President Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 47th president was filled with religious imagery that often projected God’s blessing on Trump’s promises of American domination, expansion, and nationalism.
The ceremony began with prayers from two longtime Trump allies: Catholic Archbishop Timothy Dolan and Rev. Franklin Graham.
Dolan’s prayer largely eschewed partisanship: He invoked the memory of Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, Gen. George Patton, and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. He prayed for blessings on former President Joe Biden, the military, and the nation.
“God of our fathers, in your wisdom you set man to govern your creatures, to govern in holiness and justice, to render justice with integrity. Give our leader wisdom,” Dolan prayed. “Please, God, bless America. Please, mend her every flaw. You are the God in whom we trust, who reigns forever and ever. Amen!”
By contrast, Graham began his invocation addressing Trump and implied that God had uniquely chosen Trump and the United States:
“Mr. President, the last four years there were times I’m sure you thought it was pretty dark, but look what God has done,” Graham said as he began his invocation. “We praise him and give him glory.”
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Graham also thanked God for helping Trump overcome his enemies.
“Father, when Donald Trump’s enemies thought he was down and out, you and you alone saved his life and raised him up with strength and power by your mighty hand,” Graham said. “We pray for President Trump, that you watch over, protect, guide, direct him, give him your wisdom from your throne on high. We ask that you bless him and that our nation also be blessed through him.”
Trump and other speakers said God saved his life from the assassination attempt in July 2024.
“My life was saved for a reason,” Trump said. “I was saved by God to make America great again.”
Trump swore his presidential oath on the same two Bibles he used in his 2017 inauguration — not a special edition Trump Bible as had been rumored. He did not place his hand over the books — something officials often do but is not required as part of the presidential oath.
In his inauguration speech, Trump declared “the golden age of America begins right now.” He said he would “totally reverse” the nation’s immigration policy, improve its response to natural disasters, end education policies that teach children “to hate our country,” and overall, “give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy, and indeed, their freedom.”
While promising “hope, prosperity, safety, and peace for citizens of every race, religion, color, and creed,” Trump outlined several of his plans for executive orders, including his plan to declare a national emergency at the southern border and begin mass deportations.
He also proclaimed, “It will henceforth be the position of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female.”
The Washington Post reported that Trump will illegally attempt to end birthright citizenship, a violation of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.
Trump has promised to sign hundreds of executive orders in the coming days, including during a celebration held tonight at Capital One Arena.
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The inauguration closed with three more prayers, from Jewish, Protestant, and Catholic faith leaders. Imam Husham Al-Husainy of the Karbalaa Islamic Education Center was originally scheduled to speak, but for unknown reasons did not. Because of the cold weather, the inauguration was moved indoors, the schedule was condensed, and there were minor technical difficulties.
“Unite us around foundational biblical values of life and liberty of service and sacrifice and especially of faith and morality, which George Washington called the indispensable supports of American prosperity,” prayed Yeshiva University’s president, Rabbi Ari Berman. He also asked for God’s blessing on Trump and Vice President JD Vance, peace in the Middle East, and an end to “unrest” in “schools and college campuses.”
“Stir within us the confidence to rise to this moment, for while we trust in God, God’s trust is in us the American people,” he prayed. “America is called to greatness, to be a beacon of light and a mover of history.”
Pastor Lorenzo Sewell — who got involved with the Trump campaign in 2023 and spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention — thanked God for a “millimeter miracle,” in reference to Trump’s survival of the July assassination, when a bullet from a would-be assassin grazed Trump’s head at a rally.
“We are grateful that you are the one that have called him for such a time as this, that America would begin to dream again,” he prayed.
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Rev. Frank Mann, a retired Catholic priest from Brooklyn, appealed to God to grant the newly inaugurated leaders “the clarity of mind to navigate the challenges that lie ahead and the compassion to serve all citizens with fairness and integrity.”
“Inspire our new leaders to be champions for the vulnerable and advocates for those whose voices are often silenced,” prayed Mann. “May they pursue policies that promote the well-being of all, seeking to build bridges that will foster unity and belonging.”
But despite that note of unity, he ended his prayer with an appeal to Trump’s “Make America Great Again.”
“Give him the strength to guide our nation along the path that will make America great again. Let us go forth now with these words of President Trump’s emblazoned on our hearts: As long as we have pride in our beliefs, courage in our convictions, and faith in our God, then we will not fail.”
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