Trump Says ‘There’s No Reason To Be Good’ – Except To Get Into Heaven

President Donald Trump offered a glimpse into his theological mindset on Monday, telling reporters, “There’s no reason to be good” – other than showing God that one is ready for “that next step,” presumably heaven.

Trump fielded questions from reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, where he declined to rule out a pardon for convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell and imagined a hypothetical scenario in which the parents of a tourist murdered in Washington, D.C. are given the bad news.

At one point, a reporter asked about a presidential prayer initiative ahead of the country’s 250th anniversary next year.

“Talk to me about both of those events and why they’re so important, particularly the prayer initiative,” the reporter said.

Trump responded:

We’re dealing – as you know – with all of the different – and not just evangelicals, Christians. We’re dealing with lots of different faiths, religions. And I felt for a long time that if a country doesn’t have religion, doesn’t have faith, doesn’t have God, it’s gonna be very hard to be a good country.

You know, there’s no reason to be good. I wanna be good because you wanna prove to God you’re good so you go to that next step, right? So, that’s very important to me. I think it’s really, very important.

In August, Trump sent a fundraising email to supporters titled, “I want to try and get to Heaven.”

“Last year I came millimeters from death when that bullet pierced through my skin. My triumphant return to the White House was never supposed to happen!” the email stated, referring to the assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania last year. “But I believe that God saved me for one reason: TO MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”