05/17/2026
President Trump Calls To “Rededicate America”
Back to God May 17, 2026
President Donald Trump announced at the 74th annual National Prayer Breakfast in January that on May 17, 2026, there will be a major prayer event held on the National Mall to “rededicate America as one nation under God.”
The special prayer event is part of America’s 250th birthday celebration titled, “Rededicate 250: National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise, and Thanksgiving.” The 12-hour sacred dedication event promises that “In speech, song, and storytelling, we will bear witness to the extraordinary story of how God has powerfully and wonderfully shaped the United States of America — remembering the people, sacrifices, and defining moments in which God has powerfully manifested Himself in our history.”
President Trump has invited Americans from across the country to come together on the National Mall on that day to pray, praise, and give thanks. During the announcement, he noted a spiritual renewal and rising church attendance in America. He praised this trend declaring that “to be a great nation…you have to have faith” and “you have to have God.”
The Continental Congress had declared May 17, 1776, a national day of fasting and prayer before the Founders signed the Declaration of Independence.
“Almost 250 years after our Founding Fathers took one of the greatest leaps of faith in human history…it reminds us that prayers strengthen, prayers heal, prayer empowers and prayer saves,” said President Trump. “Quite simply, prayer is America’s superpower.”
In his hour-long speech, President Trump also made a second announcement that the Department of Education has new guidance intended to protect the right of teachers and students to pray and express their faith in public schools.
“Public schools must permit students to pray privately and quietly by themselves, whether in class, at an athletic event, or before a meal,” reads the guidance. “Students may also pray in a speaking voice on the same terms as any other student might engage in non-religious speech.”
The new guidance also stipulated that students must be allowed to express their religious faith in assignments, and at school events when they are permitted to speak. Also, school employees can pray at work on the same terms as the students, states the guidance.
The Department of Education ultimately directed schools take a “general principle of neutrality toward religion” as not to prefer or discriminate between religious and secular groups, activities, or expression.
