‘America was founded on faith’: Trump says Ed Dept to issue new guidance protecting prayer in public schools

The Department of Education will soon issue new guidance protecting the right to prayer in public schools, President Donald Trump announced Monday during remarks on religious liberty in education at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C.

Speaking at a Religious Liberty Commission hearing, Trump noted that while the Bible was historically “found in every classroom,” many schools today instead indoctrinate students with “anti-religious propaganda” and punish them for their beliefs.

The new guidance will support students like Hannah Allen, who was told by her Texas principal she couldn’t pray in view of other students, and another student who attended Monday’s remarks, whose school forced him to read a book about gender ideology to a kindergarten student against his family’s religious beliefs.

Trump touted his other education efforts in recent months, including cutting federal funding for schools pushing “transgender insanity” on youth, banning the “chemical and surgical mutilation of our children,” and getting “men out of women’s sports.”  In an effort to protect parental rights, “we’re fighting for school choice,” Trump later added. “As part of our tax cuts, we’ve created a massive tax credit for school choice scholarships, so that you can send your child to a school that shares your values.”

An overarching theme of Trump’s remarks was that stronger faith leads to a stronger country – as he outlined his administration’s commitment to protecting religious freedoms.

“America was founded on faith,” Trump said. “And when faith gets weaker, our country seems to get weaker.” He said as president, he will “always defend our nation’s glorious heritage. …

“We will protect the Judeo-Christian principles of our founding. And we will protect them with vigor. We have to bring back religion in America, bring it back stronger than ever before.”

Trump established the Religious Liberty Commission via executive order in May, directing it to advise the White House Faith Office and Domestic Policy Council on religious liberty in the U.S.

The commission is charged with examining religious liberty’s foundations, current threats, and future protections in America, focusing on First Amendment rights for religious leaders, institutions, and individuals. Key areas include attacks on houses of worship, conscience protections in healthcare, parental rights in education, prayer in public schools, and ensuring all Americans can freely exercise their faith without government interference or retaliation.

During Monday’s event, Trump credited the Museum of the Bible for its success in the nation’s capital and said the Bible has “shaped civilization, ethics, art, and literature” for thousands of years, and brought transformation to millions of lives. 

“The Bible is also an important part of the American story,” he said, announcing that he delivered the Trump family Bible, given to him by his mother and used in both of his inaugurations, to be on display in the museum. 

Attorney General Pam Bondi also spoke at the event, doubling down that every individual has the right to worship without “fear of their own government.”

Under Trump’s leadership, she said, “we have dropped FACE Act cases against pro-life Christians, stopped the FBI from spying on Catholics, launched multiple investigations into antisemitism in schools, and we are aggressively prosecuting vicious crimes against Jewish Americans.”

Trump closed the event by promising that Americans will “never surrender our God given rights” and will defend “our liberties, our values, our sovereignty.”

“America has always been a nation that believes in the power of prayer, and we will never apologize for our faith,” Trump said. “Together we will make our country greater, stronger, more united, and more faithful than ever before.”