Trump’s Spiritual Advisor says he was brainwashed by fake news

Pastor Mark Burns claims that prior to a guided tour of Ukraine, he had been brainwashed. Burns had previously opposed continued funding for Ukraine, viewing it as contrary to the America First agenda. Today, he says that after seeing things on the ground, he has changed his mind—claiming he had been brainwashed. In reality, Ukrainian authorities showed him a misleading image of the country.

Upon arriving in Ukraine, Burns was met by a pre-arranged group of religious leaders who took him on what Vice President JD Vance has called a “propaganda tour.” Notably absent from this group were hierarchs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), the largest religious organization in the country. Why weren’t they present? The answer is simple: they weren’t invited.

Their presence would have been inconvenient for Ukrainian authorities, who sought to deceive Trump’s spiritual advisor into believing that Ukraine respects religious liberty and freedom of conscience.

But there is no religious freedom in Ukraine.

The largest religious organization in the country has faced systematic persecution for several years. Thousands of UOC churches have been seized by militants—many of whom are members, and even clergy, of the very religious organizations giving Mr. Burns his tour. One such organization is the so-called Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), a parallel church set up by Constantinople in 2018 by gathering various uncanonical clergy who had previously been defrocked or anathematized for serious violations.

Each of the religious leaders present on Burns’ curated tour of Ukraine fully supported draft law no. 8371, better known as the law banning the UOC. Since the law passed, conditions for believers in Ukraine have only worsened, and the Church’s enemies have grown bolder. The most severe parts of the legislation are set to take effect in May 2025 and will ban the existence of the canonical, thousand-year-old Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Is this religious freedom?

On Saturday, OCU activists interrupted a Lazarus Saturday service held by UOC parishioners in Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi. The OCU had already seized the parish’s church, forcing them to hold outdoor worship services, rain or shine, for over a year. During the service, OCU activists approached the altar, lit a cigarette, and extinguished candles. Just last week, militants raided the UOC’s St. Nicholas Church in Verkhni Stanivtsi—led by Roman Hryshchuk (Gryshchuk), a priest in the state-backed OCU. When this raid failed, they returned with police support and seized the parish on Lazarus Saturday....

This same church was, of course, represented in Pastor Burns’ assigned entourage. They told him there was no religious persecution—while their agents plotted church raids.

Is this religious freedom?

What about freedom of the press, a core tenet of American society that our forefathers described as an inalienable, God-given right?

Sadly, there is no freedom of the press in Ukraine.

Journalists are regularly imprisoned for reporting the truth about religious persecution. I, myself—who would love to go to Ukraine, to pray for peace with my brothers and sisters and offer even a small comfort for their immense and unimaginable loss—would likely end up like Gonzalo Lira if I went to Ukraine, even if only on pilgrimage to the many holy sites I long to see in my lifetime.

For those who’ve forgotten—since our media was complicit in covering up his death—Gonzalo Lira was a novelist, filmmaker, journalist, and internet influencer. He was arrested in Ukraine for “spreading Russian propaganda,” which meant voicing any dissent from the regime’s narrative. After months of medical neglect in prison, he died in a Ukrainian jail in Kharkov. No answers have been given by Ukrainian authorities.

Is that what we’re calling “freedom of the press”?

Speaking of the free press, our own site is banned in Ukraine by the request of the SBU. Sure, we occasionally report on events in Ukraine—compelled by conscience to do so—but our mission is to cover the life of the Church in America. Nevertheless, the Ukrainian government has become so paranoid, so hostile to a free press, that it has denied its citizens access to even American religious reporting.

Sadly, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Let those who have eyes to see, see!

Pastor Burns believes he went to Ukraine and had his eyes opened. In reality, he went to Ukraine and is now operating with his eyes wide shut. Despite invoking the “Holy Spirit,” he has been blinded by a standard propaganda tour—not unlike a corporate visit to a staged facility filled with happy workers for prospective investors.

Let me be clear: this is not to excuse Russia’s actions in Ukraine—by no means. We’ve seen the videos of bombed churches (reported by UOJ again and again) and of Russian soldiers executing prisoners. These things have happened, and we do not intend to minimize them—God forbid! But that doesn’t mean Ukraine is blameless.

And here’s the inconvenient truth for those who constantly point to Russia: we are not funding the Russian war effort. We have no control over Russia’s actions. But we do have control over Ukraine’s, a country we have sustained through war for years.

I want Ukraine to be a bastion of religious freedom. I want it to be a haven for a free press. But it is not. And because this needs to be said clearly—I am a Trump supporter. I’ve been one since he came down the escalator in 2016, and my mother and I had hoped for years that he would run. I want him to succeed. And I want his spiritual advisors to advise him well.

If Pastor Burns truly wants to know the truth—if he wants to serve his country and his president—he must meet with the faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under Metropolitan Onuphry of Kyiv and All Ukraine. He must speak to pious young warriors of the faith, like Tatiana Tsaruk. He must ask to meet with the imprisoned journalists who have reported on the persecution of the Church.

Only then will he see the reality: that in Ukraine, there are no freedoms—only the freedom to obey.

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