were all kinds of cost overruns and all this kind of stuff. And he got the contract, and it came in on time and under budget. He showed up the bureaucracy. He’s a leader. When he makes up his mind to do something, he actually does it.

The silent years begin. Did Trump still have a strategy in mind?

Some would say he acted like a seasoned illusionist, dangling his new 2004 reality show, The Apprentice, with one hand, while setting up his next trick with the other.

(Trump interview audio)
Do you want the court, including the justices that you will name, to overturn Roe v. Wade, which includes, in fact, states’ rights to abortion?

Well, if that would happen, because I am pro-life and I will be appointing pro-life judges, I would think that that will go back to the individual states.

During this time frame, Trump shifted sides on certain sensitive issues, most notably abortion rights.

Well, first off, in politics, we use the word “flip,” and any other time, we just talk about someone changing their mind or having a revelation. I think that’s somewhat the case here with Trump. I believe he said it was something about a family friend, and seeing someone grow up, and I think that can make quite an impression when you realize we’re not just talking about a “clump” as the left or Planned Parenthood would have you think. We’re talking about a life.

Was this political strategy or a genuine change of heart? If we wanted to be crass, we would say that answer lies between Trump and his publicist. Ultimately though, it is between Trump and God.

Well, obviously, I’m very pleased that he changed his decision to be more pro-life, and we saw from what he did in his first four years in office, the judges that he set forward were constitutional judges that upheld, or reversed, some of the bad decisions that we thought needed to take place.

(News audio)
Roe v. Wade has been widely called bad law by many people on different sides of the equation. During the era of Ronald Reagan, who was pro-life, he appointed Sandra Day O’Connor, who was pro-choice. Now we see Donald J. Trump appointing some who are supportive of the right to life, at least from a constitutional side, for the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

(Hearing audio)
These proceedings, I believe, lack legitimacy in the eyes of the people of our country. They are scared that allowing President Trump to jam this confirmation through would roll back rights for generations—scared about what it means to the future of voting rights, the climate change, and the right to a safe and legal abortion.

The Constitution says nothing about abortion—nothing. The Founding Fathers would spin in their graves to know that that was done. It should have always been according to the states. In fact, it was according to the states. There were a few states—New York allowed abortion. I know that Washington, D.C. allowed abortion. I know it’s not a state, but if you ever watch the movie Roe v. Wade, they tell the story. I was alive when that happened, but I wasn’t really aware of it. They decided to go for the big enchilada. They just knew that fighting state by state was going to take forever, so they took a chance before the Supreme Court, and it was a split decision.

So Trump put in judges that just looked at the Constitution, and they said the Constitution does not allow this.

Regardless, Trump, in some ways, began displaying Christian values. Whether real or fake, those values spoke volumes to the American Christian audience.

Was Trump working under the commandeering of a higher calling, like many presidents before him had claimed?

(Trump audio)
Millions of Americans seek guidance every day in prayer to the Almighty God. I am one of them.

Or was this simply a tactic spruced up with Christian lingo in order to sway the audience?

After a decade of tutelage under Pastor White, his stance on Christian values appeared to grow stronger and better defined. Despite his ultimate reasons behind running for office, there were those within the evangelical circles who predicted his presidency long before his official announcement. Could it be that something beyond Trump’s control, or even his comprehension, was at work?

(Prophecy audio)
Now God says, a president that I will bring into the White House, they will say, “He is ungodly.” God says, the one that is chosen shall go in, and they shall say, “He has hot blood.” Trump shall become a trumpet, says the Lord!

I found the Kim Clement prophecies, and I’m going to tell you, I was completely shocked when I heard these prophecies. I was pretty fascinated with the video of Kim Clement prophesying clearly about President Trump. And if you look at just the detail, there’s no denying that some of the detail of what he said has clearly come to pass.

The idea that someone prophesied Trump’s presidency ahead of time may sound like an extreme view to some, but you can’t deny how strange of a timeline we’re working with here. The clip you just watched was recorded in 2007—Trump didn’t even announce his campaign until 2015.

I’m going to let that sit for a while.

(Obama speech)
This week, I traveled to Chicago to deliver my final farewell address to the nation, following in the tradition of presidents before me.

The Obama era has ended. A new contender has entered the stage with ferocious opposition to core conservative values.

(Hillary audio)
I don’t think most Americans want the kind of divisive and dark change Donald Trump is offering—rolling back marriage equality, defunding Planned Parenthood.

Who could oppose such a stoic figure with this much power and leverage? And what could they possibly do to stop her from getting what she always assumed to be rightfully hers?

(Hillary audio)
Imagine him in the Oval Office, facing a real crisis. A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust.

I don’t have to tell you the difference between the left and the right. Some people are so entrenched that they never question their party or its stances. Yet, not everyone is like that.

