Several federal agencies joined President Trump on Good Friday in celebrating the Christian holy day on social media, the latest manifestation of Mr. Trump’s promise to “bring back Christianity” and of the administration’s efforts to infuse its work with faith.
“On this Good Friday, the United States joins Christians around the world in reflecting on Christ’s sacrifice, the power of redemption, and the hope of the Resurrection,” the State Department wrote on its official government account.
Mr. Trump’s own message, delivered in a social media post on Friday, was similar in some ways to the tone of his predecessors. “On Good Friday, the Son of God was nailed to the cross, crucified, and He died for all of us,” the president said. “It was a day of darkness, but it wasn’t the end.”
President Joseph R. Biden Jr. said on Good Friday in 2022 that “we remember Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross, pray for all who suffer, and seek to love others as God has loved us.” And President Barack Obama said on Easter in 2016 that he joined “with Christians around the world in proclaiming, ‘Christ has risen; He has risen indeed.’”
But the Trump administration has gone further in adopting Christianity in its messaging, and has cited it as justification for its actions. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently called on Americans to pray “every day, on bended knee,” for U.S. troops “in the name of Jesus Christ,” as the American military prosecutes the war in Iran.
The administration has also sought to strengthen protections for religious activity in politics and government, and has taken steps in favor of Christian groups that have sought to end I.R.S. restrictions on political endorsements by churches.
The White House also marked Holy Week, which stretches from Palm Sunday to Easter, with days of prayer and worship, including an Easter lunch held on Wednesday. It featured prayers from the evangelist Franklin Graham; Bishop Robert Barron, a member of the Trump administration’s Religious Liberty Commission; and the president’s longtime personal pastor, Paula White-Cain, who was named last year to help lead a new White House faith office.
At the Easter lunch, Ms. White-Cain compared Mr. Trump to Jesus, prompting criticism from some Christian observers.
