Thousands of people gathered on the National Mall in Washington DC on Sunday for a daylong prayer rally billed as a 'rededication of our country as One Nation Under God'. The event, backed by the White House, featured worship music and a stage with stained-glass windows depicting the nation's founders alongside a white cross.
The rally drew criticism for blurring the lines between church and state, with prominent Republican officials speaking alongside mostly evangelical Christian leaders. Only one non-Christian speaker, Orthodox rabbi Meir Soloveichik, was on the programme. Speakers included Paula White-Cain of the White House faith office and evangelist Franklin Graham.
Republican Senator Tim Scott asked the crowd, 'Are you a believer in Jesus?' Organisers showed a video of Donald Trump reading from the Old Testament, recorded for a separate event. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth recounted the legend of George Washington praying in Pennsylvania.
House Speaker Mike Johnson alluded to cultural wars, saying, 'We reject that. We rebuke it in your name.' Officials expected around 15,000 attendees, according to the Washington Post. Progressive groups, including the Freedom From Religion Foundation and Faithful America, staged counterprogramming, displaying a Trump-like golden calf balloon and projecting slogans such as 'Democracy not theocracy'.