Well, I think sometimes people are just programmed to think a certain way. A lot of times, if you ask people in that community, “Why are you voting this way?” they can’t tell you why. It’s just, “I know I’m supposed to vote Democrat.” So, when you have that kind of programming already, it’s hard to challenge that. People stick to tradition. They stick to what they’ve been taught: “Well, my dad did this. My mom did that.” If people don’t take the time to research for themselves, we know the media is full of propaganda. We know the media has a lot of agendas.

Some can still be persuaded.

(Trump debate audio)
The critical question we’re attempting to answer is: how would Trump convince the in-between crowd to lean a little bit? Could it be a socially liberal, fiscally conservative approach from Trump that would cause so many to swing their feet over to his side of the fence? Or was there something else that gave Trump a better fighting chance against a figure as big as Hillary Clinton?

There was something rare about Trump that made the difference. There’s an awful lot of people in the middle who are being won over because they don’t like the way things are going in America.

Troy Black:

So we can question and speculate—that’s what historians do after it’s over. But I personally believe that he’s a good man. I met him personally, I interviewed him. He was very respectful to me. There was no protocol that would have demanded that he do that. None. My impression was that during that interview, I had his attention, and he was respectful. I expected that he would just treat me like one more member of the press. He had never met me before, but he didn’t.

Trump took a stance as an anti-establishment figurehead. Would this last, or would he become just another illusion of choice in the charade of politics?

(News audio)
100% it’s real, there’s no doubt about it. People talk about deep state, Illuminati, Freemasons, and all of that kind of stuff. Essentially, the simplest way that I would break it down is: you’re in the good boys’ club. A perfect example—you look at what happened with Hillary Clinton. I was in the military, and how you handle classified information is important. When they subpoena her and she destroyed the cell phones and the laptops, anybody else that wasn’t in the good boys’ club probably would be in jail.

The way to prove that is whether or not someone took steps to conceal or destroy what they’ve done. That is the best evidence you have that they knew it was wrong—that they lied about it. It’s often very good evidence.

When I think of the deep state, I think of the people behind the scenes who are really puppeteering. They are the ones getting things done that they want, and it could be people inside these three-letter agencies or people in business pushing agendas. It could be Attorneys General being placed in certain states—all those sorts of things. The deep state is this behind-the-scenes cabal that is really pushing and controlling to get their agenda represented, which is ultimately moving towards more control of the people.

Donald Trump, remember, he took on regulations—something that’s usually not a campaign slogan. A lot of Americans probably haven’t ever thought about regulations, but they stop so much of what we do.

I think there was a book written about it—something like Three Felonies a Day, where it says you break laws you don’t even know exist because of all the ridiculous over-regulation from bureaucracies—not even elected officials, but unaccountable bureaucracies.

(Trump audio)
Nearly four years ago, we ended this regulatory assault on the American worker, and we launched the most dramatic regulatory relief campaign in American history, by far. No other administration has done anywhere near this.

A few years ago, I had never heard the expression “deep state.” Then when I started hearing it, we always heard it was a right-wing conspiracy or whatever. It’s kind of entered our language. And what it is, is there’s a permanent bureaucracy—they’re unelected. They work for the departments in Washington, D.C., mostly, but other parts of the country as well. They have their jobs, no matter who the president is. Things kind of go their way regardless. So, they’re unelected, doing unpopular things, and quite possibly wrong. Why should you ever give us your support?

That’s the question.

There are people we’ll never see who have a lot of money, a lot of influence, and a lot of power. They’ll never be presidents, but they actually can control governments, movements of presidents, world leaders, and financial institutions. It’s just this self-feeding thing. The Republicans don’t want to be in power because then they have no excuse for not doing what they’re doing, and if they’re not in power, they can blame the Democrats. The Democrats want to be in power because they’re pushing their agenda. So you have this group—this uni-party—working together to stay in power and to enrich themselves, not represent the interest of the people, which is what they were elected to do.

What chances did this bull in a china shop have against a polished, heavily supported career politician who already had a foot in the door? It would take a miracle, indeed, to overcome this adversary. Hillary Clinton checked every box on the political qualification list.

(Hillary audio)
It is my distinct pleasure and distinct honor to turn the microphone over to my friend, to my colleague, the 67th Secretary of State of the United States, Hillary Clinton.

Her resume practically guaranteed her seat in the White House, having spent most of her adult life in the shadow of her husband, only to be transferred to the shadow of President Obama. She was determined to step into the spotlight, and she wasn’t alone in this.

They anointed Barack Obama—they wanted to have the first black president, which is nothing wrong with that. But then, I believe that in their minds, Hillary Clinton was already anointed to be next. It was set in stone: we had a black president, now we’re going to have our first woman president. It was almost like it was a done deal—like, who’s going to run against the Clinton name?

