The Freedom From Religion Foundation condemns President-elect Donald Trump’s shameless mixing of state, church and personal profiteering — actually involving a bible.
The so-called “Inauguration Day Bible” is available to purchase in a limited run of $69.99. It joins the original “God Bless the USA” Bible that Trump has endorsed and promoted, only it costs $10 more. And what a deal: You can get one signed by Trump for “only” $1,000.
The special edition bibles, embossed with Trump’s name, and earlier versions, are blatant examples of Christian nationalism’s conflation of Christianity with U.S. nationalism. They feature the King James translation, the text of the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Pledge of Allegiance and the lyrics to the chorus of the ballad “God Bless the USA,” described as Lee Greenwood’s “patriotic anthem and hit song.”
Last March, Trump appeared in a video marketing the original “God Bless the USA Bible,” professing that “we must make America pray again,” that “every home needs to have bibles readily available” and that “religion and Christianity are the biggest things missing from this country.” The “God Bless the USA” website hawks the edition as “the only Bible endorsed by President Trump” and includes a disclaimer that Trump does not have any control over their products and is only a paid endorser.
The glaringly obvious reason why Trump promotes these bibles: the royalties. As of August 2024, it was estimated Trump already had raked in $300,000.
Trump brazenly appealed to Christians to help him regain political power by pandering to Christian nationalists. The paid bible endorsement came after Trump promised, in a February speech to the National Religious Broadcasters, to return political power to Christians, saying, “If I get in, you’re going to be using that power at a level that you’ve never used before.”
Notably, Trump apparel, headwear and accessories are also linked on the “God Bless the USA” website. “The Day God Intervened Bible” is also available for $69.99. The title refers to the unsuccessful assassination attempt on Trump in July, after which Christian nationalists proclaimed it was an act of God that spared Trump’s life.
Ironically, the Trump Bibles are printed in China, a country Trump has continually complained about. In 2019, Trump exempted bibles from tariffs he imposed on goods from China after Christian organizations argued that a tariff on bibles would threaten the religious liberty of Christians. Bible publishers also complained that the tariffs would raise the cost of bibles in the United States.
As usual with the Trump administration, religion got a pass. And in this case, Trump is also enriching himself.
“The contrast between President-elect Trump and the late President Jimmy Carter — a modest, self-professed born again who supported separation of church and state and never used his office for personal profit — could not be more pronounced,” notes Annie Laurie Gaylor, FFRF co-president. “I would defy Elmer Gantry himself to come up with a more transparent and flagrant flim-flam.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with more than 40,000 members and several chapters across the country. Its purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
