Thousands of people gathered this Sunday at the National Mall in Washington, the large green park that stretches between the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial, to celebrate an all-day mass religious service supported by the White House to exalt the role of Christianity in the origin and history of the nation. The event featured participation from prominent figures of the Trump Administration, such as Vice President J. D. Vance; Secretary of State Marco Rubio; and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, among other Republican politicians, televangelists, and religious music stars. The event is conceived as a promotion of Christian nationalism by the Trump Administration and fuels doubts about the separation between Church and State.
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Trump has made a point of emphasizing that relationship. This Sunday he sent a message of support for the religious festival. Through his social media, he wrote: “I hope everyone is having a great time at the Rededicating the 250th Anniversary.” And he offered to help with anything the organizers might need.
The religious festival, named Rededicating the 250th Anniversary: a national jubilee of prayer, praise, and thanksgiving, brought together hundreds of people from all over the country. The fervor was expressed with parishioners holding large crosses and signs that read “Jesus is our savior and Trump is our president”. Community prayer produced scenes of religious passion, with some attendees kneeling on the grass with arms open and eyes lost toward the sky, while sugary ballads typical of the religious repertoire played in the background.
The guest list notably includes evangelical Christian leaders, who are the majority, but also a couple of conservative Catholic bishops and representatives of other Christian currents. Approximately two-thirds of the U.S. population identify as Christians, including one-quarter who are evangelical. Around 30% of Americans profess another religion or are agnostic.
Believers from Texas, California, and many southern states gathered to pray during the Christian congregation event, where T-shirts of the Christian youth leader Charlie Kirk, who was killed last year and became a symbol of the radical ultraconservatism that has taken hold in the United States, were abundant.
Freedom 250, a nonprofit organization whose largest income comes from the federal government, is the official organizer, revealing the White House’s influence on the event. On its website, Freedom 250 explains the reason for the Christian tribute: “The National Mall will be the setting for a historic gathering where Americans from all backgrounds across the country will prepare for the nation’s 250th anniversary with biblical readings, testimonies, prayer, and the reaffirmation of our country’s unity as one nation under God.”
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The prominent role of the government in promoting Christianity has raised numerous criticisms among different Democratic sectors, who even question the constitutional role of the event. “The agenda of this jubilee resembles less a traditional religious event and more a program of the Trump Church,” said the organization Public Citizen in a statement.
The festival is part of the celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the United States’ independence, whose government is promoting its own vision of Christianity through policies and events, including Trump’s confrontation with Pope Leo XIV and the ruthless persecution of immigrants, along with others such as continuous references to the Bible and allusions to God and Christian precepts.
In this particular vision of Christian nationalism of the Trump Administration, there is room for celebrating the death of a political rival, as Trump did when special prosecutor Robert Mueller died, and hatred toward opponents, as expressed repeatedly by prominent government officials, starting with the president.
The religious festival takes place three days after a survey published by the Pew Research Center showing the growth of religious sentiment in the United States over the past year. The survey reveals that 37% of Americans say religion is “gaining influence,” the highest percentage since 2002.
According to the Pew report, white evangelicals, who lean strongly Republican, are the most likely to say that religious influence is growing and that this is positive. Those who believe the growing influence of religion is negative are mostly atheists and agnostics, and tend to be Democrats.
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