ABUSING THE TEN COMMANDMENTS February 6, 2026

A 15-foot, gold-plated statue of Donald Trump—a $300,000 “grift” from cryptocurrency investors—challenges the Christian champion’s supposed respect for the Ten Commandments. 

Tuesday’s New York Times reported: “Don Colossus” awaits installation on Donald Trump’s golf complex in Doral, Florida. “Pastor Mark Burns, one of the organizers of the effort and a friend of Mr. Trump’s, told his collaborators that the president planned to attend the statue’s unveiling there…”

A pastor endorses such imagery?

The Protestant First and Second Commandments state: “Thou shall have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image…” (beliefnet.com).

These are part of the Jewish Second Commandment. Christians abandoned what Jews consider to be the First: “I the ETERNAL am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage” (Revised Jewish Publication Society, 2023).

Trump believes himself God-like. He added his name to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Above Kennedy’s! His photo appears on 2026 national park passes. A new prescription website will be named TrumpRx. To unfreeze federal construction funds, he wants New York’s Penn Station and Washington’s Dulles Airport named after him.

Regarding Trump’s statue, remember the golden calf (Exodus 32). In the wilderness, the Israelites demanded that Aaron make them a tangible god. The golden calf led to disaster.

Trump’s coveting others’ (Vladimir Putin’s?) money and power violates the Tenth Commandment: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house: you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox or donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s (Revised JPS, 2023). These are the Ninth and Tenth Commandments in the Catholic and Lutheran versions.

Sforno, the 16th-century Jewish-Italian commentator, writes: “Once you begin to covet something belonging to someone else it is only a short step to committing robbery.”

Coveting unleashes terrible forces. A president can demand unearned honors—Nobel Peace Prize anyone?—and power without restraint. Citizens can not only lust for their neighbor’s spouse (leading to violation of the Seventh Commandment) but also consumerism’s idolatrous trappings—McMansions, huge vehicles, outlandish jewelry and expensive vacations. Acquiring them risks his or her stealing—here, time and money from their families (violating the Eighth Commandment).

The Bible relates how coveting can misdirect a leader. In 2 Samuel, King David sees the beautiful Bathsheba bathing on the roof of her house. He summons her, sleeps with her and gets her pregnant. Oh, she’s married to Uriah the Hittite, a soldier in David’s army home on leave—but not sleeping with his wife out of respect for his fellow soldiers in the field. To conceal his sin, David has Uriah sent to the front lines where he’s killed.

The prophet Nathan relates God’s anger: “‘Why then have you flouted GOD’s command—and done what displeases Me?”… “Therefore the sword shall never depart from your House—” (Revised JPS, 2023).

The Mishna, a Rabbinic wisdom commentary, states: “Who is rich? One who is contented with life’s portion” (Pirké Avot, Chaim Stern).

Judaism does not espouse ascetism. But the Tenth Commandment calls on us to know when enough is enough. 

Trump never has enough and gathers a flock of golden calves. Each time he performs an act based on covetousness, he further impoverishes the American spirit and our democracy.

To understand the background of today’s far-right, authoritarian descent, read my new novel, RIDE THE TYGER. Order from Amazon, barnesandnoble.com, iuniverse.com, or your favorite bookstore.