Overview
- Trump’s prerecorded reading of 2 Chronicles 7:11–22, taped in the Oval Office, played Tuesday around 6 p.m. ET at the Museum of the Bible and streamed on the Pure Flix platform.
- The weeklong “America Reads the Bible” marathon, run by the nonprofit Christians Engaged, features about 500 readers and was designed to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary.
- Organizers reserved this passage for an elected official, and founder Bunni Pounds said she prayed the president would read it after coordinating with the White House faith team.
- The key verse, 2 Chronicles 7:14, is a long-used rallying text for the Christian right, appearing at National Day of Prayer events, in Eisenhower’s 1953 oath, and during the 2024 GOP convention.
- Supporters praised the reading while critics labeled it a political stunt, and the airing followed a deleted AI image of Trump depicted as Jesus and a very public dispute with Pope Leo XIV over the Iran war.