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.
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A visually impaired person feels QAnon patches on the outfit of Micki Larson-Olson, who was convicted on a misdemeanor charge for her actions on January 6, 2021, when supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol, 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)
A person worships to Christian music at 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)
Dorothea and Billy Ohlandt, from North Carolina, arrive at 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)
The stage is seen ahead of 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)
People worship to Christian music at 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)
People worship to Christian music at 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)
People worship to Christian music at 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)
Secretary of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, of La., Secretary of State Marco Rubio Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C. Chief of Protocol of the United States Ambassador Monica Crowley Dr. Ben Carson, Founder and Chairman of the American Cornerstone Institute Major General Patrick Brady, USA (Ret.) Medal of Honor Recipient and retired United States Army Major General President of Hillsdale College Dr. Larry Arnn speaks during the Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
A guest attends the Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Dorothea Ohlandt, from North Carolina, arrives at 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)
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)
A guest attends the Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Guest attend the Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
A guest attends the Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
A guest attends the Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
A guest attends the Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
A guest dressed as Abraham Lincoln attends the Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
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.
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.”
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.
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.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
A visually impaired person feels QAnon patches on the outfit of Micki Larson-Olson, who was convicted on a misdemeanor charge for her actions on January 6, 2021, when supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol, 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)
A person worships to Christian music at 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)
Dorothea and Billy Ohlandt, from North Carolina, arrive at 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)
The stage is seen ahead of 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)
People worship to Christian music at 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)
People worship to Christian music at 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)
People worship to Christian music at 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)
Secretary of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, of La., Secretary of State Marco Rubio Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C. Chief of Protocol of the United States Ambassador Monica Crowley Dr. Ben Carson, Founder and Chairman of the American Cornerstone Institute Major General Patrick Brady, USA (Ret.) Medal of Honor Recipient and retired United States Army Major General President of Hillsdale College Dr. Larry Arnn speaks during the Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
A guest attends the Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Dorothea Ohlandt, from North Carolina, arrives at 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)
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)
A guest attends the Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Guest attend the Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
A guest attends the Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
A guest attends the Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
A guest attends the Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
A guest dressed as Abraham Lincoln attends the Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