Was the decision for Hillary to run for president the final cue for Trump to step up to the fight, just a few months later?

I think he saw signs we were heading into a very dangerous place. We’re closer to tyranny than we’ve ever been, and that’s why I think freedom allows the American dream to thrive. If you don’t have freedom, you don’t have the American dream. So, I think he’s fighting for freedom.

In April of 2015, Hillary Clinton officially launched the “I’m with Her” campaign, sending the media into a swoon over the prospect of her presidency.

(Media montage)
That’s why I’m with her. That’s why I’m with her. Are you with her?

In classic housekeeping fashion, Clinton was presented by the media as the northern star of the country’s moral compass, while sweeping a multitude of scandals under the rug. While many hopeful Republican presidential candidates kowtowed to Hillary or simply remained silent, one major player stepped out of the shadows with conviction.

It was at this moment that a distinct line was drawn, resulting in a country divided.

There are some people who will vote blue, no matter who. And there are some people so far on the left that they would never vote for Donald Trump—ever, in a million years. You know, the kind of people that say they’ll move out of the country if he’s elected.

Perhaps Trump’s previous fallout with the Reform Party was the root of the reason for his Republican campaign in 2015.

(Trump audio)
And I want to run as a Republican. I want to be the Republican candidate. I think that’s absolutely the best chance for winning.

Maybe Trump’s switch to the Republican side was an attempt to attract the larger evangelical vote. Whatever the reason, he launched his campaign in 2015 as a Republican nominee.

(Trump audio)
Delegates and fellow Americans, I humbly and gratefully accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.

While the media paraded Clinton as America’s coming savior, the general coverage of Trump spotlighted even his most trivial faults.

A lot of the bad things we think about Trump are really the other side just saying it over and over and over again. After a while, the public starts believing it.

Rather than reporting the news, it was almost as though they were writing it. Whether intentionally or not, most of the stories on both candidates were told from only one side, abandoning the true purpose of journalism. Instead of providing evidence, both favorable and critical for each candidate, the media provided a conclusion—one that they expected the audience to agree with.

And if people don’t take the time to research for themselves, we know that the media is full of propaganda. We know that the media has a lot of agendas.

Back in the day, when you were younger, the news used to just give you, well… the news. Now, you’re on your phone, with all this information coming at you fast, and people just believe what they see.

In classic mud-slinging fashion, the media honed in on Trump’s faults, attempting to prove his illegitimacy, treating him like a false outlier. However, it’s not as though he didn’t give them plenty of material to work with.

(Debate audio)
To replenish the Social Security trust fund by making sure that we… that’s a matter of principle.

(Trump audio)
You’re the single biggest liar. You probably are worse than Jeb Bush. You are the single biggest liar.

(Debate audio)
You should be worried to have someone like that in charge of the nuclear arsenal.
(Trump audio)
I never attacked him on his look, and believe me, there’s plenty of subject matter right there.

(Moderator)
You’ve called women you don’t like “fat pigs,” “dogs,” “slobs,” and “disgusting animals.”

(Trump audio)
Only Rosie O’Donnell.

No, it wasn’t.

Obviously, these are comments that some of us would prefer not to hear, or we wouldn’t want our husbands saying them. But here’s the thing—you will have in your candidate what you allow in your culture.

Before Trump ran for president, I would have never considered him a “good” person. It’s like, “Oh my goodness, I can’t believe you actually said that publicly!” But a lot of people think it privately.

Some of his behaviors, you know, obviously the Stormy Daniels thing—that doesn’t affect me, that doesn’t affect my family, it doesn’t affect my children. I’m not voting for a preacher; I’m voting for a politician. So, what I’m concerned about is the legislation you’re going to pass, because the legislation is what’s going to affect my family.

Could some of the things he said have been more polished? Could the wording have been rethought? Of course. But if we go back and look at the history of politicians in America—even with the “Make America Great Again” slogan, people try to give it a negative, racist connotation. But Bill Clinton was saying that when he ran, and people quickly forget that.

The media wanted a Clinton presidency, and they wanted the voters to believe they did as well. However, to the chagrin of the talking heads, one blatant statistic crumbled the narrative. Gallup revealed the latest poll for confidence in the media was at a staggering 32%, with only a fair amount of trust in the media. This was down 8% from the previous year and proved to be a new record low.

Because a lot of times, to get political power, you have to—you know—you’re doing favors for this person, you have to make sure this donor is happy. It’s like walking through a hallway of knives.

In politics and business, money equates to power. Following the money often reveals who truly holds influence. Political campaigns rely heavily on donations from super PACs and other sources. Most people are aware of this, but unaware of the influence and details hidden within these practices.

