Donald Trump’s one-time spiritual advisor has made a sharp U-turn on Ukraine—and is now urging the president to support the war-stricken country with military aid.
Pastor Mark Burns, who Time magazine called “Trump’s Top Pastor” during the run-up to the 2016 election, has backtracked on his previous support for the president’s decision to discontinue aid to Ukraine. The European country has been fighting off a Russian invasion since February 2022.
The televangelist, who founded the Now TV Network for Christians, said he had changed his mind after traveling to Ukraine to see the situation on the ground for himself. He claims he had previously been “brainwashed by fake news” against Ukraine and said he now realises that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “pure evil.”
Newsweek has reached out by email to the White House seeking comment on Burns’ new stance on the issue.
Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
Why It Matters
Burns’ comments come amid a debate among the upper echelons of Trump’s administration about the aid being issued to Ukraine.
Trump shocked the world last month with his plan to pause and review the help that the U.S. has been sending to its long-time ally. He made the decision shortly after a heated clash with President Volodomyr Zelensky in front of White House reporters in February, which saw Trump and Vice President JD Vance berate the leader for not saying “thank you” enough during the meeting and for failing to prevent the invasion in the first place.
What To Know
European leaders, who have also been sending military aid to Ukraine, have been left shaken that Trump appears to be ripping up America’s relationship with the continent, despite the threat of Russian aggression. Worried officials from the UK and the EU are set to hold a security summit next month as they scramble to scale up their own defense capabilities, Financial Times reported.
But isolationist Trump supporters, including his followers in the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, have backed the move to pause Ukraine support, arguing that taxpayers’ cash should not, in effect, be sent abroad to finance a foreign war.
Burns himself had previously backed Trump’s decision to suspend aid to Ukraine.
The pastor shared a clip on his Instagram page from the infamous February meeting in which Vance branded Zelensky “disrespectful,” with a caption apparently gloating at the wartime leader’s treatment. “Zelensky kicked out of the oval office!” Burns said. “Welcome to Trump America! This isn’t Joe Biden‘s weak America. Just like President Trump, we all want this senseless war to end immediately. President Trump is trying to prevent WW3.”
But now, Burns is backtracking on his previous opinion and is issuing new advice to Trump.
On April 6, Burns posted on social media site X (formerly Twitter) to say: “Ukrainian soldiers aren’t asking for American money. They are asking for American weapons….but more importantly, they are asking for peace. 20k children kidnapped to Russia, 700 religious buildings destroyed, civilians killed at the hands of Russians… Schools bombed. Remember, Russia attacked Ukraine… this needs to end now, and President @realDonaldTrump is the only one who can do it…”
He also shared footage of an interview he gave to News Nation in which he shared the same sentiments and described seeing the devastation in Ukraine firsthand.
Ukrainian soldiers aren’t asking for American money. They are asking for American weapons….but more importantly, they are asking for peace.
20k children kidnapped to Russia, 700 religious buildings destroyed, civilians killed at the hands of Russians… Schools bombed…. pic.twitter.com/jpR8FkqhmF
— Pastor Mark Burns (@pastormarkburns) April 4, 2025
What People Are Saying
In an interview with the Kyiv Independent news website on April 9, Pastor Mark Burns said: “I now believe that supporting Ukraine is America first.” He added: “Obviously being on the ground in Ukraine has changed my opinion significantly. I am on record as being one of the staunch opponents of supporting Ukraine. But it took me being in Kyiv, being at Bucha, seeing the atrocities that have taken place […] I am still a staunch supporter of who I believe is the greatest president in my lifetime — President Donald Trump. And so my support for Ukraine is not a stab at him, but a call to every Republican, every conservative, every American, and those around the world who, like me, have been brainwashed by fake news media about Ukraine.”
When asked to describe what he thought of Putin, he said: “Evil, pure evil.”
Burns acknowledged his U-turn may damage his standing at home, saying: “This may politically kill me, and I could care less. I don’t care. It’s not about what’s popular, it’s about what is right. He also expressed humility at what he sees as his previous error of judgment. “I was wrong,” he said. “And the power of the cross teaches me to admit when you’re wrong, to have a humbled heart, and to say ‘I was wrong.'”
He added: “Nobody paid me to go to Ukraine. I paid for my own tickets to get to Ukraine. Nobody brought me there with the hope that I would communicate their message. This is simply human beings being destroyed at the hands of the Russians, and that’s why my heart has become now a staunch supporter of supporting Ukraine. I’m now echoing this message at the highest levels of government in the United States and around the world — that we need to get behind Ukraine. Russia is the aggressor.”
U.S. President Donald Trump previously criticised Zelensky when he suggested Putin could not be trusted, telling the Ukrainian leader in February that he was “gambling with World War Three.” However, Trump now appears as though he may be coming around to Zelensky’s way of thinking, after growing frustrated with Putin for dragging his heels over a ceasefire deal.
Trump told NBC News’ Meet the Press host Kristen Welker on Sunday that he was “very angry” and “pissed off” with Putin’s manoeuvring and said he was considering putting secondary tariffs on Russian oil, that would mean “if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States.” And on Saturday, he posted online to say: “Russia has to get moving. Too many people [are] DYING, thousands a week, in a terrible and senseless war.”
What Happens Next
Burns will be hoping to change Trump’s mind in a bid to get U.S. aid to Ukraine reinstated in order to help the country repel Russian advances.
In the meantime, talks on a ceasefire are still ongoing.