James Robison was an American televangelist, author, and the founder of Life Outreach International, a Christian media ministry. He gained public attention for his fiery preaching style in the 1970s and 1980s, his close spiritual friendship with former President Donald Trump, and his controversial comments linking natural disasters to God’s judgment on homosexuality and abortion.
Quick Facts
Full Name: James Allen Robison
Age: 82 (born October 9, 1943 – died May 17, 2026)
Nationality: American
Occupation: Televangelist, Author, Ministry Founder
Known For: Life Today television program; spiritual advisor to Donald Trump; “turn or burn” preaching
Marital Status: Married to Betty Robison (since 1964)
Children: Four (Rhonda, Randy, Robyn, Rebekah)
Early Life and Background
Robison was born in Pasadena, Texas, on October 9, 1943, to an unmarried teenage mother who struggled with alcohol addiction. He was raised in part by his grandmother in the small town of Pasadena. Robison never knew his father and has spoken openly about feeling abandoned as a child. Despite his difficult upbringing, he found faith as a teenager after a local pastor took an interest in him, and he began preaching at small revivals by age 19. He never attended a formal seminary.
Career and Achievements
Robison began his ministry in Texas in the early 1960s, holding tent revivals across the state. By the 1970s, he was a national figure in the “Jesus movement,” hosting a weekly television show that reached millions. His preaching was characterized by a booming voice, dramatic gestures, and an unapologetic condemnation of sin, earning him both a loyal following and sharp criticism.
Robison’s career reached a new peak in 1987 when he reluctantly moved away from full-time televangelism after a series of heart attacks and a mild stroke. In 1996, he and his wife, Betty, founded Life Outreach International, which produces the daily program Life Today. The program focuses on humanitarian aid, feeding starving children, and drilling clean water wells in Africa. Through Life Outreach, Robison claims to have helped provide over 25 million meals to hungry children and dig over 3,000 wells.
Robison authored more than 30 books, including Thank God I’m Free, The Absolutes of Love, and Living in the Miraculous. He was also a regular guest preacher on TBN, Daystar, and CBN throughout his career.
Major Event or Controversy
Robison was no stranger to controversy. In the 1970s and 1980s, he made repeated comments linking the AIDS crisis to God’s judgment on homosexuality, including once stating that “God is pulling back his hand of protection because of America’s love of perversion.” In 1998, after Hurricane Mitch devastated Central America, he suggested the storm was punishment for abortion, saying: “America has killed 40 million babies since Roe v. Wade. How can we expect God to protect us?”
He later softened his tone toward the LGBTQ community, telling The Dallas Morning News in 2012: “I have spent too much time pointing fingers rather than pointing to Christ.”
Robison was also a close spiritual confidant to Donald Trump. In the 1980s, Trump watched Robison’s television program and reached out to him. They developed a friendship that lasted until Robison’s death. Robison counseled Trump during the 2016 campaign and visited the White House multiple times during Trump’s presidency. Critics accused Robison of sanitizing Trump’s personal conduct, but Robison responded: “I have never known a man more open to hearing what God has to say than Donald Trump.”
Why He Is In the News
Robison is in the news following his death on May 17, 2026. Life Outreach International announced that the 82-year-old “peacefully passed on to his heavenly home” surrounded by his wife and children. No specific cause of death was provided, though Robison had faced chronic health issues for years, including strokes, heart surgeries, and recent kidney failure.
Conclusion
James Robison was a fire-and-brimstone televangelist who later in life became more defined by his humanitarian work feeding children and drilling water wells. A spiritual advisor to presidents, he lived a complicated public life of both harsh judgment and merciful charity, passing away at 82 after more than six decades in ministry.
