Thousands gather on National Mall for America-themed prayer rally

Thousands flock to National Mall for America-themed prayer rally

Thousands of people streamed onto the National Mall in Washington on Sunday for a daylong America-themed prayer rally billed as a “rededication of our country as One Nation under God,” event organizers said as worship music blared from a stage near the Washington Monument.

The rally’s staging made clear that it was centered on Christian worship. Worship music played from the platform, and decorative stained-glass windows set beneath grand columns showed depictions of the nation’s founders alongside a white cross, with many speakers framing the event through Christianity’s ties to U.S. history.

President Donald Trump appeared in the program through a video shown at the rally. In the broadcast, Trump read from scripture from 2 Chronicles, including: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways,” and Trump added, “then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

The Christian focus of the gathering extended beyond Trump. Other top Republicans were listed as part of the celebrations this year marking 250 years of U.S. independence, including Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

Many of the names on the “Rededicate 250” program reflected Trump’s longtime evangelical alliances, including Paula White-Cain of the White House Faith Office and Franklin Graham, an evangelist associated with Samaritan’s Purse. The lineup also included conservative Christian figures whose message aligns with arguments that the United States was founded as a Christian nation—an interpretation the AP reported that many historians and other religious traditions dispute.

Critics of the event said the program would not be a broad civic renewal but instead would rededicate the country to a narrow version of Christianity. The Rev. Adam Russell Taylor, a Baptist minister who leads the progressive Christian organization Sojourners, said the organizers’ framing raised concern 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.”

Religious diversity advocates who spoke in the AP report argued that early American society included multiple faiths. Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, said early America reflected religious diversity “including Jews, Muslims and Indigenous people,” and Pesner added, “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.”

Some attendees described the rally as spiritually significant and a reaffirmation of their political and religious commitments. Denny Smith, 72, of Rhode Island, said, “It’s all about Jesus,” describing the event as important and noting he rented a motorized scooter to move around the Mall. Retha Bond, 58, of southern Illinois, said she had watched Trump’s remarks elsewhere in the past and stayed aligned with his political message, adding, “I’m not saying Trump is the savior,” and saying the event offered “one of the most important things that could be going on in the world, for us to rededicate our nation back to God.”

The program also included remarks from political and religious figures and referenced broader debates dividing the right. In a video message, Hegseth asked the gathering to pray to “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” and he also told attendees to pray “without ceasing” while saying, “Let us pray for our nation on bended knee,” referencing George Washington’s faith. Orthodox Jewish Rabbi Meir Soloveichik was the only non-Christian religious leader listed, and he told the crowd, “Antisemitism is utterly un-American,” a line the AP described as appearing to reference disputes within conservative circles.

In addition to programming on the Mall, the event triggered counterprogramming nearby from progressive groups. Freedom From Religion Foundation, which advocates a strict separation of church and state, and Faithful America staged demonstrations, including displaying a large balloon near the Mall of a Trump-like golden calf in a biblical reference to idolatry. Separately, the Interfaith Alliance projected protest slogans onto an exterior wall of the National Gallery of Art, including “Democracy not theocracy” and “The separation of church and state is good for both,” the AP reported. The event’s organizer was Freedom 250, a public-private partnership backed by the White House that Democrats said raised questions about structure and finances.