At a largely Christian event that brought hymns and prayer to the heart of the Capitol building, President Donald Trump bemoaned America’s trend away from faith, calling it “one of the biggest problems” and saying, “we have to bring religion back. We have to bring it back much stronger.”
The president spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast, held in Statuary Hall on Thursday morning.
“There could be nothing more beautiful than for us to gather in this majestic place — it is majestic — and reaffirm that America is and will always be one nation under God,” the president said.
Some in Congress had objected to having the ceremony inside the Capitol itself, with members of the Congressional Freethought Caucus describing it as a “sectarian event.”
Trump spent part of his remarks on questions of mortality, reflecting on the assassination attempt against him last year in Butler, Pa. and the plane crash last week in Washington, saying no one knows how much time they have left to live.
He said the assassination attempt had brought his son, Donald Trump Jr., “25 percent” more religion, joking “if you know him, that’s a lot.”
“God was watching me,” he said. “I believed in God, but I feel much more strongly about it.”
He floated an overhaul of the air traffic control system and riffed on the early weeks of his administration, touting efforts to crack down on immigration and block transgender women from playing women’s sports. “I really believe you can’t be happy without religion,” he said in closing.
Other speakers appeared to stick closer to their prepared remarks and readings of scripture.
Sens. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and Roger Marshall, R-Kan., served as honorary co-chairs of the breakfast, which is hosted by the National Prayer Breakfast Foundation.
Hassan celebrated the 73rd year of the longstanding tradition, which brought together members of Congress from both sides of the aisle and several different faith traditions.
“The moment we leave here, the difficult, divisive challenges of our times will engulf us yet again,” Hassan said. She prayed for civic leaders to be reminded of servant leadership and for the wisdom to listen to constituents.
Marshall thanked Trump for “words of encouragement and hope,” and noted the interfaith nature of the event, saying that prayers and readings highlighted the “beauty in our individual faiths and the strength of our shared purpose.”
Rep. André Carson, D-Ind., shared quotes from the Quran. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., read the Gayatri Mantra, asking for enlightenment and guidance toward truth. Rep. David Kustoff, R-Tenn., spoke on a portion of the Torah in which the Israelites escape the Egyptian army.
In addition to congressional speakers, the event featured hymns sung by the Naval Academy Glee Club.
The crowd, which did not quite fill the rows of chairs set out in the hall, joined in the chorus of “Amazing Grace” and “Oh God, Our Help In Ages Past.”
Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., devoted much of her prayer to asking for help, fortitude, and protection for Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and their families. She said that their children and grandchildren did not choose the “adversity” of politics.
Last week, members of the Congressional Freethought Caucus wrote to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., with concerns about the breakfast, including its “association” with the Fellowship Foundation, which previously sponsored the event.
The caucus is devoted to protecting the “secular character” of government by “adhering to the strict Constitutional principle of the separation of church and state,” according to its mission statement.
The letter called out the use of Statuary Hall as “inappropriate” and asked Johnson to “ensure that Congress refrains from appearing to endorse sectarian activities,” arguing the event retains an “alignment” of outlook with the Fellowship Foundation, which it described as opposing LGTBQ rights. Reps. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., Mark Pocan, D-Wis., and Sean Casten, D-Ill., along with Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., signed the letter.
Johnson, for his part, celebrated the return of the breakfast to its “traditional location” in the Capitol. The event was also held in Statuary Hall last year, having been held in the Capitol Visitor Center in 2023.
The prayer breakfast was long hosted at a local hotel with a much larger guest list, before it was taken over by the National Prayer Breakfast Foundation.
Trump later Thursday appeared at a second prayer event held at the Washington Hilton.
Margaret Kibben offered the benediction for the Capitol breakfast, continuing to act in the post of House chaplain despite reporting from Punchbowl News and other outlets last month that Johnson hopes to replace her. The Senate Chaplain, Barry Black, gave the call to worship.
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