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End-of-life chaplain reveals how Trump's near-death experience could radically change him - after Thomas Matthew Crooks' shooting attempt
Had he not shifted his head just a few inches to the right, former President Trump likely would not have survived the attempt on his life on Saturday.
In his own words, he shouldn’t be here.
How such an event might change the former President remains to be seen, but the 78-year-old has already pivoted his messaging ahead of the RNC this week, toning down his typical lambasts of the Democrats and highlighting calls for unity and civility.
Reverend Catherine Duncan is an ordained minister in Minnesota and chaplain at hospice and trauma centers. She has helped hundreds patients pass to the other side.
Based on her vast experience, Rev Duncan predicts a spiritual awakening in Trump that leads him to become more centrist in his political views.
Donald Trump was rushed by Secret Service in the seconds after shots were fired at his Pennsylvania rally on Saturday, with one bullet grazing his right ear
Rev Duncan told DailyMail.com: ‘There's a lot of chaos in the United States with the election.
'And I think that experience, I would sense, with Trump, it opens up your sense of being alive, your sense of feeling, your sense of experience, and how do you want to move forward?
‘And there's already been some rumblings politically about unity, can there be unity, and I could see Trump leaning towards a more middle way and unity among everyone.’
She added: 'This could be a significant turning point for Trump for embracing the good, embracing how we can treat each other with love and kindness and how can we find a middle way in all the chaos right now.
'I think it's a very strong message. And I think it can definitely touch people's hearts.’
Many have accused Trump of leaning into religion to gain favor with Republican voters during his first presidential run, and questioned the sincerity of his faith.
But Rev Duncan said that close brushes with death can completely alter a person’s worldview regardless of how devout they were, ‘and every one of us can change and open and choose how we live our life.’
Mr Trump’s senior campaign advisor Jason Miller told NBC the former president ‘feels very fortunate’ to be alive.
And Mr Trump said on his social media site Truth Social on Sunday that ‘it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.’
Mr Trump, pictured with his grandchildren, has reportedly taken his survival as a 'gift from god' that Rev Duncan believes will alter his path on the campaign going forward
Typically, the term ‘near-death experience’ pertains to a person’s experience when they’ve fallen victim to severe trauma, have little to no brain activity, are in deep anesthesia, or are in cardiac arrest.
Research into near-death experiences is expanding rapidly, and a recent review of the aftereffects of NDEs showed the most commonly reported effects to be a loss of fear of death, a belief of being favored by god, a reinvigorated sense of purpose, heightened self-esteem, and increased compassion for other people.
Rev Duncan was herself face to face with death in a white water rafting incident when she was thrown overboard and pulled deep underwater.
She said the ordeal ‘cracked me open. It gave me clarity of what really mattered in life and clarity and a sense of why am I really here and purpose, a sense of the preciousness of life.’
It led her to leave a lucrative job with Time Inc. and go to divinity school to become an ordained minister.
She said: ‘A lens opens about life and your perspective opens up, it changes your perspective on life.
'Many people lean towards what do I really want to do with my life and what's really important? They feel more hope, they feel more kindness. That's what I’ve witnessed a lot.’
Mr Trump’s communications since the terrifying event on Saturday suggest a renewed zeal for the divine that will likely mean more religious rhetoric on the campaign trail and potentially more support as people view this as a prime example of divine intervention.
A person who spoke with the former President on Sunday said he was almost ‘spiritual’ about his near-miss with death and felt he was ‘handed a gift from God’ by surviving.
Rev Catherine Duncan, an ordained minister and chaplain at both hospice and trauma centers, said '100 percent' that Mr Trump is 'leaning towards a more middle way and unity among everyone' after his brush with death
All of this would bolster any candidate’s messaging strength. It might as well be rocket fuel for a candidate whose primary purpose is to dismantle the status quo and make as much noise as possible while doing it.
That will likely be disquieting to Democrats, meanwhile, who have spent weeks highlighting the Heritage Foundation-authored and former Trump staffer-approved Project 2025 blueprint.
The blueprint, among other things, calls for an overhaul of the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services and mass layoffs to install Trump loyalists in regulatory positions.
Democrats are now increasingly fearful that Saturday’s proceedings will catapult him to martyr status and turbocharge the persecuted victim narrative that he has placed at the center of his campaign.
Rev Duncan said: ‘There's going to be a range, I think, of opinions based on people's faith background There might be people that are more traditional Christians that will say God saved him.
‘But the bottom line is, it was not his time. And he's been given the gift of life, I believe.’