Trump's Ex-Wife Reveals President Kept Kabbalistic Text Close To His Heart For "Protection And Healing"

Marla Maples interview with Israeli media highlights the reverence Trump has for Kabbalah.

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Although President Donald J. Trump declared his longstanding affinity for the Jewish people and State of Israel far before he entered into the political arena, his entrenchment with Zionism has become the defining feature of his second term in the Oval Office. That position has also become the focal point for criticism of the second Trump administration, as critics — many of whom were once his most loyal supporters — have come to question whether the president is intent on putting America or Israel first. That doubt has raised questions that transcend far beyond political concerns into deeper, more philosophical and spiritual realms. One glaring red flag that perfectly distills those questions was observed on the date of Trump’s second inauguration, when he elected not to place his hand upon the Bible when he was sworn in as president. According to an interview with Israeli media, Trump’s former mistress turned ex-wife revealed that decision may have been made because the president keeps another holy book closer to his heart.

Marla Maples, Trump’s second wife, told Israeli Channel 12 news that the president keeps an Aramaic copy of the Book of Pinchas under his clothing close to his heart for “healing and protection.” The portion of the Book of Numbers (specifically, Numbers 25:10-30:1) is distributed among Kabbalistic sects in the Aramaic text Maples referred to Trump’s copy being as an apotropaic talisman. Centered on the biblical figure Pinchas, the son of Eleazar and grandson of the High Priest Aaron, the book is a highly revered section from the Zohar, the foundational text of the preeminent branch of Jewish mysticism known as Kabbalah.

In her interview with Channel 12, Maples described her own deep affinity for Judaism, its mystical elements such as Kabbalah, and the State of Israel, despite maintaining the outward appearance of a Christian identity. The experiences and practices that Maples detailed from her own life drew stark parallels with that of Trump and his family’s, including maintaining a kosher diet, reciting the Shema as a declaration of the Jewish faith, visiting the graves of exalted Jewish religious figures, observing the Sabbath, and frequently visiting Israel.

When recounting the ties to Judaism she has maintained for decades, Maples made note of visiting the city of Safed in northern Israel. In addition to being one of Judaism’s Four Holy Cities — alongside Jerusalem, Hebron, and Tiberias — Safed is the historical center of Kabbalah. Its status as the epicenter of Kabbalah arose during the 16th century, when it became home to central figures of the branch of Jewish mysticism like Moses Cordovero and, most notably, Isaac Luria, the father of its contemporary practice, which has become known as Lurianic Kabbalah. Luria’s influence on Kabbalah was so profound that he became known as “Arizal,” which in Hebrew translates to “Lion of God,” based on the Hebrew words “El” (meaning God) and “Ari” (meaning lion). Following his death in 1572, Luria was buried in the Safed Old Jewish Cemetery on the lower hillside of the city. His grave has since become a major pilgrimage site for Kabbalists.

Trump’s ex-wife is not the only figure in his life who maintains reverence for Kabbalah. Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, who has held various high-ranking advisory roles in each of his presidential administrations, is a member of the Haredi sect of Judaism known as Chabad-Lubavitch. Chabad arose as a Hasidic dynasty in 1775 by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi in Liozno, then part of the Russian Empire. The sect is inherently Kabbalistic, taking its name from an acronym representing the first three Sephirot of the Tree of Life: Chokmah, Binah, and Da’at. Ivanka Trump, the president’s oldest daughter, converted to Judaism in order to marry Kushner and regularly attends Chabad-run congregations as a practicing Jew. She has also regularly been seen adorned with a red string bracelet on her wrist, another popular apotropaic talisman worn by Kabbalists.

Maples detailed how Ivanka Trump’s conversion was a monumental force in further immersing the president into world Jewry, which she expressed has helped shape her ex-husband’s spiritual and consequently political identity. The influence of that immersion into Judaism has been echoed by fervent ultra-Zionist supporters of Trump, such as political commentator Mark Levin, who has referred to Trump as the U.S. “first Jewish president” on multiple occasions. Trump himself reinforced that image by making his undying commitment to Israel and the Jewish people explicit, wasting no opportunity to reiterate it during his second term as president.

That commitment has come to undermine Trump’s second term, which continues to be mired by its war with Iran, which senior officials in his administration have consistently justified as necessary to defending Israel and maintaining the U.S. allegiance with the Jewish state. Prioritizing that relationship has led to upheaval among Trump’s supporters, who have come to mock his presidency as being Israel First instead of following through on the America First platform it built itself upon. That growing disdain has become amplified by the continued presence of Kushner within his administration, whose overt identity as a member of Chabad and an unflinching ally of Israel has raised further questions behind the motives driving the work in his role as an informal special envoy in deliberations between the U.S. and Iran.

Within the Chabad-Lubavitch, many of its followers have come to believe that its seventh Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson was the Moschiach — Judaism’s long-awaited Messiah. On October 7th, 2024, Trump visited Schneerson's grave in Queens, New York to pay his respects alongside ultra-Zionist conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro to mark the first anniversary of Hamas' October 7th, 2023 attack on Israel. That belief shaping sects of modern Kabbalistic thought raises questions on how their belief that the Messianic Age has arisen shapes their political aims and how those motives influence the Trump administration through advisors ingrained in Chabad like Kushner. As the second Trump administration has made the U.S. impossible to separate from Israel, it appears the spiritual influence Judaism and its mystical elements like Kabbalah have had on the president are equally impossible to separate from the forces shaping his leadership.