Beyond personal philosophy, Peale’s political orientation is also aligned with what would eventually become Trump’s. An enthusiastic supporter of the America First movement, a precursor to MAGA, Peale opposed internationalism in general and entry into World War II in particular. He later got involved in Republican politics, supporting the presidential campaigns of Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard M. Nixon, another congregant at Marble Collegiate. (Before he married off the Trumps, Peale officiated at the marriage of Nixon’s daughter, Julie, to Eisenhower’s grandson, David, in 1968.) When Nixon lost to John F. Kennedy, Peale urged his pal to embrace the power of positive thinking and run again—just as Trump did in 2024. So, while observers note that Trump has violated traditional conservative values by levying tariffs, eschewing international agreements—ranging from the Paris Climate Agreement to the World Health Organization and the Iran Nuclear Deal—and threatening to seize other countries’ territory in the name of national security, he’s actually treading on a mentor’s well-worn ideological path.
The thing is, positive thinking is necessary but not sufficient when seeking international collaboration, as in the case of convincing allies to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of global oil exports flow. “Numerous countries have told me they are on the way,” Trump said, even as one ally after another issued statements that they don’t plan to send warships to escort tankers through the strait amid Iranian bombardment. Just two weeks ago, Trump wrote on Truth Social that “[w]e no longer ‘need,’ or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance—WE NEVER DID!”
But the biggest problem with a president who believes that positive thoughts beget positive outcomes—and there are many—isn’t only that it’s total bullshit. It’s that if inflation has actually been “defeated,” if drug prices are actually down by a mathematically impossible 600%, if we really don’t need allies, and if America is winning so much that we don’t know what to do about it, then there’s no reason for the administration to do anything at all, since there are no acknowledged obstacles we need to overcome.
As the late theologian Reinhold Neibuhr—one of Peale’s biggest critics—once said, the positive-thinking movement “helps [people] feel good while they are evading the real issues of life.” A Christian realist, Neibuhr was known for his now famous Serenity Prayer, asking God for “the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
With Trump’s approval ratings hovering at historic lows, his refusal to accept reality is now manifesting itself in the SAVE Act, which would require registering voters to provide documentation of US citizenship. The legislation would disenfranchise millions of voters in the midterms and likely preserve the Republican majority in Congress—a way to save Trump from a possible third impeachment. No amount of positive thinking will allow the measure to pass in the Senate, Majority Leader John Thune acknowledged two weeks ago: “I’m the person who has to deliver sometimes the not-so-good news that the math doesn’t add up, but those are the facts, and there’s no getting around it.”
Come November, we can pray that voters will have the courage to change the things they can.
