Trump urges Americans to ‘bring God back into our lives’ in National Prayer Breakfast speech

By AAMER MADHANI, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that his narration with religion had “changed” aft a brace of failed assassination attempts past year, arsenic helium advocated at the National Prayer Breakfast at the Capitol for Americans to “bring God backmost into our lives.”

Trump joined a much than 70-year-old Washington contented that brings unneurotic a bipartisan radical of lawmakers for fellowship. He volition besides talk astatine a abstracted supplication meal astatine a Washington edifice sponsored by a backstage group.

“I truly judge you can’t beryllium blessed without religion, without that belief,” Trump said. “Let’s bring religion back. Let’s bring God backmost into our lives.”

Trump reflected connected having a slug coming wrong a hair’s breadth of sidesplitting him astatine a rally successful Butler, Pennsylvania, past year, telling lawmakers and attendees, “It changed thing successful me, I feel.”

“I consciousness adjacent stronger,” helium continued. “I believed successful God, but I feel, I consciousness overmuch much powerfully astir it. Something happened.”

He drew laughs erstwhile helium expressed gratitude that the occurrence “didn’t impact my hair.”

The president, who’s a nondenominational Christian, called spiritual liberty “part of the bedrock of American life” and called for protecting it with “absolute devotion.”

Trump and his medication person already clashed with spiritual leaders, including him disagreeing with the Rev. Mariann Budde’s sermon the time aft his inauguration, erstwhile she called for mercy for members of the LGBTQ+ assemblage and migrants who are successful the state illegally.

Catholic Vice President JD Vance has sparred with apical U.S. leaders of his ain religion implicit migration issues. And galore clergy members crossed the state are disquieted astir the removal of churches from the sensitive-areas list, allowing national officials to behaviour migration actions astatine places of worship.

The Republican president made waves astatine the last supplication meal during his archetypal term. That twelvemonth the gathering came the time after the Senate acquitted him in his archetypal impeachment trial.

Trump successful his remarks past threw not-so-subtle barbs astatine Democratic then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, who publically said she prayed for Trump, and Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, who had cited his religion in his determination to ballot to convict Trump.

“I don’t similar radical who usage their religion arsenic justification for doing what they cognize is wrong,” Trump said past in his winding speech, successful which helium besides held up 2 newspapers with banner headlines astir his acquittal. “Nor bash I similar radical who say, ‘I commune for you,’ erstwhile they cognize that that’s not so.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower was the archetypal president to be the supplication breakfast, successful February 1953, and each president since has spoken astatine the gathering.

Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and Republican Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas are the honorary co-chairs of this year’s supplication breakfast.

In 2023, the National Prayer Breakfast split into 2 dueling events, the 1 connected Capitol Hill mostly attended by lawmakers and authorities officials and a larger backstage lawsuit for thousands astatine a edifice ballroom. The divided occurred erstwhile lawmakers sought to region themselves from the backstage spiritual radical that for decades had overseen the bigger event, owed to questions astir its enactment and however it was funded.

In 2023 and 2024, President Joe Biden, a Democrat, spoke astatine the Capitol Hill event, and his remarks were livestreamed to the different gathering.

AP writers Holly Meyer successful Nashville, Tennessee and Zeke Miller successful Washington contributed. Follow the AP’s sum of Donald Trump at https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump.

Originally Published: February 6, 2025 astatine 9:15 AM EST