President Donald Trump kicked off his swank New Year’s Eve party at Mar-a-Lago by shaking down guests during a charity auction in the name of Jesus.
Trump, 79, launched his end-of-year party at his Florida resort, where guests, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara, watched Christian worship artist Vanessa Horabuena speed-paint a portrait of Jesus in 10 minutes at the pre-fireworks cocktail party.
Horabuena told her followers in a 12-minute Facebook video filmed at Mar-a-Lago that she had previously painted Christ in front of the president in the venue’s ballroom on Tuesday.
She claimed Trump sat transfixed for an hour watching her work and invited her back on Wednesday to repeat the party trick for New Year’s Eve, just at an accelerated pace.
“President Trump is making room for the presence of God to be felt and experienced in his home,” Horabuena said on her social media. “And it’s only a matter of time for that to also take place at the White House.”
After she was finished, Trump jumped on stage to auction her still-wet artwork to the highest bidder. The president also offered to sign the painting of Jesus if people would spend more.
The winning bid was for $2.75 million, to be split between St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and a local Sheriff’s Department.
Horabuena has an artistic history with the president and his MAGA movement. She painted Trump at the Liberty Inauguration Ball in January.
In July, she received the call to replace what he called “truly the worst” portrait of him that had been hanging in the Capitol building in Denver, Colorado, until he demanded its removal.
“I would much prefer not having a picture than having this one,” Trump said.
The Christian worship artist has painted portraits of Abraham Lincoln and Bob Marley in the past, usually working off photographs or drawings.
During her Facebook video, she revealed she had a “private audience” with Trump for an hour on Tuesday as he watched her create two paintings, soundtracked by her worship music.
“He was totally focused the entire time, an hour straight,” she claimed, sharing a picture of Trump watching her, which was snapped by her team.
She claimed Trump had also asked her to sit at his table on New Year’s Eve.
“The biggest thing is just knowing God touched President Trump’s heart,” she said.
Trump also previously had one of her portraits of him as his phone screensaver. “Pretty epic,” she wrote on Facebook in June. “Glad he likes it! Best President ever!
The president has been fixated with getting to heaven this year, beyond selling $99 Trump-branded Bibles that are made in China.
In August, Trump told Fox News that he had personal motivations to put an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, which he previously claimed he could end on day one of his second term.
“If I can save 7,000 people a week from being killed, I think that’s a pretty—I want to try and get to heaven if possible,” he said at the time. “I’m hearing I’m not doing well. I hear I’m really at the bottom of the totem pole. If I can get to heaven, this will be one of the reasons.”
After missing out on winning the Nobel Peace Prize, Trump said in October, “I don’t think there’s anything [that’s] going to get me in heaven. OK? I think I’m not maybe heaven-bound.”
