Trump Will Participate in Nationwide ‘America Reads the Bible’ Event

President Trump is scheduled to participate in a nationwide Bible-reading event that begins Sunday, delivering a pre-recorded reading from the Oval Office. The president will read from 2 Chronicles 7 during “America Reads the Bible,” a weeklong initiative marking 250 years of the Bible’s influence in the United States.The event, held in partnership with the Museum of the Bible in Washington, runs from April 19 through April 25. It will feature an 84-hour public presentation in which nearly 500 participants will cycle through scripture from Genesis to Revelation.Organizers of the event deliberately reserved a specific passage for the president — 2 Chronicles 7:11–22 — due to its decades-long role as a national call to prayer. The reading will air during a prime evening hour on Tuesday.“We needed somebody special to read Second Chronicles chapter seven,” Bunni Pounds, founder and president of Christians Engaged and an organizer of the event, told Fox News. “As my director and I were praying over different sections of scripture, it came to us that this is such a critical passage for the body of Christ.”Mr. Trump’s reading comes after an unexpected backlash from some of his most dedicated supporters, leading to the rapid removal of a controversial social media post. Late Sunday evening, the president took to his platform, Truth Social, to share an AI-generated image of himself depicted as a Christ-like figure. The move sparked immediate outrage among devout Christians, who labeled the digital portrayal as highly inappropriate and blasphemous. The incident not only caused friction within his core base of religious conservatives but also drew international attention, prompting a pointed and highly publicized response from the Vatican. On Monday, Mr. Trump deleted the image.The passage Mr. Trump will read records God’s response to Solomon after the temple dedication, promising to bless Israel if they remain faithful but warning of destruction and exile if they turn to other gods. God pledges to hear prayers in the temple and confirms the covenant with David, yet warns the temple could become a ruinMs. Pounds noted that the passage, particularly verse 14, has been a central tenet of American prayer life for decades, frequently invoked during times of national reflection.“It comes at a time where the Israelites were experiencing hardship and God spoke and said, ‘If my people that are called by my name would humble themselves and pray,’” Pounds said. “We’ve prayed this scripture for at least the last 50 years of American history on National Day of Prayer and other moments in this country.”Verse 14 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.”Recognizing the weight of these words, organizers knew exactly who they wanted to deliver them. “And so we instantly said, ‘Who needs to read that?’ The President of the United States,” Ms. Pounds said. “We set it aside for him and have been praying for that for the last year.”The White House on Friday put out a “Presidential Message Commemorating 250 Years of the Bible in America.”“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 — as individuals, as a people, and as a nation — for the next 250 years and beyond,” the president wrote.In addition to Mr. Trump, the lineup features notable figures including former HUD Secretary Ben Carson; actress Patricia Heaton; Candace Cameron Bure; the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee; and House Speaker Mike Johnson. Several Cabinet officials and Republican lawmakers are also slated to read, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth; the White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles; Secretary of State Marco Rubio; Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins; Interior Secretary Doug Burgum; and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.“America Reads the Bible” begins at 9 a.m. ET on Sunday.

Trump Will Participate in Nationwide ‘America Reads the Bible’ Event

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