President Donald Trump is slated to participate in the “America Reads the Bible” week-long livestream.
Event organizers announced via its website on Friday, April 17, that Trump, 79, would be among the readers for the livestream on Tuesday, April 21.
“This week, I send my best wishes to every citizen gathered at the Museum of the Bible, on the National Mall, and all across our country participating in America Reads the Bible, a historic initiative in which nearly 500 Americans will take part in a public reading, over the course of one week, of the entire Bible,” Trump said in a statement shared by the White House on Friday, noting the event coincides with the country’s 250th anniversary.
He continued, “The truths of Holy Scripture [remain] deeply embedded in our culture — not only within the walls of our churches but in our homes, schools, courtrooms and public square. … In every generation, through every trial and triumph, God’s Word has guided our people and our country to incredible new heights.”
The president further championed the other “America Reads the Bible” participants.
“Today, during our 250th year of American independence, the America Reads the Bible initiative invites all citizens to once again acknowledge our nation’s extraordinary Biblical foundations and to give thanks for the countless ways in which God has been the sacred source of our unity and national strength,” Trump’s statement continued. “This one-week event, during which leaders in faith, government, business and entertainment will read every verse and chapter of the Bible, will inspire countless citizens to rediscover the Biblical truths that have animated our republic for two and a half centuries and to pray that the Bible will continue to guide us.”
He concluded, “I applaud every citizen participating in the America Reads the Bible initiative. Together, we will honor Holy Scripture, renew our faith, usher in a historic resurgence of religion on American shores and rededicate the United States as one Nation under God.”
Trump recently came under fire for sharing an AI-generated image of himself as Jesus Christ and stoking a feud with Pope Leo XIV. The pontiff, 70, issued a statement on the president’s administration earlier this month.
“God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs,” Pope Leo wrote via X on April 10. “Military action will not create space for freedom or times of #Peace, which comes only from the patient promotion of coexistence and dialogue among peoples.”
Responding via his Truth Social platform, Trump slammed the pope as “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy.”
“I don’t want a pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump wrote on April 12. “I don’t want a pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a country that was sending massive amounts of drugs into the United States and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers, into our country.”
