This Sunday (May 17), the administration led by a guy who hasn’t attended a Sunday worship service in 4.5 years will put on a “worship” service on the National Mall. Called “Rededicate 250,” the event is supposedly part of the efforts to celebrate the United States’ Semiquincentennial, but the festivities have been hijacked by the Trump administration to create a partisan, sectarian event. And it’s based on a poor understanding of history.
With the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence nearing, the “Rededicate 250” event is being cast as “a national jubilee of prayer, praise, and thanksgiving.” It’s being planned and led by a group called “Freedom 250,” which is already a big red MAGA hat flag.
A decade ago, Congress created America250, a bipartisan, government-funded nonprofit to lead the 250th birthday celebrations. But President Donald Trump apparently didn’t like that the congressional commission overseeing the effort was pushing back against some of his plans. So in December he created Freedom 250 to instead lead various festivities, including this Sunday’s day of prayer and a crypto-sponsored Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts match on the White House lawn next month on Trump’s birthday (and somehow the UFC fight will be the less profane and more historically appropriate of the two).
With his own nonprofit outside of congressional oversight, Trump has been able to plan and monetize U.S. Semiquincentennial events that lack bipartisanship, historical accuracy, or financial accountability. Yet, this group’s events are now promoted by various government agencies, using taxpayer resources to advance the MAGA and Christian Nationalist agenda of this quasi-official group that supplanted the official commission. Making matters worse, his Freedom 250 group is partnering with various Christian Nationalist groups, like Hillsdale College, Moms for Liberty, Museum of the Bible, National Religious Broadcasters, and David Barton’s Wallbuilders. And as companies seek to find favor with Trump, it’s also receiving sponsorship funds from John Deere, Lockheed Martin, Mastercard, Palantir, UFC, United Airlines, and others (which has led to calls for boycotts, especially because of their support for Sunday’s “worship” rally).
The Washington Monument is illuminated with images as part of the 250th anniversary celebration for the United States on Dec. 31, 2025. (Rahmat Gul/Associated Press)
The lineup for Sunday’s “prayer” event quickly confirms the concerns this would be a partisan event. The only political figures speaking are Republicans, including Secretary of Pulp Fiction Pete Hegseth, Speaker Mike Johnson, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Senator Tim Scott. Additionally, the list of selected preachers is basically a who’s who of Trump’s court preachers, including Franklin Graham, Paula White-Cain, Lou Engle, Robert Jeffress, Jack Graham, Jentezen Franklin, Lorenzo Sewell, Gary Hamrick, Jonathan Falwell, and Bishop Robert Barron. Throw in Eric Metaxas, one of the family members from Duck Dynasty, and anti-abortion activist Alveda King, and it’s quite clear that this event is as lopsided theologically as it is politically (and ironically doesn’t include the faith traditions of most of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, who were largely deists and what we now call mainline Protestants). Oh, and of course, there will be several musical guests there to worshipwash the Christian Nationalism, including Chris Tomlin, a Hillsong musician, and choirs from Hillsdale College and Liberty University (along with various military bands).
Far from a unifying, bipartisan, and pluralistic event representative of the diversity of America, the unofficial “worship” gathering on the National Mall won’t just be competing with actual church services but also with reality. And to justify this Christian Nationalist takeover of the Semiquincentennial (in hopes of a Christian Nationalist makeover for the nation), the Freedom 250 organizers and supporters are cooking up an inaccurate view of American history. So this issue of A Public Witness unpacks why the gathering was planned for May 17 and the fight to remake the past and present.
May the Seventeenth Be With You
The date for Freedom 250’s “national jubilee of prayer, praise, and thanksgiving” is no coincidence. It’s an attempt to redefine the United States as having been created as a “Christian” nation.
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