Updated April 20, 2026, 10:25 a.m. ET
From the Oval Office, President Donald Trump will read a piece of Old Testament scripture during a week-long Bible reading event this week.
Trump will read 2 Chronicles 7:11-22 on Tuesday, April 21, as part of America Reads the Bible, a week of national scripture reading held in tandem with the celebration of America’s 250th anniversary. The event serves as a “spiritual celebration of our nation’s founding ideals and a call to rediscover the truth that still anchors us today,” according to the America Reads the Bible website.
Trump’s reading will be held between 6-7 p.m. ET on April 21, and will be available to watch via livestream on the America Reads the Bible website and Great American Pure Flix app. The White House confirmed Trump’s involvement in the reading to USA TODAY on April 20.
“I applaud every citizen participating in the America Reads the Bible initiative,” the president said in a statement on April 17. “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.”
The announcement of Trump’s participation came after he and Pope Leo XIV clashed over an AI-generated image of what appeared to be the president as Jesus Christ. The image sparked a week of back-and-forth comments between the two public figures.
When will President Trump read scripture during America Reads the Bible?
Trump will read 2 Chronicles 7:11–22 between 6-7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, April 21.
How to watch President Trump read scripture during America Reads the Bible
Trump’s reading will be accessible via livestream, on the America Reads the Bible website or free Pure Flix app, a “faith and family streaming service from Great Americans Media.” To watch on the America Reads the Bible website, viewers must complete a free registration form at pureflix.com/america-reads-the-bible-register.
Though Trump’s reading will be via video message, tickets to the in-person America Reads the Bible event at The Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, are available online. One-day tickets are $50, which includes entry into the museum.
Is it free to watch President Trump during the America Reads the Bible?
Livestream viewings of America Reads the Bible are free. The in-person event is ticketed, though Trump will be reading scripture via video message.
What is 2 Chronicles 7:11–22?
Per Bible Gateway, the full scripture Trump will read is below:
11 Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord, and the king’s house: and all that came into Solomon’s heart to make in the house of the Lord, and in his own house, he prosperously effected.
12 And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice.
13 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;
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.
15 Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.
16 For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
17 And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments;
18 Then will I stablish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel.
19 But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;
20 Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.
21 And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the Lord done thus unto this land, and unto this house?
22 And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them.
Other political leaders to participate in America Reads the Bible
In addition to Trump, here’s a look at other political officials participating in America Reads the Bible. according to a news release from the organization:
- Marco Rubio, U.S. secretary of State
- Scott Turner, U.S. secretary of Housing and Urban Development
- Brooke Rollins, U.S. secretary of Agriculture
- Doug Burgum, U.S. secretary of the Interior
- Doug Collins, U.S. secretary of Veterans Affairs
- Pete Hegseth, U.S. secretary of Defense
- Susie Wiles, White House chief of staff
- Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council
- Vincent Haley, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council
- Paula White-Cain, senior advisor of the White House Faith Office
- Jenny Korn, deputy assistant to the President and Faith Director of the White House Faith Office
Contributing: Bart Jansen, USA TODAY
Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story idea? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com.
