Donald Trump Reads 2 Chronicles 7:11–22 From Oval Office During America Reads the Bible

President Donald Trump participated in a weeklong scripture-reading event called “America Reads the Bible” by delivering a prerecorded video message from the Oval Office, with organizers saying, “On April 21, President Trump is scheduled to read Scripture via video message from the Oval Office during the 6 p.m. EST hour.”

Multiple outlets tied the appearance to the Museum of the Bible in Washington, describing it as a marathon-style effort to read the Bible aloud, with EL PAÍS saying the reading was taking place in “el pequeño teatro del último piso del Museo de la Biblia.”

Charisma Magazine Online

OSV News reported that Trump read from “2 Chronicles 7:11–22” and that the video aired Tuesday night at the Museum of the Bible and also online on the Pure Flix platform.

CNN said the passage Trump read included the frequently quoted verse 14, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Folha de S.Paulo reported that in Tuesday’s video Trump recited the seventh chapter of 2 Chronicles “toward the end of Tuesday afternoon (the 21st),” with the Bible open on the table as he looked directly at the camera.

OSV News added that Trump read from the “King James Easy Read Bible by Whitaker House Publishers,” and it quoted the opening line of his reading: “And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice,” Trump read, in part.

Trump’s Bible reading arrived after a chain of religious and political controversies that CNN described as beginning with a feud with Pope Leo over the Iran conflict and escalating after Trump posted and deleted an AI-generated image depicting himself as Jesus.

CNN said Trump criticized Pope Leo, telling reporters, “We don’t like a pope that’s going to say that it’s OK to have a nuclear weapon,” adding, “I’m not a fan of Pope Leo.”

CNN

Folha de S.Paulo reported that Trump’s problems with Pope Leo XIV grew after the American criticized the pontiff and called him “terrible” and “weak” on social media, and it quoted Trump saying, “The pope said things that are wrong and he is against what I am doing in Iran, and we cannot have a nuclear Iran.”

OSV News described Pope Leo as opposing combat operations, including those initiated by the U.S. and Israel against Iran on Feb. 28, and it quoted the pope telling journalists aboard the papal plane to Algiers, Algeria, on April 13 that he would “continue to speak out loudly against war, looking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateral relationships among the States to look for just solutions to problems.”

In parallel, CNN said Trump defended his deleted AI image by telling reporters outside the West Wing, “I thought it was me as a doctor and had to do with Red Cross,” and it added, “It’s supposed to be me as a doctor making people better. And I do make people better.”

OSV News said the AI image was deleted from Trump’s social media account “after an uproar,” and it described the event as occurring while Trump faced “still-simmering controversy” over those posts.

The event was not limited to Trump, with CNN saying “Many administration officials will also participate in the reading throughout the week,” naming Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and chief of staff Susie Wiles.

“El presidente Donald Trump derribó este martes un poco más la barrera que tradicionalmente ha separado Iglesia y Estado en Estados Unidos con la lectura desde el Despacho Oval de un pasaje de la Biblia, grabado para su retransmisión en un maratón llamado America Reads the Bible (Estados Unidos lee la Biblia)”

EL PAÍS

OSV News similarly said other scheduled participants included “Secretary of State Marco Rubio, House Speaker Mike Johnson and several other Republican members of Congress,” and it listed evangelical allies including “the Rev. Franklin Graham and the Rev. Paula White-Cain.”

OSV News also described the event as organized by the Protestant-affiliated group Christians Engaged, and it said the weeklong effort sought to read the entire Bible aloud to mark “America’s 250th anniversary later this year.”

In a presidential message issued April 17, OSV News quoted Trump saying, “During our 250th year of American independence, the America Reads the Bible initiative invites all citizens to once again acknowledge our Nation’s extraordinary Biblical foundations and to give thanks for the countless ways in which God has been the sacred source of our unity and national strength.”

It also quoted Trump saying, “Together, we will honor Holy Scripture, renew our faith, usher in a historic resurgence of religion on American shores, and rededicate the United States as one Nation under God.”

CNN added that Trump’s participation was “particularly notable” given the pope feud and the backlash for posting and deleting the AI image.

Coverage diverged sharply in how outlets characterized Trump’s Bible reading and what it meant politically.

CNN framed the episode as part of “the administration continues to integrate religion, particularly Christianity, into official business,” and it emphasized the timing after the pope feud and the deleted AI image.

Folha de S.Paulo

EL PAÍS described the reading as “derribó este martes un poco más la barrera que tradicionalmente ha separado Iglesia y Estado en Estados Unidos,” and it said the event involved “medio millar de oradores” reading the Bible “de principio a fin.”

The Guardian, by contrast, focused on Trump’s “complicated history with Christianity,” describing him as reading from “2 Chronicles” while sitting “behind his desk in the Oval Office,” and it said the passage had become “fashionable among the right wing.”

The Guardian also described the event as a weeklong, rightwing “America Reads the Bible” marathon with “500 people” and it quoted the verse Trump read: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

OSV News presented the reading in a more straightforward religious-political context, saying Trump read “2 Chronicles 7:11–22” using the King James Easy Read Bible and linking the timing to “still-simmering controversy” over the AI image and the pope remarks.

The reading’s immediate aftermath was tied to ongoing disputes over war with Iran and Trump’s relationship with Pope Leo XIV, with OSV News placing the pope controversy in the context of the Iran conflict and quoting the pope’s April 13 statement that he would “continue to speak out loudly against war.”

CNN said Trump’s Bible reading was “particularly notable” because it followed his criticism of the pope over Iran and his defense of the deleted AI image, and it noted that the administration has been “chipped away at the separation between church and state.”

Fox News

CNN also described how Trump’s administration has asked Americans to pray for an hour a week and how federal agencies have hosted prayer service, while it added that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth invited “a pastor with controversial views to lead prayer service at the Pentagon.”

OSV News said the event was organized by Christians Engaged and that it was scheduled to “run April 19–25,” with participants including Marco Rubio and House Speaker Mike Johnson.

The Daily Beast and WION both described the reading as reinforcing Trump’s appeal to his base, with The Daily Beast quoting Bunni Pounds saying, “It’s a powerful statement that he decided to read that passage,” and WION quoting Baptist pastor Brian Kaylor warning that the verse is “not about the United States.”

Meanwhile, The Guardian quoted a religious scholar, Jemar Tisby, writing: “You cannot quote the Bible while justifying violence, war and exclusion,” and it included Pastor Doug Pagitt’s statement to Associated Press: “If you like reading the Bible, try living it.”