In a high-profile alignment with conservative Christian politics that underscores deep divides over religion’s role in U.S. public life, former and current U.S. President Donald Trump is set to feature in a marathon continuous Bible reading event organized by right-wing Christian groups, just weeks after he sparked backlash over controversial AI-generated imagery and opened a public rift with Pope Leo XIV.
The week-long initiative, dubbed “America Reads the Bible,” launched on April 18 at Washington D.C.’s Museum of the Bible, timed to coincide with commemorations of the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence. Trump’s contribution, a pre-recorded reading from the Old Testament book of 2 Chronicles, will air during the event’s Tuesday evening programming. The passage he will deliver is a favorite among U.S. Christian conservatives, widely interpreted as a divine promise that national healing and blessing follow collective repentance and spiritual turning.
The event has drawn dozens of prominent public figures, including senior members of the Trump administration: Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are both participating, sharing their own selected biblical passages throughout the week. Hegseth, a longtime advocate for elevating Christian influence in government, has already integrated explicit biblical references into official Pentagon press briefings and regularly leads department-wide prayer gatherings, reflecting the broader Trump administration’s open embrace of the New Christian Right movement that frames Christianity as a foundational, non-negotiable element of U.S. national identity. This stance stands in quiet tension with the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment prohibition on government establishment of a national religion, a line that conservative Christian activists have long pushed to reinterpret.
Event organizers frame the project as a deliberate effort to encourage what they call a “return to the spiritual foundation that has shaped our country.” According to event organizers, Trump’s reading was pre-taped earlier in the White House Oval Office, eliminating any need for an in-person appearance at the museum. The core line of his selected passage reads: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
Trump’s participation comes amid two unfolding religious controversies that have put his relationship with faith and institutional Christianity under renewed scrutiny. First, the president is currently engaged in a public dispute with Pope Leo XIV, who recently slammed U.S. military action in Iran during an official visit to Cameroon. In that address, the pontiff issued a sharp rebuke to leaders who “manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic, and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.” Though the Pope did not name Trump directly, the comment was widely interpreted as a critique of the president’s blending of faith and foreign policy. Speaking to reporters last Friday, Trump pushed back openly, saying “I have a right to disagree with the Pope.”
Second, the event comes just days after Trump drew criticism even from some of his own religious supporters for sharing a pair of AI-generated images that cast him in messianic terms. The first image depicted Trump with visual parallels to Jesus, appearing to heal sick people. After facing backlash, Trump removed the post, claiming he had originally interpreted the image as portraying him as a medical doctor rather than a Christ-like figure. He quickly replaced it with a second AI-generated image showing Jesus embracing Trump, paired with the caption: “The Radical Left Lunatics might not like this, but I think it is quite nice!!!” That post remains online.