Thousands flocked to the National Mall in Washington for an
America-themed prayer rally
[May 18, 2026]
By TIFFANY STANLEY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of people streamed onto the National Mall
for a daylong prayer rally Sunday billed as a “rededication of our
country as One Nation under God.”
Against the backdrop of the Washington Monument, worship music blared
from a stage that made clear the event’s Christian focus. Arched
stained-glass windows, set underneath grand columns resembling a federal
building, depicted the nation’s founders alongside a white cross.
Most speakers celebrated Christianity’s ties to American history, a
blending of ideas that critics flagged ahead of the prayer gathering as
supporting Christian nationalism.
President Donald Trump read a passage of Scripture in a video shown at
the rally. Filmed in the Oval Office, it was the same footage used
during a marathon Bible-reading event last month. The verses from 2
Chronicles are often cited by those who believe America was founded as a
Christian nation.
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and
pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways,” Trump read,
“then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal
their land.”
Other top Republicans, including Vice President JD Vance, Defense
Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and House Speaker
Mike Johnson, R-La., were also on the schedule as part of the
celebrations this year marking 250 years of U.S. independence.
Many names on the Rededicate 250 program were among Trump’s longtime
evangelical supporters, including Paula White-Cain of the White House
Faith Office and evangelist Franklin Graham of Samaritan’s Purse.
“We are deeply concerned that what is really being rededicated is a
nation to a very narrow and ideological part of the Christian faith that
betrays our nation’s fundamental commitment to religious freedom,” said
the Rev. Adam Russell Taylor, a Baptist minister who leads the
progressive Christian organization Sojourners.
The conservative Christian lineup featured guests who often argue that
the United States was founded as a Christian nation, a narrative
disputed by many historians and other religious traditions.
Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, director of the Religious Action Center of
Reform Judaism, noted the religious diversity of early America,
including Jews, Muslims and Indigenous people. “I want to shine a light
on America’s history as a nation that welcomes, celebrates, and protects
people of all faiths and those of no faith,” Pesner said.
Attendees believe prayer event is significant
Many in the crowd wore Trump hats and patriotic colors, joining the
festivities under a sweltering sun.
“It’s all about Jesus,” said Denny Smith, 72, of Rhode Island, who
rented a motorized scooter to traverse the National Mall.
Retha Bond, 58 and from southern Illinois, also heard Trump speak not
far away on Jan. 6, 2021. She said she did not join the protesters who
rioted later that day at the Capitol but has remained a steadfast Trump
supporter.
“I’m not saying Trump is the savior,” Bond said. She added that "this is
one of the most important things that could be going on in the world,
for us to rededicate our nation back to God.”
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A person prays during Rededicate 250, a mostly conservative
Christian prayer gathering in honor of the United States' 250th
anniversary, on the National Mall, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in
Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Speakers mentioned the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk from the
stage. Kirk's activism has been a powerful example for Alessandra
Seawright, 15, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, who came to Rededicate 250 with
her mother.
“I think we just need more of this in our country, and we just need to
share the word of the Lord,” she said. “We love going to events like
this.”
They also attended Kirk’s memorial service, which mixed Christian
worship and political messages. Events like these, Seawright said, help
her feel less alone in her conservative Christian beliefs.
Prayer event spurs protest
Hegseth, who has infused Christian language and worship with his role
leading the Pentagon, asked the gathering in a video to pray to “our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Referencing George Washington’s faith, he
said, “Let us pray without ceasing. Let us pray for our nation on bended
knee.”
Orthodox Jewish Rabbi Meir Soloveichik was the only non-Christian
religious leader listed on the program. To applause, he told the crowd,
“Antisemitism is utterly un-American” — a seeming reference to debates
dividing the right.
Soloveichik serves on the Trump administration’s Religious Liberty
Commission along with White-Cain, Graham and Cardinal Timothy Dolan and
Bishop Robert Barron, Catholic clerics also featured on the program.
The event was organized by Freedom 250, a public-private partnership
backed by the White House. Congressional Democrats have questioned the
nonprofit’s structure and finances, which they see as a Trump-controlled
end run around a separate commission charted by Congress a decade ago to
prepare semiquincentennial events.
Progressive groups staged counterprogramming. Among them were the
Freedom From Religion Foundation, which advocates a strict separation of
church and state, and the Christian organization Faithful America. The
two groups displayed a large balloon near the mall of a Trump-like
golden calf, in a biblical reference to idolatry.
On Thursday evening, the Interfaith Alliance projected protest slogans
onto an exterior wall of the National Gallery of Art. “Democracy not
theocracy,” said one. Another said: “The separation of church and state
is good for both.”
___
Associated Press writer Peter Smith in Pittsburgh contributed to this
report.
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