In late August 2025, a fundraising email from U.S. President Donald Trump drew widespread attention after it opened with the striking line: “I want to try and get to heaven.”
The message, sent from Trump’s political action committee Never Surrender, Inc., asked supporters for $15 donations while invoking his near-death experience during the July 2024 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. The unusual phrasing, paired with appeals for cash, was quickly circulated across social media platforms, sparking debate and fact-checking.
Readers alerted fact-checking site Snopes, while users also searched the site for confirmation of the email’s authenticity. One X (formerly Twitter) user posted a screenshot of the message with the comment: “Trump sent out an email at 8 am this morning saying ‘I want to try and get to heaven.’ Pretty weird to send out when you’re trying to reassure people that you’re healthy!”
The timing coincided with the Labor Day weekend, when false rumors of Trump’s death were already gaining traction online. Multiple screenshots and the archive site PoliticalEmails.org confirmed that the email was genuine, showing it had been distributed on three dates: August 23, August 25, and September 2.
The email was sent from contact@win.donaldjtrump.com, a domain owned by Trump, and carried the official disclaimer “Paid by Never Surrender, Inc.” Earlier reporting by Politico had identified Never Surrender as Trump’s primary leadership PAC.
Trump had also used the same “get to heaven” phrase days earlier, during an August 19 phone interview with Fox & Friends. While discussing global conflicts such as the Russia-Ukraine war, he said:
“If I can save 7,000 people a week from being killed, I think that’s a pretty… I want to try and get to heaven, if possible. I’m hearing I’m not doing well. I mean, I’m really at the bottom of the totem pole. But if I can get to heaven, this will be one of the reasons.”
The fundraising email itself — reproduced below in full — contained the same religious imagery alongside longstanding claims of election fraud and calls for continued financial support.
Full Text of Trump Fundraising Email
“Friend, I want to try and get to Heaven. Last year I came millimetres from death when that bullet pierced through my skin. My triumphant return to the White House was never supposed to happen! But I believe that God saved me for one reason: TO MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
“I wasn’t supposed to beat Crooked Hillary in 2016 — but I did.
“I wasn’t supposed to secure the border & build the greatest economy in history — but I did.
“I certainly wasn’t supposed to survive an assassin’s bullet — but by the grace of the almighty God, I did.
“SO NOW, I have no other choice but to answer the Call to Duty, but I can’t do it alone.
“Friend, you’ve been with me through everything.
“You were there when they launched: the Russia Hoax, the first Impeachment, the second Impeachment, the rigged 2020 election, the Raid on Mar-a-Lago, the Arrest and Mugshot at the Fulton County Jail, the Removal from the CO ballot, the sham cases in DC / FL / NY / DC, the first Assassination attempt, the second Assassination attempt, and so much more!
“Just because I won in a HISTORIC landslide and have unleashed the Golden Age of America, THAT DOESN’T MEAN WE CAN TAKE OUR FOOT OFF THE GAS!
“The forces that hate our country don’t want a secure border or safe cities or high paying jobs. The Radical Left Lunatics want to STOP MAGA, but we’re not going to let them NO MATTER WHAT.
“Let me make this SOLEMN PLEDGE to you: I WILL NEVER SURRENDER!
“I put my life on the line willingly because this is what I was made to do, but our movement, the beautiful MAGA movement, is powered by YOU.
“Every time they count us out – count YOU out – we come back bigger, better, and stronger than ever before.
“This is our moment to show the world that we will NEVER back down, NEVER give an inch, and NEVER SURRENDER in our fight to save this country.
“That’s why I’ve launched a 24 HOUR TRUMP FUNDRAISING BLITZ, and I’m asking everyone to chip in $15 to make it one for the record books! So if you’re with me all the way to the end, join with MILLIONS of your fellow PATRIOTS by chipping in $15 to keep the wins rolling in!
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“STAND WITH TRUMP
Sincerely,
Donald John Trump
STAND WITH TRUMP
[Paid for by Never Surrender, Inc. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate authorized’s committee. http://www.donaldjtrump.com.]
