Days after a social media image depicting him as Jesus drew accusations of blasphemy from his own religious base, President Donald Trump has recorded a scripture reading for a weeklong marathon at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, organizers and the White House said, giving the president a carefully chosen platform to reset his standing with Christian supporters as the event’s opening nears.

Trump recorded his segment in the Oval Office earlier this week, reading from 2 Chronicles 7:14, a passage long favored on the religious right as a call to national repentance and divine healing.

His recitation is scheduled to air Tuesday between 6 and 7 p.m. Eastern, alongside prerecorded segments from former Housing Secretary Ben Carson and homeschool advocate Heidi St. John.

The event, called America Reads the Bible, runs Sunday through Saturday, with readers working straight through from Genesis to Revelation in 12-hour daily blocks at the Museum of the Bible.

Organizer Bunni Pounds, a conservative activist and former Texas congressional candidate, said the project has been in development for more than a year and was conceived in part as an invitation for leaders to “humble themselves in front of the American people” before the country’s 250th anniversary.

The White House, in a statement, praised the initiative as a chance to honor scripture, renew faith, and rededicate the country as one nation under God.

A separate presidential message released the same day tied the Bible to the nation’s founding, invoking Columbus, John Winthrop, the Northwest Ordinance, and John Adams.

The passage Trump recorded carries particular political weight.

The verse 2 Chronicles 7:14, which promises that God will forgive and heal the land if his people humble themselves and turn from wickedness, has been a fixture of evangelical political rhetoric for decades.

Matthew D. Taylor, a visiting scholar at Georgetown’s Center on Faith and Justice, called it a hallmark citation of the religious right.

At the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, the founder of Cowboys for Trump prayed the verse through a bullhorn while the crowd responded with chants of support for Trump. Biblical scholars note the passage originally concerns a covenant with ancient Israel, not modern America.

Last Sunday, Trump posted a since-deleted AI-generated image on Truth Social, appearing to show him as Jesus performing a healing, drawing rare rebukes from evangelical and Catholic allies before the president removed it and said he had thought the figure was a doctor.

The reader roster reinforces the administration’s imprint on the week.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy are slated to participate, as are Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, who will read from Isaiah 43, and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, who will read Proverbs 31.

Organizers told the Times that dozens of Democratic members of Congress were invited and none accepted; the nearly 500 participants are overwhelmingly evangelical and Republican. 

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