Thousands of people streamed onto 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 White House-backed event featured worship music, a stage with stained-glass windows depicting the nation's founders alongside a white cross, and a lineup of mostly evangelical speakers.
Pastor Samuel Rodriguez told the crowd: 'America is done with God, and God is not done with America.' The rally drew broad criticism for blurring the lines between church and state, with prominent Republican officials appearing alongside evangelical supporters of Donald Trump. Only one non-Christian speaker, Orthodox rabbi Meir Soloveichik, was on the programme.
Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina drew cheers as he asked the crowd: 'Are you a believer in Jesus?' Organisers showed a video of Trump reading from the Old Testament, recorded for a separate event. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth recounted the legend of George Washington praying in Pennsylvania, urging the crowd to 'pray without ceasing'.
House Speaker Mike Johnson alluded to the Republican cultural war against critical interpretations of US history, saying: 'We reject that. We rebuke it in your name.' Officials expected around 15,000 attendees, according to the Washington Post.
Progressive groups staged counterprogramming, including the Freedom From Religion Foundation and Faithful America, which displayed a large balloon of a Trump-like golden calf. The Interfaith Alliance projected slogans such as 'Democracy not theocracy' onto the National Gallery of Art.