Figures like the infamous George Soros, the self-proclaimed philanthropist who admittedly struggles with a messiah complex, exemplify this influence. With his multi-million dollar contributions to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, Soros highlighted the significant role money plays in shaping political outcomes. In addition, it’s interesting to note the sway Soros holds over the media, with multi-millions of dollars invested into mainstream outlets that splinter into hundreds of media companies across the world. One has to wonder just how impartial the general media really is.

To top it all off, Soros annually contributes tens of millions of dollars to the Democracy PAC, without exception. Conveniently, this indirectly funds every Democrat nominee.

I was able to see through the names of media organizations that we so trusted. It was the first time I began to actually question the narratives that were being pushed. Then, I started seeing there was this whole spiderweb of things that someone had to do to get power.

You need millions upon millions—approaching billions of dollars—to get elected, especially as President of the United States. So, what happens is, the candidate essentially sells their soul to those who contributed to their campaign.

The only exception to that? Donald J. Trump.

(Trump audio)
We are going to Washington, D.C., and we are going to drain the swamp.

Fueled by desperation, the left unloaded a cacophony of allegations, ranging from the infamous “mean tweets” all the way to Russian interference. The barrage was relentless and ruthless. The unspoken rules of etiquette were broken by even the most reputable of politicians in an attempt to slander Trump’s character.

(Obama audio)
Trump, he certainly would bring some change to the White House.

(Obama)
All kidding aside, obviously we all know about your credentials and breadth of experience. For example, you live a lifestyle more wild than Donald Trump, but you’ll criticize him for his lifestyle. To me, it’s the height of hypocrisy. And I don’t mean to judge those people, I don’t even mean to criticize them. I’m just trying to say, there needs to be objectivity and a level playing field when it comes to evaluating Donald Trump.

I had a pastor come down on me about Trump’s comments, and I said to the pastor in a phone call, “Didn’t I just see you went and saw X movie? I don’t even know what movie it was at the time.”

And he said, “Yeah, I did. I loved it on Facebook.”

I said, “Tell me, wasn’t there a topless scene in that movie?”

And there was.

And here, a pastor of a church had gone to see that movie, but you’re going to ridicule this president for something he said about women? Yet, as his campaign surged, all of this didn’t seem to faze the man.

Does Trump enjoy the spotlight to a degree that even slander cannot dilute? Or does he have a card up his sleeve?

The thing is that Donald Trump, if he doesn’t like you, he’ll say so. The people who object to our values are often bullies, and Donald Trump will do something that other politicians won’t do—he stands up to the bullies.

Do you see John McCain standing up to the bullies? How about McConnell? We could go right down the list. Most of them are just nice politicians who play the game. When they’re attacked by people who oppose them, they play nice, try to placate them, and move a little bit to the left, hoping the bullies will leave them alone.

(Trump audio)
I see John McCain and Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski—Susan Collins—they joined McCain, crossing party lines to vote.

A new standard people came up with for Trump was, “Oh, look at his past; we’re not going to pay attention to that.”

I say, well, I think there’s more integrity in saying you’re going to do something and then doing it, than doing the opposite—stabbing your voters in the back, which is what a lot of politicians do. And people don’t seem to pay attention to that.

But to nail one candidate over something that may or may not have been said 15 years ago—that’s political.

As Trump swept the floor of the Republican primary house, he pulled back the rug of the Democratic cover-up, highlighting some of the crooked deals made by people intending to take him down.

(Trump audio)
The Obama administration loved spying on people’s campaigns. By the way, could you imagine if it were the other way around, and I spied on his campaign? What would these fake…

Of course, it’s well known that the Clintons are dishonest. She destroyed 30,000 subpoenas. If you and I had destroyed one subpoena, we would have been in trouble.

(Hillary audio)
What difference, at this point, does it make?

There are all kinds of claims about the Clinton Foundation being dishonest. I could go down the line.

With each new rally, the same tactic was employed: expose the corrupt and flatter the people—sometimes, to a fault.

You saw people get behind him across the nation because they were excited that someone was listening to their voice—the voice of the grassroots.

(Trump audio)
We are not merely transferring power from one administration to another, or from one party to another, but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C., and giving it back to you, the people.

One audience, in particular, shifted direction as the primaries unfolded, diverting the flow of attention toward Trump and away from the remaining Republican hopefuls, as they dissipated from the stage. Within the span of a year, many evangelical leaders transitioned from hesitant at best about Trump to decisively and publicly endorsing him.

Phyllis Schlafly was one of the first to come out and support Donald Trump, which surprised many. She said she had supported Christians and conservatives for a long time, and nothing had changed. She was one of those when feminists were fussing about whether or not you could wear lipstick in the office—she was talking about Supreme Court justices. She was an attorney; she was brilliant. She was concerned about policy in America. So for her to get behind Donald Trump was no lightweight endorsement—it shook a lot of people.

