Days after former President Donald Trump was found guilty of thirty-four felony charges in May, country musician Natasha Owens released “The Chosen One,” a country song that depicts Trump as God’s chosen candidate. Trump immediately promoted the song on Truth Social, declaring Owens a “hitmaker.” Perhaps as a result of his support, the song’s music video has drawn more than 750,000 views on YouTube.
Natasha Owens began her music career after accepting a position as a music minister in her church. Owens releases Christian contemporary worship music, but her more recent songs focus on the current conservative political moment, most specifically on Trump and the MAGA movement. Her subject may appear unique, but her music exists in a greater genre best encapsulated by the title “MAGA Music.”
Owens is clear in the first verse of “The Chosen One” that Trump is not “something divine” (acknowledging “he gets in trouble bigly, time after time”); nevertheless, she refers to him as America’s “real leader” and as a “warrior for such a time as this.” And although Owens never names Trump, the music video features a compilation of videos of Trump interspersed with various stock clips meant to exhibit power and freedom, such as a lion and horses running through golden hills.
Many listeners would assume Owens is comparing Trump to Jesus Christ, which most Christians would consider a clear act of idolatry. After all, Jesus is referred to as “chosen” by God (Isaiah 42:1) or “the Chosen One” throughout the Bible (Luke 23:35). But Owens is quick to dispel this accusation, and explained in a press release that she “certainly know[s] that President Trump is not the Messiah.” She instead believes that “God has chosen President Trump to push back against the evil in our country and the evil in this world.” This, for Owens, is what makes him “The Chosen One.”
Owens’s song toes a confusing line between deification and appreciation, hinting that Trump might be Jesus but readily reversing this same claim.
And her depiction of Trump better reflects a different biblical narrative common in evangelical circles: Trump as King Cyrus. Prominent Pentecostal prophet Lance Wallnau was one of the first to make the claim, referring to Trump as “an Isaiah 45 Cyrus.” In the book of Isaiah, Cyrus serves as a vessel for God despite his lack of personal belief. On God’s instruction, Cyrus conquered Babylon and allowed the Jews to return to Israel and construct a temple in Jerusalem.
The Cyrus comparison allows Christians to overlook Trump’s moral deficiencies—including his history of sexual abuse and general vulgarity—and view him as an imperfect vessel for God’s work. Owens explains this idea early in “The Chosen One,” singing, “he’s controversial, but one thing is true, imperfect people, a perfect God can use.”
Owens’s song toes a confusing line between deification and appreciation, hinting that Trump might be Jesus but readily reversing this same claim.
This is not Owens’s first Trump anthem. In March 2023, she released “Trump Won,” which debuted at the top of the iTunes charts, but was limited from its full potential due to shadow banning (according to a press release by Owens’ publicist). The former President repeatedly posted support for Owens on Truth Social after the song’s release, saying that he was “honored” by the song’s success.
“Trump Won” steers away from the same Christian undertones as “The Chosen One” and instead focuses on the outcome of the 2024 election with the chorus “Trump won and you know it.” Owens also argues that, due to a fake news cover-up, Trump could’ve won in New York and California in 2020, despite both being solid blue states for decades. At the end of “Trump Won,” Owens predicts a future Trump presidency, singing, “and he’s gonna win again for the third time in 2024.”
Owens’s music has not always been politically charged. Her 2020 single “Stand” is more reflective of mainstream Christian rock, with the refrain, “We will stand for truth, stand and be a light, stand for whatever things are good and right, and if we’re falling to our knees crying, ‘Jesus it’s you we need, so we can stand.’ ” The song could easily be inserted into the worship program of megachurches across the country.
In 2022, Owens made her political debut as an artist with her album American Patriot. It features a few original songs including “Stand for Life” and “America First,” and covers of patriotic classics, such as “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” and “The Star Spangled Banner.”
Owens’s shift from Christian rock to MAGA-infused Christian rock reflects the influence of Christian nationalism outside of the political sphere. With support for these beliefs on the rise, the market for Owens’ new genre has grown along with it. “Trump Won” has more than 200,000 streams on Spotify, while many of her other non-partisan tracks have not yet cracked 15,000.
Whether or not Owens’s switch is an intentional business move, her music sits within an emerging genre: MAGA music. At the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, country singer Dave Fenley performed an original song entitled “Make America Great Again.” That same year, the USA Freedom Kids performed “Freedom’s Call,” another original ode to Donald Trump. (There was later controversy surrounding this performance as the group filed a lawsuit against Trump for insufficient compensation). More recently, rapper Forgiato Blow released “Trump Trump Baby” with model Amber Rose, which was featured at the RNC this year in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The rapper also released “Teflon Trump” following the apparent assassination attempt on the former President in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Perhaps most notorious of all MAGA music is the first song of the J6 Prison Choir “Justice for All,” which is a rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner” sung by defendants in the January 6 insurrection trials, overlaid with Donald Trump saying the Pledge of Allegiance. The piece was recorded through a prison phone line, giving it a uniquely muted, post-apocalyptic sound. The song briefly hit number one on iTunes when it was released in 2023 and currently has more than one million streams on Spotify.
Owens’s release, and MAGA music in general, reflects the arguably unprecedented cultural power of Donald Trump. Trump may have lost mainstream artists, as many have issued complaints after he played their recordings at his rallies (Celine Dion’s team recently issued a statement saying she did not endorse him after he played “My Heart Will Go On” at a Montana rally). But this rejection becomes less visible given the songwriting efforts of devoted followers like Natasha Owens.
Far right-artists are cultivating a "Church of Trump" by writing its hymnal. The work of these Americans elevates Trump's status from political figure to a brand, a way of life, and, most unnervingly, a belief system.