As the legendary Stevie Wonder once said, “You suffer when you believe in things that you don’t understand.” Being superstitious is not the way. Perhaps Donald Trump doesn’t listen to Wonder much these days, though, since the “The Apprentice” star is extremely superstitious and is one of the singers who detests President Trump (he backed Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race).
Trump also holds beliefs about things he doesn’t know about that could cause pain, such as how exercise affects the body. According to several people who have played against Trump, he avoids physical exertion (apart from cheating at golf) because he sees the body as a battery that runs out of energy when it is in use, according to a 2017 New Yorker article.
Speaking of his dubious health practices, Trump’s love for McDonald’s is well known; in 2024, he even worked in a fryer for the fast food business. At that point, he spilled salt and threw it over his shoulder, revealing his faith in an antiquated superstition. He told a staffer, “I’m very superstitious,” according to Sky News. It was formerly believed that the devil was to blame for spilled salt and that if you threw some in Trump’s eye, he would disappear (maybe Lucifer was hovering with Trump because he enjoys Mickey D’s fries as much as the president).
In the “Stormy” documentary, Seth Rogen recounted a chat he had with Stormy Daniels regarding another of the tycoon’s strange views after she revealed her affair with him. “He, like, felt as though his power, like, rested in his hair, and that if he lost it, he would lose his, like, power and his stature,” Rogen told Mediaite. Americans should be concerned about Trump’s superstition.
President Trump’s spiritual adviser Paula White,
“Surround him with divine supernatural protection”
“Grant him wisdom beyond human understanding and capability”
“Give him divine dreams, visions”
— Farrukh (@implausibleblog) May 1, 2025
Delaying Actions to Avoid Jinxing Himself
According to their book “Let Trump Be Trump: The Inside Story of His Rise to the Presidency,” former campaign officials David Bossie and Corey Lewandowski said they saw Trump toss salt during meals. He avoided being ready for the president throughout his 2016 campaign due to possible “bad juju,” they wrote.
They even added, “It’s the reason that come election night we didn’t have a victory speech — or a concession speech — written ahead of time.” But it’s not really a good quality for a world leader to have if they don’t prepare for every possible scenario—or any scenario at all.
From skipping workouts to timing policy rollouts, it’s no secret that Donald Trump is superstitious, but it turns out his rituals go deeper than we realized.https://t.co/oE5GHo6JBX
— Nicki Swift (@NickiSwiftCeleb) June 4, 2025
Additionally, Trump attributed his decision to implement tariffs on April 2 rather than the day before to his superstitious inclination. “I didn’t want to be accused of April Fools’ Day,” he said in his joint speech to legislators. “I’m a very superstitious person.” “The Daily Show” correspondent Michael Kosta snapped in response to the ruling, saying, “If not, we would all be like, ‘What? Is this a joke? Unlike every other day when we don’t react that way to the things he does.”
According to Stuart Vyse, PhD, in the American Psychological Association podcast “Speaking of Psychology,” there are reasons why some people develop superstition. “People … who feel they’re low in their ability to control events are more likely to be superstitious in an effort to gain more control,” he stated.
Trump has learned that, even as president, he has little control over everything from his hair, which attempted to fly on “Liberation Day” while he was celebrating his ambitious tariff proposal, to the conduct of other foreign leaders. This means that there is likely a lot of animosity in the Oval Office.