Like a trickle that turned into a flood, major spiritual leaders poured their support into Trump, bursting the dam. Whether reluctantly or passionately, the same general message of endorsement echoed across a large percentage of evangelical pulpits: Trump is God’s choice for America—a true mixture of politics and religion.

(News)
Last week, First Baptist Dallas Pastor Robert Jeffress shared a stage with the president. Jeffress was a strong Trump supporter. He is also part of the overwhelming evangelical support that helped propel the president to victory.

In response to the rapidly increasing support from the evangelical population, the media published polls that appeared to decimate Trump’s chances of gaining the White House. With each new endorsement came a new poll favoring Clinton, showing a stark contrast between statistics and rhetoric.

November dawned. With each new rally growing in attendance, every step forward on this journey to the White House stirred up another controversy aimed at Trump. If the roadblock wasn’t a personal attack on his history or character, it was a practical tactic to either throw him off course or minimize his social impact.

(Political figures)
Xenophobic, religious bigot. He doesn’t represent my party. He doesn’t represent the values that the men and women who wear the uniform are fighting for.

However, strangely enough, none of it seemed to stick. In fact, the allegations seemed to do quite the opposite.

(Supporter)
They’ve thrown everything they can at him, everything. But it’s like he’s made out of Teflon, you know? I think he’s gifted. I think he’s strong. I think some of it’s the times; he’s rising to the occasion. But I also believe that there’s a supernatural aspect to it too.

Could it be more than Trump’s winning strategy of relating to the average Joe? Is his expedient path to the Oval Office truly commandeered by a higher power?

Election night
The Clinton campaign spent a small fortune renting out the remarkable Javits Center in Manhattan, where they awaited her certain victory with suspended confetti and balloons beneath the expansive glass ceiling. Meanwhile, Republicans gathered in a nondescript and dark location, awaiting what they thought would be their demise, with grim faces—a moment that, as we now know, would turn on a dime.

Hillary supporter on election night
I believe that she will win. I believe that she will.

In an almost comical inversion, the world watched live as cheerful Clinton supporters’ smiles turned into weeping frowns. Trump supporters, meanwhile, awoke from a depressed slumber, their faces alight with surprise and revived enthusiasm.

(News audio)
And they just had cameras on all the teams—the people who set up the parties, the faces, and the surprises. And then the news media, when they heard the news that Donald Trump had won… I mean, the reactions were about as genuine and as real as you can get. They were shocked—it was an operation of shock and awe. People just could not believe it.

(Trump supporter)
I woke up that morning, and I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe that he won.

(Announcer)
Ladies and gentlemen, the next president of the United States, Donald Trump!

(Trump audio)
Thank you. Thank you. It’s been an honor. God bless. Thank you. God bless you all.

(Trump)
Somebody had to do it. I am the chosen one. Somebody had to do it.

Regardless of what one believes about the election results of 2016, history shows that Trump won by the electoral vote. Since then, many on the far left have rallied to remove the electoral process, claiming that a popular vote would better represent the American people’s decision for their president.

So why did the Founding Fathers create this unique system of the electoral vote?

(Political figure)
When it comes to the Electoral College and the popular vote, we need the Electoral College in the U.S. because if we just had a popular vote, the five major cities, or the ten major cities—all of which are liberal cities—that’s where all the presidential campaigns would go. And that’s where we would always have that kind of leader. That’s not representative of America—that’s not representative of the United States. The way the Electoral College is set up is so that they have to appeal to everybody and represent all interests.

But now we see politicians who are saying, “Oh, we need to expand the court so we can place more Supreme Court members who are of our particular ilk.” In congressional races, we need to redistrict so that those districts are more favorable to our party. And in the presidency, we need to maybe—and it’s been suggested—change the electoral system or the means by which we count votes, or allow people to vote whether they have to show ID or not.

So that’s in the discussion: changing fundamentally the way the republic has operated throughout much of its modern-day history.

(Supporter)
If you understand what our Founding Fathers experienced, and you understand what they knew about how governments can turn over time, I really feel like they put in the language to protect us and to keep in mind that they had to fight for freedom. So they knew what it was like to not be free. We’re in a generation that has never had to fight for freedom. We live in a generation that has everything at our fingertips, so we tend to get bored quickly. And since we get bored quickly, what are we doing?

Perhaps Trump connected the historical dots all the way back to the founding of America and recognized the building blocks that God-fearing men put into place at a much different time of desperation. Did Trump see the same battle cry in this country today that the Founding Fathers heralded in their time of radical challenges?

(Trump audio)
My pledge reads: I’m with you, the American people.

A cry for freedom—to reclaim the quickly fading promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Was this appeal sincere on Trump’s part, or did he simply recognize the need and use it to his advantage?

(Supporter)
This is no longer about people answering to him—this is about him answering to the people. In America, our Declaration says it: they govern at the consent of the governed. And that’s why people resonate with Trump—because he’s actually putting government back in its place.

