On a December 4 episode of The George Janko Show, pastor Stuart Knechtle claimed he spoke with Barron by phone late one night and that the US president’s son went from being a sceptic to nearly accepting Christianity.
“He’s very close to putting his faith in Christ, very close,” said Knechtle, who has millions of followers on TikTok and Instagram.
He said that telling Barron about a friend’s missionary work in Africa, where he claims converts received divine revelations, helped persuade the 19-year-old Trump.
“He was like, ‘Oh, that’s a very, very interesting point. And you have eyewitness testimony.’”
I’ll never forget Baron coming back saying: ‘Dad, that guy’s great’
It is unclear when this alleged conversation took place or if Barron and Knechtle have ever met or spoken with each other.Knechtle and his father, Cliffe, who is also a pastor, have appeared in high-profile conservative circles in the past.
Cliffe was a recent guest on Tucker Carlson’s show, and both Knechtles prayed on behalf of Donald Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign.
Barron, who lives at the White House and attends second-year classes at NYU’s Washington campus, was a fan of evangelical activist Charlie Kirk.
“I’ll never forget Baron coming back saying: ‘Dad, that guy’s great,’” Trump said after Kirk was assassinated earlier this year. “You know, normally he’s not full of praise. Now, he was very hurt when he saw news of Kirk’s death, but, I mean, everybody was.”
The American president has credited his son with connecting his 2024 campaign to various right-leaning podcasts and social media streams that may have helped tip the election in Trump’s favour by attracting young male voters.
An estimated 81pc of US white evangelicals backed Trump’s 2024 campaign.
More broadly, Protestants made up a 54pc majority of Trump voters, according to the Pew Research Centre.
Overall, roughly 80pc of Trump voters identify as Christian.
Up to one-third of Americans think the 2024 election result was ordained by God, according to a poll in October.