{"id":75,"date":"2026-05-27T08:40:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T08:40:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?p=75"},"modified":"2026-05-27T08:40:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T08:40:50","slug":"meet-the-maga-world-pastor-who-is-trying-to-convert-trump-on-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?p=75","title":{"rendered":"Meet the MAGA world pastor who is trying to convert Trump on Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

New battle lines are being drawn over what \u201cAmerica First\u201d actually means, and Pastor Mark Burns has planted his flag on the side nobody saw coming.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Susie Wiles is Trump\u2019s perfect enabler-in-chief<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s unofficial spiritual advisor is now meeting regularly with the State Department, pushing secondary sanctions on Russian oil and telling anyone who will listen that supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia is actually an America First position.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The televangelist-turned-Trump confidante didn\u2019t plan to become Ukraine\u2019s most unlikely champion. He once believed the Russian talking points, appearing on every media outlet that would have him arguing\u00a0against U.S. involvement in the country. But after befriending Ukraine\u2019s chief rabbi, Moshe Azman, Burns visited Kyiv earlier this year, where he witnessed firsthand the devastation wrought by the war.<\/p>\n

Now, Burns is pointing fingers at the conservative media ecosystem that helped shape much of MAGA\u2019s views on the war. Calling out Tucker Carlson, Fox News and the anti-Ukraine chorus of right-wing voices, Burns spoke in an interview of his past conviction that Ukraine was a Nazi-harboring, racist regime that persecuted Christians and was undeserving of American support.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That was all a lie, Burns now says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI believed the hype when they said Ukraine does not allow religious freedoms to happen\u2026I believed that Russians were conservatives and believed in the conservative movement in America \u2013 all of that is a lie,\u201d he told MS NOW.<\/p>\n

Before his Ukraine conversion, Burns struck up a relationship with Trump in 2015 when he was invited to Trump Tower with other evangelical leaders to discuss Trump\u2019s first presidential bid. Burns quickly became a campaign surrogate, electrifying crowds at rallies across the country with his sermon-like speeches.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The pastor, who founded the Now TV Network for Christians, was then tapped to serve on the campaign\u2019s evangelical advisory board. His trajectory to unofficial \u201cspiritual diplomat,\u201d as he calls it, following several failed congressional bids in South Carolina, has kept him at the fringes of Trumpworld, one of the figures with varying influence on the president who is outside of the formal chain of command.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not traveling as an official government emissary, but Burns says he\u2019s in frequent touch with the State Department about Ukraine. He has not spoken directly with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was among the American negotiators who met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday to discuss the latest peace proposal, or Steve Witkoff, Trump\u2019s special envoy who is deeply involved in efforts to broker peace.<\/p>\n

The White House and the State Department did not respond to request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unlike most MAGA acolytes, Burns finds himself at odds with Trump on one of the most consequential foreign policy questions of the moment.\u00a0Administration figures sympathetic to Ukraine are dwindling: Trump\u2019s special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, is set to leave his post next year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Burns\u2019s Ukraine awakening started with his\u00a0 spring visit to the country, which took place shortly after the explosive Oval Office showdown between Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Zelenskyy. The pastor said the trip left him near tears as he toured flattened sites, saw\u00a0 evidence of what he described as Russian atrocities and heard harrowing testimony from religious leaders. He also felt remorse and regret for taking part in the campaign to amplify Russian narratives about the war and criticisms of Ukraine aid.<\/p>\n

Read more Stephen Miller\u2019s push to attack alleged drug boats is primed to backfire<\/a><\/p>\n

Burns started flooding Trump with images and reports from the ground. \u201cI was sending him everything that I can see, and every image that I could see \u2013 and this is what\u2019s really happening. These things are not showing up on Fox News,\u201d Burns explained.<\/p>\n

Since that trip, Burns has privately and publicly called on Trump to supply Ukraine with weapons. And after the release of the recent 28-point peace plan that echoed Russian talking points, Burns said he told Trump he \u201cdisagreed\u201d with a proposal he viewed as \u201ccapitulating to Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the Trump administration seems committed to pulling back from Ukraine, ramping up pressure on Zelenskyy to accept a plan that calls for Ukraine to withdraw from territory in the eastern Donbas region. Last week, in a document known as the, the administration stated the need for an \u201cexpeditious\u201d peace deal, the re-establishment of \u201cstrategic stability with Russia,\u201d and a retreat from European security interests.<\/p>\n

