Trump reveals what Ben Carson privately predicted during 2016 GOP primary fight

President Donald Trump said Monday that Dr. Ben Carson told him during the 2016 Republican primary cycle that he would win the election that year because God wanted him to.

"He was a very tough opponent," Trump said, reflecting on the 2016 Republican primary election. "We were fighting it out, and we had actually 18 [sic] candidates, including me. And Ben came up to me right after the first debate. He said, 'You know you're going to win, don't you?'"

The president spoke to the White House Religious Liberty Commission at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C.

"And I said, 'No, I don't know that. I think I'm going to win, but I don't know it,'" Trump said. "I had never done it before. They had all done it. They were all governors and senators, talented people. He said, 'No, you're going to win it, because God wants you to win it.' Right?"

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Trump joked it didn't stop Carson from continuing to run, as the retired neurosurgeon remained in the primary fight through that cycle's Super Tuesday. 

"But that didn't stop him… When is this guy going to quit?" Trump said as the crowd laughed.

Carson led in some early national GOP polling but failed to win any primaries or caucuses and dropped out on March 4, 2016. He went on to endorse Trump, and he was proven correct as his former GOP foe ultimately won the presidency. 

Carson led the Department of Housing and Urban Development during Trump's first term.

"He was a tough one," Trump said. "He was a tough one, but we love Ben. Ben's special."

Trump also said Monday that he wanted to bring back religion in America.

"America was founded on faith, as we know, and I've been saying it for a long time, when faith gets weaker, our country seems to get weaker," Trump said. "And under the Trump administration, we're defending our rights and restoring our identity as a nation under God. We are one nation under God, and we always will be."

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"We have to bring back religion in America, bring it back stronger than ever before," Trump said.

The speech coincided with the second meeting of the Religious Liberty Commission, a panel Trump created earlier this year through an executive order as part of his new White House Faith Office. 

The commission's mission is to safeguard Americans' ability to practice their religion freely, particularly in public education, and to identify what the administration calls "emerging threats" to First Amendment protections.

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Fox News' Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.