Trump’s national – A national prayer festival scheduled for May 17, 2026, on the National Mall is billed as apolitical and open to all faiths, but its roster includes speakers with a history of disparaging Catholics and Muslims—alongside Trump administration and congressional fi
When President Donald Trump’s administration opened plans for an all-day prayer festival on the National Mall. officials framed it as open to Americans of all faiths and described it as apolitical.. But the event’s lineup is already drawing sharp criticism. fueled by a history of inflammatory remarks toward Catholics and Muslims from several scheduled speakers.
The nine-hour event. “Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer. Praise & Thanksgiving. ” is set for Sunday and is tied to the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.. The festival will run on the National Mall and include 14 religious speakers, with all but three of them evangelical protestants.. The White House is also placing senior political figures on the stage: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) are all expected to give remarks.
Funding for the event is described as coming in part from millions of dollars in taxpayer money.. When asked about a price tag, a White House spokesperson deferred to the event organizers.. A spokesperson for Freedom 250. the public-private partnership leading Trump’s events marking the country’s 250th anniversary. did not respond to a request for comment.
The non-evangelical speakers scheduled for Sunday’s festival include an Orthodox Jew and two Catholics. All three are described as partisan conservatives who serve on Trump’s religious liberty commission. There are no speakers from mainline Protestant or historically Black Protestant traditions.
Several speakers are also tied to past comments that have targeted Muslims and Catholics. with particular mention of Pope Leo XIV.. Among those scheduled is Eric Metaxas. a conservative radio host and author whose trajectory is described as shifting from respected scholar to a MAGA figure.. In March. Metaxas called Islam “incompatible with American values” and said that it is “a FACT.” Last month. he said Islam is “evil” and that it “is NOT a religion.”
Metaxas has repeatedly attacked Pope Leo XIV.. Last month. he dismissed the pontiff’s words as “pious blather” and “Marxist garbage. ” and referred to the pope’s papacy as “leftist corruption infiltrating the church.” In March. Metaxas proposed that the pope stop saying “idiotic and incendiary things designed to virtue-signal that he hates Donald Trump.”
Another slated speaker. Jack Graham. the senior pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano. Texas. has also been criticized for his repeated attacks on Pope Leo XIV and denunciations of Islam.. In March. Graham dismissed concerns raised by the pope about the Iran war as “total nonsense” coming from “a false office.” Last month. he condemned the pope’s criticism of the war as “socialist Marxists (sic) pablum” from someone who “clearly does not read the Bible.” He also reposted other criticisms of Pope Leo XIV for calling for co-existence between Christianity and Islam.
Graham has also denounced Islam. He reposted a post last month that allegedly quotes Winston Churchill calling Islam a “retrograde force.” He also claimed that the “intrinsic belief of Islam is a seedbed for radicalized demonized terrorism” in a December 2015 post.
The festival’s schedule also includes remarks expected from Evangelist Franklin Graham.. The longtime Christian leader and Trump ally is expected to speak via a video message.. The comments attributed to him include remarks in 2017 that the “threat” of Islam is that it teaches its followers to “murder and rape. ” along with a 2014 demand that all Muslims be held accountable for the crimes of Islamic terrorists.
Not everyone is convinced the event matches the message of religious freedom.. Rachel Laser. the president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. scoffed at the idea that Sunday’s festival is about honoring religious freedom.. Laser said it is a “government-sponsored event on public property that combines only Christian faith leaders and government officials. ” describing it as less a “Jubilee of Prayer” than a “Jubilee of Christian Nationalism.” She added that if Trump and allies truly cared about honoring the country’s legacy of religious freedom. they would be celebrating church-state separation.. Instead. Laser said. they are “threaten[ing] this foundational principle by advancing a Christian Nationalist crusade to impose one narrow version of Christianity on all Americans.”
The roster of government officials and religious figures is set against a lineup that. as described. centers evangelical protestants while leaving out mainline Protestants and historically Black Protestant traditions. and pairs that structure with multiple speakers who have previously disparaged Muslims and Pope Leo XIV.
For now. the administration’s public framing remains that the event is apolitical and meant to be open to Americans of all faiths. even as the scheduled speakers’ past statements are giving critics a new target—and raising the question of how such a message can coexist with the tone found in the histories now being highlighted.
Trump prayer event National Mall 250th anniversary Declaration of Independence Rededicate 250 religious liberty commission Pete Hegseth Marco Rubio Mike Johnson Eric Metaxas Jack Graham Franklin Graham Rachel Laser Americans United for Separation of Church and State