Trump affirms faith at Religious Liberty Commission meeting

By Jon Brown, Christian Post Reporter Tuesday, September 09, 2025U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Museum of the Bible Sept. 8, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Trump addressed the White House Religious Liberties Commission during the event. | Win McNamee/Getty ImagesWASHINGTON — President Donald Trump affirmed his administration’s commitment to religious liberty and the role that Christian faith has played in U.S. history during a Monday speech at the second meeting of the White House Religious Liberty Commission.Speaking blocks from the Capitol to a packed theater of approximately 500 people at the Museum of the Bible, Trump also highlighted steps his administration has been taking to push back against what he described as the impulse to mitigate the influence of Christianity in American life, especially in public schools. “When faith gets weaker, our country seems to get weaker,” Trump said. “When faith gets stronger, as it is right now … good things happen for our country. It’s amazing the way it seems to work that way. Under the Trump administration, we’re defending our rights and restoring our identity as a nation under God.””We are one nation under God, and we always will be,” he said.”To have a great nation, you have to have religion,” Trump also said in the presence of the commission, which was established by executive order in May with Republican Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick serving as chairman.Other members include evangelists Franklin Graham and Paula White; former HUD Secretary Dr. Ben Carson; author Eric Metaxas; and Roman Catholic Cardinals Timothy Dolan and Robert Barron.”I believe that so strong,” said Trump. “There has to be something after we go through all of this, and that’s something is God. We go through all of this for a reason. It’s not easy, believe me.”Trump added, “The need for this commission has never been more clear” than after comments from “the ineffectual” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who made headlines last week for describing the idea that human rights come from God and not the government as “very, very troubling.”Kaine drew condemnation from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, at the time, who suggested Kaine’s comments indicate the Democratic Party’s antipathy toward God. Bishop Robert Barron, a Roman Catholic prelate who serves on the commission, also noted that Kaine’s assertions fly in the face of America’s founding principles.Trump further announced that the U.S. Department of Education, the workforce development program of which is reportedly being moved to the U.S. Labor Department, is planning to implement guidance to protect prayer in public schools.”I am pleased to announce this morning that the Department of Education will soon issue new guidance protecting the right to prayer in our public schools,” he said, adding that the guidance is intended to address “grave threats” to students’ rights to express their faith.Trump cited instances of students facing punishment for praying, such as Hannah Allen, a Texas student who was allegedly disciplined for organizing a prayer group for an injured peer.Trump offered his presidential podium to Shea Encinas, a 12-year-old boy who said he was forced to read a book about gender ideology to a kindergartner when he was in fifth grade.”It hurt a lot, but I kept trusting God,” Encinas said of his ordeal, which drew the attention and legal representation of the nonprofit First Liberty Institute, which also represented Allen.12-year-old boy who fought back against his school for pushing a book about changing genders speaks alongside President Trump at the Museum of the Bible:”I’ve been a Christian my whole life, and Jesus means everything to me.””I knew this was not right, but I was afraid of… pic.twitter.com/XOjoAbv4wA— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 8, 2025 After describing the Biden administration as especially “mean,” Trump said he “ended the weaponization of law enforcement against religious believers and pardoned the pro-life activists thrown in jail,” which drew a loud standing ovation in the theater.”People don’t realize this, but he’s a mean guy; he knew enough about all this,” Trump said of Biden as he was flanked by Attorney General Pam Bondi, who introduced him and claimed she “stopped the FBI from spying on Catholics.”During a prayer over which Trump presided, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner rededicated the nation to God ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary, which Trump had earlier noted apparently fell under his second term providentially because he lost the 2020 presidential election to Biden.The power of prayer is real and wonders can be done in the name of the Lord.Join me in praying for this nation — for healing, for revitalization, for opportunity, and that we remain the greatest country the world has ever known. pic.twitter.com/p5Xbe9XC8u— Scott Turner (@SecretaryTurner) September 8, 2025 Turner called for continued prayer for the country leading up to July 4 of next year in accordance with the White House’s America Prays initiative, which was introduced during Trump’s speech.The initiative calls for Americans of faith to unite in prayer as the nation approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026.”Next year, we will celebrate 250 years since that Declaration was signed,” Trump said. “As part of the grand commemoration … we’ve invited America’s great faith communities to pray for our nation, for our people and for peace in the world.”Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Post. 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