After President Donald Trump rambled, lied, and cursed for 77 minutes at the National Prayer Breakfast, a prominent Christian musician went to the piano to bless it. Michael W. Smith might insist he was just there to lead worship, but by pretending this was a normal prayer gathering he used his songs to worshipwash all Trump had just said.
Trump repeatedly cursed. He also lied a lot, such as claiming he won the 2020 presidential election. Then Smith sang his classic worship song “Agnus Dei.”
Trump also used the “prayer” gathering to air petty grievances. He called U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie a “moron” because the Kentucky Republican pushed for releasing the Epstein files that Trump is mentioned in tens of thousands of times. And he attacked the faith of Democrats. Then Smith sang the old hymn “Amazing Grace.”
Smith didn’t just follow Trump’s profane, unchristian speech. The National Prayer Breakfast also featured remarks from and praise for the authoritarian leaders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and El Salvador. And remarks by “prosperity gospel” preacher and MAGA grifter Paula White-Cain. And Pete Hegseth, who likes to call himself the “Secretary of War,” espoused false Christian Nationalistic claims before making the heretical claim that a soldier “finds eternal life” by dying for the country. While all of that happened, Smith sat up front on stage at the head table of honor.
Michael W. Smith (left) stands during a moment of prayer for President Donald Trump during the National Prayer Breakfast on February 5, 2026, at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C. (Molly Riley/White House/Public Domain)
After the profane service went on for three hours, Smith went to the piano as if it were just a normal worship service. As he used worship to whitewash the profanity, lies, lust for power, and heresy, he made himself an accessory after the fact. Acting as if everything was normal, Smith simply started singing. And then the same crowd that applauded Trump’s lies, cheered for dictators, and approved of Hegseth’s heresy gave the complicit singer a standing ovation.
This isn’t the first time Smith has performed at the National Prayer Breakfast. He did so once while Bill Clinton was in office and twice during George W. Bush’s presidency. While the NPB has always been more Christian Nationalist than I like for worship (or breakfast), this year’s gathering was in a whole different category. Yet, Smith just went on with the show as if nothing was wrong.
“Holy, holy are you, Lord God, Almighty. Worthy is the lamb,” Smith crooned, using worship to call evil “good.”
Screengrab as Michael W. Smith performs “Angus Dei” during the National Prayer Breakfast on February 5, 2026, at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C.
Rather than calling for repentance, he asked the crowd to join him in singing, making them his holy choir. He could’ve walked out and refused to play. He could’ve said something about what they had all just witnessed or he could’ve switched to a song of condemnation to call the crowd to repentance. Instead of suggesting this service was about “amazing grace” from a “holy, holy” God, he could’ve switched to something like his song “Lord, Have Mercy.”
“Jesus, I’ve forgotten the words that you have spoken,” he could’ve sung. “I have built an altar where I worship things of men.”
He could’ve offered that as a warning to the power-hungry crowd that cheered lies, violence, and heresy. But because of his worshipwashing of the gathering, those words now condemn him. That is, assuming he even remembers the tune.
Pardon my transgressions. Help me love you again. Lord, have mercy.
Brian Kaylor is president & editor-in-chief of Word&Way. You can follow him on Bluesky and YouTube. His latest book is The Bible According to Christian Nationalists: Exploiting Scripture for Political Power.
