Trump reads from Bible in Oval Office in taped message for Christian group

Donald Trump read a Bible passage from the Old Testament during a Tuesday event billed as a celebration of the US’s founding, days after he clashed with Pope Leo XIV and upset some of his religious supporters by posting an AI-generated image appearing to depict himself as Jesus.

The event, titled America Reads the Bible, was imagined as a “sacred opportunity to call our nation back to its spiritual foundation”, according to its website.

“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 read from 2 Chronicles 7:11-22 in a video message recorded in the White House’s Oval Office, with the presidential flag behind him.

Great American Media, a Texas-based company that creates family and faith content, livestreamed the reading from Washington DC.

The Family Policy Alliance Foundation, a conservative lobbying group, put on the weeklong Bible-reading marathon through its ministry, Christians Engaged. The foundation has pushed to defund abortion providers and restrict transgender medical care. Other Trump administration officials, including the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, are expected to participate.

“We’re making a statement during this week as America reads the Bible, that there is so much in the Bible that we can gain wisdom and discernment from, there is so much that can heal our families, that can rescue us from depression and anxiety and can heal our inner cities and heal our land ... I believe the president’s saying that by reading this scripture specifically,” Bunni Pounds, founder of Christians Engaged, told Fox News Digital last week.

Trump’s appearance comes after a slew of recent moves that have drawn scrutiny and sowed division among his devout supporters.

In early April, the president caught enormous flak for threatening to wipe out Iranian civilization, as he pressured the country to reopen the strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for oil tankers.