(Trump audio)
It is time to drain the swamp in Washington, D.C.

(Supporter)
We don’t want this big, inflated thing that’s controlling everything from what’s on your dinner table to what kind of regulations you need to be able to run your business. That’s what resonates with people—getting us back to the way it should be. And whether they can articulate that or not, people have a sense, they have an intuition, that that’s the direction he’s going, and that’s the direction we need to go.

(Supporter)
It just clicks into place like a puzzle piece. And he started talking about stuff that nobody else would talk about, and people resonated with him. There was a great groundswell of support.

Regardless of what Trump may or may not have understood as he entered the Oval Office, he got to work immediately. Winning the White House was not the same as winning over the country. The outsider was now inside, where the playing field is much less visible to the public.

Because of the constant pushback from the inside players, Trump made famous the use of executive orders, using his presidential powers as his main tactic for making good on his campaign promises. This caught the attention of the media, who painted Trump as a dictator pushing his agenda through executive orders—conveniently leaving out the fact that Trump utilized this method significantly less than many of his predecessors.

Historically, Trump ranks at number 17 out of all the presidents for use of executive orders. Granted, this is only a representation of one term in office, but even doubling his number, that rank barely skims into the top 10.

So, why did Trump utilize this practice so much? What was he trying to either do or undo that caused such a ruckus?

(Supporter)
And then I saw this man use his celebrity, and use his business intuition, and he reshaped America. I’m talking about in the first year, we saw massive results. It was the first time I realized that, oh, you don’t need someone with a 40-year political record—you need someone who knows how to actually do things and do them right.

But why was this an important factor during this era in history? Recall the days of yesteryear—namely, the ’90s and early 2000s—and how easily one could refer to them as the Trump years. The American people were speaking because Donald Trump was a poster child for the American Dream.

What was so compelling about Trump that he was enshrined as the portrait of the American Dream?

(Supporter)
You know, the American Dream is one that is an aspiration for those who have fled environments where there was no opportunity to earn a better life.

(Trump audio)
There has never been a better time to start living the American Dream.

(Supporter)
My mother’s from Germany. When she came to the States, we were living in a shelter. I saw her work her way up, create her own business, and go to school.

Unfortunately, there are people in America now who think the American Dream is something different—“Go to America for the handouts. You don’t have to be accountable for it.”

(Trump audio)
To every citizen watching at home tonight, no matter where you’ve been or where you’ve come from, this is your time.

In discussing opportunity and optimism in America, and how minorities in general had less access to these ideals, the, at the time, student Barack Obama co-wrote an essay that flippantly used Trump as an example of these aspirations, claiming: “I may not be Donald Trump now, but just you wait. If I don’t make it, my children will.”

The paper was ironic—a chastisement of the American Dream.

If you work hard, then you can dream anything. If you put your mind to something, if you study and apply the discipline, you can achieve it. You can come, and if you put the work in, you’re going to see some success.

But what does a series of executive orders have to do with the American Dream? And why President Trump’s specific ones?

(Supporter)
When this country started, the founders had a plan, and that plan involved one major factor—freedom. The natural enemy of freedom is regulation.

That is all under attack today because they want to have more control. When they put healthcare into the government’s hands, we warned about insurance premiums increasing unspeakably, and they have.

No Americans should be in this situation, and that’s overregulation. That’s government.

If we let free enterprise be free, we’ll see it soar.

As the United States matured, it did so with increasing regulation. Of course, with a country expanding to the extent that the U.S. has, regulation would become more and more necessary. But how much is too much?

(Supporter)
Between the cost that it incurs to start a business—it’s almost unattainable for a lot of folks.

Ronald Reagan said this: “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.’” Because government regulations were compounding. And that was very analogous to the way it was when Donald Trump was elected. He wanted to free those regulations.

A recent poll done in January of 2024 shows a stark decline in the hope of achieving the American Dream. Confidence in the American Dream dropped from 50% in 2010 down to 27%.

Is the American Dream dead? And if so, can it be resurrected?

(Supporter)
I think God’s hand helped shape what the American Dream would look like. First of all, I think freedom is God’s idea.

(Trump audio)
You still need help from the boss. We need help from the boss. We need the help of God in freedom to keep it.

(Supporter)
Because there’s a cost for freedom, and to keep freedom alive, there’s a price tag. I think many of us have forgotten what that price tag is to maintain freedom.

If the American Dream represents the freedom to be a people of integrity and character, then perhaps it is worth resurrecting. And if it’s worth resurrecting, what does that look like?

(Supporter)
The philosophy of Donald Trump was, “No, government can’t help the people. The people need to be helped by increasing their ability to succeed in life.”

(Trump audio)
We know that families and churches, not government officials, know best how to create a strong and loving community.

