Donald Trump Christian faith: Presbyterian and proud

U.S. Republican presidential candidate, real estate mogul and TV personality Donald Trump, blames President Barack Obama for not doing to improve the lives of African-Americans in the U.S. during his presidency.Reuters/Brendan McDermid

Donald Trump (69): The business mogul and reality TV star launched his campaign on June 16 and in his speech declared his $8.7 billion net worth as well as promising to be "the greatest jobs president that God ever created".

Trump is a Presbyterian "and proud of it", despite numerous reports that he is Catholic or a member of the Dutch Reformed Church. In a 2011 interview with CBN's The Brody File when he was considering making a 2012 presidential bid, he said: "I believe in God. I am Christian. I think the Bible is certainly, it is THE book. It is the thing."

And he's so concerned about the Bible that he daren't throw away any of the ones that he is given. (He gets sent a lot.) "There's no way I would ever throw anything, to do anything negative to a Bible... I would have a fear of doing something other than very positive so actually I store them and keep them and sometimes give them away to other people."

He said he used to attend First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens, and now goes to church "as much as I can. Always on Christmas. Always on Easter. Always when there's a major occasion. And during the Sundays. I'm a Sunday church person."

His political allegiance has changed numerous times over the year and he has contributed financially to both Republican and Democrat campaigns over the years. He was listed on the Reform Party primary ballot in 1999, joined the Democrats in 2001, was registered an independent in 2011, before settling with the GOP again in 2012.

Even so, he emphasises his commitment to conservative values. In 2013 he said his views on gay marriage are changing but he remains in favour of traditional marriage. "I think I'm evolving, and I think I'm a very fair person, but I have been for traditional marriage. I am for traditional marriage, I am for a marriage between a man and a woman." Trump has also said that he is now pro-life, partly as a result of seeing friends who were going to abort a pregnancy but decided to keep the child.

In an interview with CBN news he said that he thinks Christians are discriminated against in US immigration. "If you're a Christian living in Syria, you can't come into this country, and yet if you're a Muslim living in Syria, who are not under attack, they can come in... If you're from Europe and a Muslim you can come in, but if you're from Europe and a Christian you can't come in... The Christians are being treated horribly because we have nobody to represent the Christians. Believe me... if I win I will be the greatest representative of the Christians that they have had in a long time."