Trump-backed prayer festival on National Mall frames America as explicitly Christian nation

President Trump backed the "Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving" event on the National Mall, a state-sanctioned Christian nationalist rally partly funded by public dollars for the nation's 250th birthday. High-ranking administration officials including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed the event, which aimed to portray the U.S. as founded to be explicitly Christian and dismantle the separation of church and state. Trump delivered a video message reading a Bible passage aloud, marking a departure from previous norms regarding U.S. officials publicly tying the nation to specific religious beliefs. The all-day festival featured evangelical Protestant leaders advancing the claim that America's founders intended the country to be explicitly Christian. The event represents a significant escalation of government endorsement of religious nationalism, with federal officials using state platforms to advance a particular religi...

"America was founded as a Christian nation, and we must return to those roots to secure our future." — Paraphrased theme from administration officials' speeches at the Rededicate 250 event, reflecting the central message of the state-sanctioned Christian nationalist rally