Trump declares ‘religion is back’ at National Prayer Breakfast

President Trump on Thursday declared that “religion is back,” saying that faith is once again amplified throughout the nation, years after church closings because of the COVID pandemic and attacks on religious institutions from the left.

“As we gather today, there are many signs that religion is coming back. …  It’s coming back so strong,” Mr. Trump said at the National Prayer Breakfast, held at the Washington Hilton.

“You know your churches are filling up. You didn’t have that for two years. It was hurt by COVID,” the president continued. “And they treated you terribly. The Democrats treated you terribly.”

Mr. Trump’s appearance was his sixth at the annual event, where a bipartisan group of lawmakers gathered to discuss faith and offer a prayer for the nation. The prayer breakfast typically draws hundreds of lawmakers, foreign leaders and luminaries from the business community.

During his remarks, Mr. Trump largely blasted Democrats, accusing them of aggressive tactics to keep churches closed during the 2020 pandemic and criticized the left for attacks on religion, including the anti-ICE protest that disrupted a church service in Minneapolis last month.

“I don’t know [how] a person of faith can vote for a Democrat. I really don’t,” Mr. Trump said.

He said his administration is pushing back on the “militant and, really, intolerant campaign that tried to drive religious believers out of public life and out of society.

“Now, religious leaders are respected as much or more than any leader of any type anywhere in the world. And that’s the way we have to have it.”

Mr. Trump’s remarks come as religious attendance is increasing in the U.S., reversing years of declining trends. Church attendance is largely fueled by younger Gen Z and millennials, who have become the most frequent churchgoers in America, according to multiple recent polls.

At the top of Mr. Trump’s speech of just over an hour, he criticized journalists who he said had taken his recent musings about whether he’d get into heaven seriously. The president insisted he was joking, adding that he “probably” will make it to heaven.

“I really think I should probably make it,” he said. “I mean, I’m not a perfect candidate, but I did a hell of a lot of good for perfect people, that’s for sure.”

The Trump administration has launched several initiatives to connect with people of faith. Mr. Trump created the White House Faith Office to oversee the administration’s outreach to religious groups. As part of this year’s America 250 celebrations, the Trump team has helped organize a day of prayer on the National Mall on May 17 in which people of different faiths will gather to worship.

Mr. Trump said the event will rededicate America as “one nation under God.”

Among those in attendance on Thursday were Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican.

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele and Democratic Republic of the Congo President Felix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo were among the foreign leaders in attendance.