Burns\u2019 work for Ukraine was recognized this week by the U.S.-Ukraine foundation, a non-profit that advocates for close ties between the two countries. The way Burns sees it, support for Ukraine is an America First policy: arm Ukraine now, or risk sending American soldiers to fight a third World War in Europe at a later date, if Russian President Vladimir Putin triggers NATO\u2019s mutual defense clause. It\u2019s essentially the same argument establishment Republicans have made for decades about containing and deterring foreign adversaries \u2013 a worldview that Trump explicitly ran against.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Burns\u2019 advocacy has started to extend beyond military aid to what he has described as a moral crisis that has also put him at odds with another one of the administration\u2019s policies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He\u2019s now lobbying State on behalf of Ukrainians refugees who came to the U.S. legally to flee the war and are facing deportation as their visas expire and the Biden-era immigration program has been paused. Burns told MS NOW he met with State Department staff about the issue this week as roughly 260,000 people who fled the war and now live in the U.S. are in legal limbo, according to Reuters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a moral obligation to support the people \u2013 those who have entered into our nation legally,\u201d Burns said.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cLocked up by ICE? This doesn\u2019t make any sense to me,\u201d Burns added. \u201cThey left with nothing. Many came here with just their book bag,\u201d he said. \u201cNow many can\u2019t work and their visas are expiring. There\u2019s no renewing these applications. It\u2019s a 911 situation that is a moral obligation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Trump\u2019s pardon spree is doing real harm to real people<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mark Burns serves as an informal spiritual advisor to the president and he has a mission: debunk the conservative media’s wrong, he says, narrative on Ukraine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":74,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nMeet the MAGA world pastor who is trying to convert Trump on Ukraine - Long Distance Movers USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?p=75\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meet the MAGA world pastor who is trying to convert Trump on Ukraine - Long Distance Movers USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mark Burns serves as an informal spiritual advisor to the president and he has a mission: debunk the conservative media's wrong, he says, narrative on Ukraine.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?p=75\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Long Distance Movers USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-27T08:40:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/?p=75#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/?p=75\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0206dfa2bde56a4792f75b5b97027e43\"},\"headline\":\"Meet the MAGA world pastor who is trying to convert Trump on Ukraine\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-27T08:40:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/?p=75\"},\"wordCount\":1041,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/?p=75#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/0b91a277556b5a5833e8df0916038522.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"US\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/?p=75#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/?p=75\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/?p=75\",\"name\":\"Meet the MAGA world pastor who is trying to convert Trump on Ukraine - Long Distance Movers USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/?p=75#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/?p=75#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/0b91a277556b5a5833e8df0916038522.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-27T08:40:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0206dfa2bde56a4792f75b5b97027e43\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/?p=75#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/?p=75\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/?p=75#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/0b91a277556b5a5833e8df0916038522.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/0b91a277556b5a5833e8df0916038522.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/?p=75#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Meet the MAGA world pastor who is trying to convert Trump on Ukraine\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Long Distance Movers USA\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0206dfa2bde56a4792f75b5b97027e43\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/longdistancemoversusas.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Meet the MAGA world pastor who is trying to convert Trump on Ukraine - Long Distance Movers USA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?p=75","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Meet the MAGA world pastor who is trying to convert Trump on Ukraine - Long Distance Movers USA","og_description":"Mark Burns serves as an informal spiritual advisor to the president and he has a mission: debunk the conservative media's wrong, he says, narrative on Ukraine.","og_url":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?p=75","og_site_name":"Long Distance Movers USA","article_published_time":"2026-05-27T08:40:50+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?p=75#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?p=75"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0206dfa2bde56a4792f75b5b97027e43"},"headline":"Meet the MAGA world pastor who is trying to convert Trump on Ukraine","datePublished":"2026-05-27T08:40:50+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?p=75"},"wordCount":1041,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?p=75#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0b91a277556b5a5833e8df0916038522.webp","articleSection":["US"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?p=75#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?p=75","url":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?p=75","name":"Meet the MAGA world pastor who is trying to convert Trump on Ukraine - Long Distance Movers USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?p=75#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?p=75#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0b91a277556b5a5833e8df0916038522.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-27T08:40:50+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0206dfa2bde56a4792f75b5b97027e43"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?p=75#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?p=75"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?p=75#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0b91a277556b5a5833e8df0916038522.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0b91a277556b5a5833e8df0916038522.webp","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?p=75#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Meet the MAGA world pastor who is trying to convert Trump on Ukraine"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/","name":"Long Distance Movers USA","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0206dfa2bde56a4792f75b5b97027e43","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com"],"url":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=75"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/74"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=75"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=75"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/longdistancemoversusas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=75"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}