Trump Vows To Rededicate America As One Nation Under God

President Donald Trump announced at the 74th annual National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday morning that the United States would be “rededicated as one nation under God” as he touted his administration’s defense of religious values.

Trump discussed religious freedom and Christianity and announced that Americans are invited to “come together on our National Mall to pray, to give thanks,” on May 17.

“We are going to do something that everyone said, ‘That’s tough.’ We’re going to rededicate America as one nation under God,” Trump said, adding, “I’ve always said, you just can’t have a great country if you don’t have religion. You have to believe in something. You have to believe that what we’re doing, there’s a reason for it.”

Throughout his speech, the president also sprinkled in criticism of his political opponents, specifically calling former President Joe Biden “the worst president we’ve ever had” and former President Barack Obama “a terrible divider of our country.”

“He was a divider, and believe it or not, we’re bringing the country together. You know what’s bringing it together, tremendous success. We’re having tremendous success,” Trump said.

“I don’t know how a person of faith can vote for a Democrat,” he added. “I really don’t, and I know we have some here today, and I don’t know why they’re here. They certainly don’t give us their vote.”

As he often does, Trump drifted from his prepared remarks for most of the speech and even commented on how he had been ignoring the teleprompter.

“At some point, I’m going to get right back onto the teleprompter and you’re going to say that was a wonderful speech,” he said before looking back into his prepared remarks.

“On that momentous day in 1776, history changed forever when our founders proclaimed the immortal truths that echoed around the world and down all the way through time. They declared that all of us are made free and equal by the hand of our creator. A lot of presidents refuse to say that,” Trump said. “Some major politicians refuse to say the word ‘God.’ They don’t want to say it. I say it.”

“We are endowed with our sacred rights to life and liberty, not by government but by God Almighty himself,” he added.

Throughout his second term, Trump has focused on addressing “anti-Christian bias” in the United States as well as the persecution of Christians in Africa and the Middle East. Last February, Trump established a task force to look into attacks on Christians, condemning the Biden administration for “targeting peaceful Christians, while ignoring violent, anti-Christian offenses.”

“My Administration will not tolerate anti-Christian weaponization of government or unlawful conduct targeting Christians,” Trump stated in his order on February 6, 2025.

In the past year, Trump has also called out attacks on Christians in foreign countries, such as Nigeria. The president designated Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” in October, saying that “Christianity is facing an existential threat.”

During his speech on Thursday, the president spent a considerable amount of time talking about how he targeted ISIS terrorists in the Middle East during his first term and then slammed the Biden administration’s failure to keep the region stable after he left office.

“The election was rigged and I wasn’t there, and for four years, ISIS rebuilt, rebuilt, rebuilt, and they have a little bit of ISIS now again,” he said. “And we knocked the hell out of them the other day in Nigeria because they were killing Christians. I said, ‘You can’t do that.'”