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By Rachael O'Connor
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President Donald Trump is set to take part in a public Bible reading, leading to questions about the separation of church and state.
How and When to Watch Trump Bible Reading
On Tuesday, Trump will deliver a recorded Bible reading from the Oval Office as part of the America Reads the Bible initiative, organized by Washington, D.C.'s Museum of the Bible, commemorating 250 years of the Bible in America.
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Trump's reading will air at 6 p.m. ET, livestreamed via Great American Pure Flix.
Across seven days, Trump will join the likes of Pete Hegseth and Marco Rubio to recite passages from Genesis to Revelation. His passage will read from 2 Chronicles 7:14, which includes the line: "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."
It's far from the first time the president has publicly expressed his Christian faith in an official capacity. But, in a month where Trump has attacked the Pope and shared AI images of him as a Christ-like figure—which he later claimed showed him as a doctor—his Bible reading is causing controversy in a different way: whether it impacts the separation of church and state.
White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told Newsweek: "President Trump will never waver in his commitment to protect and strengthen religious freedom—an inalienable right inscribed in our Constitution—for Americans despite irrelevant commentary on Reddit."
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What Are People Saying?
Reddit user u/kwyjibo wrote in a comment on the Trump Bible reading announcement in a post to Reddit's r/atheism: "Isn't this a complete disregard of the separation of church and state?"
User u/Wolfwoode wrote: "Ladies and gentlemen, the United States Presents: The Separation of Church and State."
On X, user @LolaFriedman, who has previously criticized the Trump administration, responded to an announcement of the Bible reading and asked: "What about separation of church and state?"
But user @Ty_McDonald, a Christian who has criticized the Trump administration, wrote: "Separation of Church and State has nothing to do with people in positions of power being Christian or acting on their faith. It is to outlaw the/a church from being in charge of any government decisions. It is a subtle distinction."
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What is the Separation of Church and State?
The separation of church and state is a principle ensuring that the United States government institutions and religious institutions operate independently of one another.
Together with the Bill of Rights, it means that the government cannot establish a national religion, or interfere with individuals' rights to practice their faith.
However, it has sparked debates and legal challenges about how much religion can influence government, and how much government influences religion, according to research database provider EBSCO.
Trump reading from the bible is unlikely to be an overstep when it comes to the separation of church and state, as individuals have the freedom to express their religion.
What Other US Presidents Have Been Religious?
Most previous presidents have been publicly affiliated with religion, most commonly Protestant denominations.
Only two—John F. Kennedy and Joe Biden—were Roman Catholic. And just three—Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson—were not affiliated with a specific religious tradition, according to Pew Research.
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