Trump Rings in 2026 by ‘Auctioning Jesus’ at Mar-a-Lago Gala

At his glittering New Year’s Eve bash in Palm Beach, President Donald Trump found a way to turn religion into revenue — literally auctioning off a painting of Jesus to his wealthy guests at Mar-a-Lago.

The 79-year-old president hosted an extravagant year-end gala that blended politics, piety, and profit. The night featured Christian “speed painter” Vanessa Horabuena, who wowed the crowd by completing a portrait of Christ in under ten minutes before fireworks lit up the Florida sky.

Trump, who recently began promoting $99 “Trump Bibles” made in China, took the stage afterward and turned the performance into an impromptu charity auction. He promised to autograph the still-wet painting of Jesus if guests drove up their bids. The final price: a staggering $2.75 million, to be split between St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and a Florida sheriff’s office.

“It was surreal,” said one attendee, describing the scene as “part revival, part fundraiser, and part campaign commercial.”

Horabuena, who calls herself a Christian worship artist, later told her followers that Trump “made room for the presence of God to be felt in his home.” She claimed the president watched her paint for an hour earlier in the week and invited her back for New Year’s Eve.

“He was totally focused,” she said in a Facebook Live video filmed inside Mar-a-Lago. “I believe God touched President Trump’s heart. It’s only a matter of time before that presence reaches the White House.”

The painter, who has previously created portraits of Abraham Lincoln, Bob Marley, and Trump himself, has become a minor celebrity in MAGA circles. Last year, she replaced what Trump derided as “the worst painting ever” of him in the Colorado state Capitol.

Trump’s fascination with faith has intensified since returning to the Oval Office. In recent months, he’s been uncharacteristically candid about his own spiritual anxieties.

“If I can save 7,000 people a week from being killed, I think that’s a pretty good thing — I want to try and get to heaven if possible,” Trump told Fox News in August, referencing the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. “I hear I’m really at the bottom of the totem pole.”

After losing out on the Nobel Peace Prize in October, he joked, “I don’t think there’s anything that’s going to get me in heaven. Maybe I’m not heaven-bound.”

Still, at Mar-a-Lago, the president appeared eager to mix salvation with showmanship. Between photo ops with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and First Lady Melania Trump, he presided over the auction with his trademark grin — a billionaire playing preacher for the night.

Critics say it’s the latest example of Trump’s unique ability to turn devotion into dollars. But to his loyalists, it was divine theater.

“He’s giving people hope and giving back,” said one supporter. “If Jesus can be painted and sold for a cause — why not? It’s Trump doing God’s work, in his own way.”