Why some Christians think Trump's foreign policy will 'kick-start the end times'

Some American Christians believe President Donald Trump's foreign policy is helping to bring about the end of the world.

In an interview with Newsweek, Nate Pyle -- an evangelical pastor and author -- said that evangelical Christians believe that the end of the world will start once Israel completely recaptures Jerusalem and retakes all the land that was promised to them by God.

Given that Trump moved the American embassy to Jerusalem and that he's giving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a free pass to construct settlements in Palestinian lands, Pyle says some End Times-believing evangelicals think he's on the right track.

"What kick-starts the end times into motion is Israel’s political boundaries being reestablished to what God promised the Israelites according to the Bible," he says.

Neil J. Young, a religion historian, similarly told Newsweek that "Israel is a key part of this story."

"At this point, Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is the only concrete thing that his evangelical supporters can point to as part of fulfilling biblical prophecy to bring about the second coming of Christ," he explained.

Pyle, a critic of the president, says that some evangelicals also appreciate that Trump seems to prioritize protecting Christians' religious liberties, while not placing as much emphasis on protecting religious liberties of other faiths.

"He was so specific about protecting Christian liberties, it wasn’t holistically religious liberties," he explains. "That spoke to a lot of Christians, and then he also has this stance on Israel."

(Correction: A previous version of this article misquoted Nate Pyle. Raw Story regrets the error.)