And what about the state of the nation? Do we really deserve a dream of a better tomorrow to hold on to, or is it finally time to just give up on the fantasy of the American Dream because of the many mistakes we’ve made in trying to see that dream become reality?

(Supporter)
This note was a promise, that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

We have people in our country who are harping on the mistakes our country has made. If I memorialized the mistakes of my wife, it would be the end of our marriage.

If we look back through our history books and looked at our Founding Fathers, I think we might be sorely disappointed in some of their actions. But what they left us as governing documents were priceless, and set this nation on a course to be a light on a hill.

The American founders invoked our Creator four times in the Declaration of Independence. I think most of us would agree that America has always been predominantly a Christian nation, and we’ve had Christian values. Have we done everything perfectly? No. But the principles of what this country was founded on—the Bible—are what we should protect. That’s one of the things I admire about Trump: he stands up for our values.

I think when people look at someone like me who votes for Trump, they actively put these labels on someone like me. I believe that our country was founded on biblical principles that are proven throughout history to work.

Many people don’t know this about me, but my wife’s family was kicked out of a country because of politics and communism, and they were exiled from a country. I think I have a little different experience than most people do. My mother-in-law works at Walmart, when she was raised in a lap of luxury.

Wanting border control just means I want order as a whole. We want to protect our nation, and hopefully, because of border control, we’re letting the good ones in and keeping the bad ones out—the ones that want to hurt and do bad things to people.

We lock our doors at night because we don’t want people to come in who are not legally coming in. And so, we should do the same with our border.

There is a legal process, even for asylum. You come through a port of entry. We have a Congress and a government that’s willing to protect the borders of other countries, but not our own.

Trump was right to talk about this, and the left seems to have a difficulty distinguishing between legal immigration and illegal immigration.

(Supporter)
I mean, my wife immigrated from Brazil in 2015. We met in 2012, we dated for three and a half years, including engagement, and 15 trips later, she moved to the U.S. and eventually became a U.S. citizen. Absolutely, you can be pro-border control and pro-people and pro-immigration, and that is what will help America thrive. But we need to do it the right way.

(Supporter)
One of the biggest issues I have personally against Donald J. Trump is maybe a lack of sensitivity. As a Christian, as a believer, I know that we are to have compassion for all people.

Even though his language about mass deportations and things to that effect can be a little scary—and it’s a little scary to me, because some of these people are people I know, some of these people are people I love—I have compassion because I got to know them personally. But I think there’s hope. Some of it may have been a talking point, and there you have to look at what he’s done after his first term. We didn’t see some of the things he was talking about. Instead, we saw a more moderate approach.

(Trump audio)
I feel having the Democrats in with us is absolutely vital, because this should be a bipartisan bill. This should be a bill of love—it truly should be a bill of love. And we can do that, but it also has to be a bill where we’re able to secure our border. Drugs are pouring into our country at a record pace.

(Supporter)
I think he surrounded himself with some good people, like Ben Carson and others, who were speaking into him more—speaking more to those who didn’t have a voice.

Now, that being said, I think there’s still room for improvement.

(Supporter)
America is very welcoming, very open. We want people to come here. I mean, it’s a melting pot, and that is part of what makes this nation so great—the diversity of thought and all the different backgrounds that people come in with.

You meet people with just incredible stories of moving here, becoming successful in their own right, raising a family, and doing what they want to do. That’s part of the American Dream.

(Supporter)
I think somebody said that most of the Nobel Prize winners have either come from America or been educated in America. I think it’s that freedom. I think God made us creative in His image—He’s a producer.

(Supporter)
People are valuable, whether they’re here illegally or not illegally. My conservative values support that.

(Song)
I hear them say, our country’s far too gone
They even claim, our fathers got it wrong
But I won’t give up on us, and now I’ll take a stand
‘Cause we can overcome, this is not the end
I still believe in us, oh America
You’re still the land I love
Though a little bruised
The stars and stripes still cry
Liberty over evil
Over tyranny
Blood poured out for our freedom
The sacrifice did all
For this nation I still believe
This is the land I love
But we’ve got to heal her
Lady Liberty will always be
A sign of hope unto the refugee
The immigrant can find escape
From oppression to a better place
I still believe in us
I still believe in us
I still believe in us
My America
Oh America

(Supporter)
So when I wrote this song and I wrote those lyrics—”Lady Liberty will always be a sign of hope unto the refugee, the immigrant can find escape from oppression to a better place”—more than anything, that is my hope for people in general.

Our country, formed by man but inspired by biblical principles, has provided that. We’ve worked through some really difficult times and didn’t always get it right.

If we start at the good parts and memorialize the good, that’s a beginning point for healing.

(Supporter)
As a conservative, I believe we need to stand up for our rights. We have a constitutional right to vote. We have a constitutional right to change things. If we’re just passive, we may lose that.

