Photo by Edoardo Cuoghi on Unsplash
President Trump’s over-the-top “Presidential Message on Holy Week, 2025” appears to show the White House’s desire to institutionalize Christian nationalism.
In language more befitting a pulpit than the Oval Office, Trump’s official message begins: “This Holy Week, Melania and I join in prayer with Christians celebrating the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ — the living Son of God who conquered death, freed us from sin, and unlocked the gates of Heaven for all of humanity.”
More ominously, the announcement stakes out a strong stance against the constitutional separation of state and church, stating, “This Holy Week, my Administration renews its promise to defend the Christian faith in our schools, military, workplaces, hospitals, and halls of government.”
The presidential message, sounding far more papal than presidential, exhorts the following Christian doctrine: “During this sacred week, we acknowledge that the glory of Easter Sunday cannot come without the sacrifice Jesus Christ made on the cross.” The message belabors the crucifixion and says that through Jesus’ suffering, we have redemption, through his death humans are “forgiven of our sins” and through his alleged resurrection, “we have hope of eternal life.”
The overt iteration of extreme Christian dogma in a presidential message directed only to the 62 percent of Americans who are at least nominally Christian (few of whom attend church even a few times a year) signals fealty to Trump’s white evangelical Christian base.
Prior to these statements of doctrinaire Christian belief, Trump has signaled his support for Project 2025 and Christian nationalism by a number of his appointments to the cabinet or high-ranking posts. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt routinely prays in front of the press before each press briefing, such as last week, when she intoned: “Lord Jesus, please give us the strength, the knowledge, the ability to articulate our words and have fun and be confident. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
Not content to issue an unprecedented formal Christian message, Trump also piously declaimed over his social media site, “This Holy Week, Christians around the World remember the Crucifixion of God’s Only Begotten Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and, on Easter Sunday, we celebrate His Glorious Resurrection and proclaim, as Christians have done for nearly 2,000 years, ‘HE IS RISEN!’”
After wishing “Christians everywhere a Happy and a very Blessed Holiday,” Trump’s social media post added: “America is a Nation of Believers. We need God, we want God, and, with His help, we will make our Nation Stronger, Safer, Greater, more Prosperous, and more United than ever before. Thank you, and HAPPY EASTER.”
FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor points out: “Contrary to Trump’s assertion, America is a nation of believers and nonbelievers. We, too, are part of ‘We the People’ and the president is supposed to represent us all. The presidential podium should not be a pulpit that privileges only certain believers.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is the largest national association of freethinkers, representing atheists, agnostics, and others who form their opinions about religion based on reason rather than faith, tradition, or authority. Founded in Wisconsin in 1978 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, FFRF has more than 42,000 members, including members in every state and the District of Columbia.
