On Thursday, February 6, President Donald Trump spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast held in the Capitol Building. He mentioned that surviving two assassination attempts last year had strengthened his belief in the power of God, urging the American people to “bring God back.”
This event attended by President Trump continues a tradition in Washington that has spanned over 70 years, bringing together lawmakers from both parties for a fellowship gathering. President Trump participated in two prayer breakfasts on that day.
In February 1953, Dwight D. Eisenhower became the first president to attend the Prayer Breakfast, with each subsequent president delivering a speech at the event.
During his speech at the Prayer Breakfast, President Trump expressed, “Since the founding of the United States, faith in God has always been the source of strength in the hearts of our people. We must bring religion back; we must make religious beliefs stronger. This has been the biggest problem we have faced for a long time.”
“I truly believe that without religion, without faith, you cannot achieve happiness. Let us re-embrace religion, let our lives return to God,” he stated.
Recalling a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a bullet narrowly missed taking his life, President Trump told lawmakers and attendees, “I feel like something changed in me after that incident.”
He continued, saying, “I feel stronger now. I have always had faith in God, but now I feel my faith in God is even stronger.” He later spoke at a prayer breakfast organized by a private group at a hotel, expressing gratitude that “it was God who saved me.”
The President, a non-denominational Christian, emphasized that religious freedom is a part of the “bedrock of American life” and called on people to protect religious freedom with “absolute devotion.”
At Capitol Hill, Trump urged “unity,” and an hour later, he attended a second event held in Washington, DC, where he announced the formation of a Religious Freedom Committee.
He also disclosed plans to appoint new Attorney General Pam Bondi to lead a special task force aimed at “eliminating bias against Christians.”
President Trump further announced the establishment of the White House Faith Office, led by Paula White-Cain, a long-time pastor in the independent charismatic movement. White-Cain had supported Trump early in his 2016 presidential campaign and led the “Faith and Opportunity Initiative” in 2019, offering recommendations on how faith organizations can collaborate with the federal government.
At Thursday’s Prayer Breakfast, White-Cain praised Trump as the “greatest advocate of religion, faith, and God” among all the presidents.
Trump also reviewed efforts in his first administration to cancel Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs and restrict transgender participation in women’s sports.
He stated, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but in the past two weeks, we have rid ourselves of the ‘woke’ movement; the ‘woke’ movement is gone for good.”
President Trump also addressed the recent tragic aviation accidents, promising to revamp the air traffic control system to prevent such tragedies from happening again.
He mentioned, “I think it will be put to very good use. I believe what we need to do for the future is build an outstanding computer system for our control towers that is brand new, not patched together old ground-based that tries to connect ground systems to satellite systems.”
Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and Republican Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas were the honorary co-chairs of this year’s Prayer Breakfast.
(This article referenced reports from the Associated Press)