But really, what’s important is eternity. Who’s in the White House—the kind of government we have—is not that important. Everything we see around us, someday, is going to pass away. What is important is our relationship with Jesus Christ.

(Supporter)
I believe that we need freedom so we can preach the gospel. We need to be able to tell people that Jesus is the way to God, regardless of who’s in the White House.

I don’t want people to remember me for being a conservative at all. I want them to remember me as a person who loved God and loved people. That doesn’t mean being a conservative is a bad thing—get what I’m saying here. The most important thing is that I had the likeness of Jesus, and Jesus… everybody in this world needs a person like Jesus, even if they don’t know it, because that’s what’s going to heal our world.

Well, I know people that aren’t going to vote for Trump no matter what. I have a few relatives that fall into that category, and I realize we have to agree to disagree. Hey, this is America, and, you know, as a Christian, that allows me an opportunity to show the love of Jesus.

(Troy Black)
Thanks for watching this film. I hope you enjoyed it. Since we’ve given you about half a year of our time making this film, I’m asking you to give me a few more minutes of your time. So, I know we obviously talked a lot about Donald Trump and the 2016 campaign, and in some spaces in this film, we talked about God. I want to talk to you now about what I actually believe about God, and this is actually part of the reason I made this film—to be able to share this with you.

I know there are many people watching this film who believe a lot of different things about God—whether He exists, whether He doesn’t, whether this religion is true, that religion, or whether they’re all the same. And as we go through this life, I understand that what we believe about religion and about God is probably one of the hardest decisions we have to make.

But I want to share with you the story of what God did for me over 10 years ago.

I was in college, and I was in this place in my life where I was severely depressed, severely anxious, and very isolated—alone. I felt like I had failed myself, my family, and in some senses, that I had failed God. I had this constant sense of guilt and shame hanging over my life, and it didn’t matter what I did—I couldn’t get rid of it.

As I began to read the Bible, I was still in this place of depression, anxiety, and bitter hopelessness. You know, I was getting three to four hours of sleep a night because of my emotional state. And yet, this small amount of hope began to dawn in my heart, because I started to read about this man in Scripture named Jesus Christ. And I began to read about the things He did for us at the cross. I thought, could this apply to me?

I remember one night where I was laying on the floor, praying, and doing my best to seek God, like I had read in Scripture. And suddenly, out of nowhere, this voice began to speak to me in my heart. I had never heard it before, but I knew without any doubt at all that it was the voice of God. It was the Holy Spirit. And He began to speak to me, and He said, “Troy, I love you despite your sin.”

Up to that point, I had heard people tell me, “God loves you,” but I had never truly believed it. I thought that if God was there, I would, for some reason, have to earn His love. And I thought for a while that I was doing that—and then suddenly I messed everything up, right?

The next thing He told me was, “Because I love you, I sent Jesus, the Son of God, as a man to die for your sins so that you could be forgiven right now, if you only believe in Him.”

As soon as He said that, I chose to believe it. Something happened in that moment—immediately I went from this state of depression, anxiety, anger, fear, and the heavy weight of guilt… all those things began to fall off of me. The next morning, I woke up, and all I could sense was joy. All I felt was joy and freedom, and this amazing love that I had never experienced before that.

The reason I made this film—yes, I support Donald Trump, and I believe in some of the things he’s doing, that’s part of the reason—but the other reason is so that I could share this message with you. The same God that I met that night, as I lay on the floor in my dorm room—He wants to know you as well. And He’s made a way for you to know Him, and that way is through Jesus Christ.

See, politicians—they can change some things. But when you meet Jesus, He changes everything.

Maybe four more years with someone like Donald Trump in office would be good for America. But whether you put your hope in Donald Trump returning to office, or in him never being in office again—no matter which way you go—our hopes in this world are always eventually dashed, because nothing lasts forever. But God is eternal, and He has eternal life that He wants you to be able to spend with Him.

Scripture states it this way: “This is how God shows His love to us—that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

See, sin separated us from God for eternity—that’s what the Bible clearly says. Yet, God loved us so much that He didn’t want us to be separated from Him. So, He made a way for us to be completely forgiven and to come back into His family—to know Him again. And that way is through Jesus Christ.

My friend, I’m not going to pray a prayer today or anything like that, but I want to leave you with this truth—because this is the truth that changed my life overnight. The last thing I’m asking you to do is to simply pray about this. If you’ve never read the Bible, I encourage you to read it. See what it says. See the promises for yourself.

And my friend, I know that if you respond to those promises, like I did over 10 years ago, the same God that I met that night is going to meet with you as well. Because He loves you, and He’s reaching His hand out to you—no matter where you are, no matter what your past looks like, no matter where you’ve been—He hasn’t given up on you.

So don’t give up on Him.

I hope you all enjoyed this film. Thanks for watching.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport.

View the original article here.