Donald Trump Celebrates Holy Week by Selling New Bible

Critics of the former president question motives

The Christian Holy Week is over. But former president Donald Trump is still calling the nation to turn to God—and to do so by purchasing his God Bless the USA Bible.

Former President Donald Trump in a video promoting the God Bless the USA Bible / Video screenshot

“Religion and Christianity are the two biggest things missing from this country. All Americans need a Bible in their home,” Trump said in a video posted on Truth Social on Tuesday.

Standing flanked by flags and holding up a leather-bound Bible, Trump smiled. “I’m proud to endorse and encourage you to get this Bible. We must make America pray again.”

The Bible (priced at $59.99 plus shipping) was created in partnership with Trump’s longtime friend, Lee Greenwood, author of the 1984 hit song “God Bless the USA.” The song has traditionally been played at Trump events and rallies as he enters the stage.

“It is my favorite book,” Trump said of the Bible. He went on to explain the unique features of the God Bless the USA Bible: it combines the King James Version (KJV) of scripture with The Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, the Pledge of Allegiance and a handwritten copy of Greenwood’s chorus lyrics.

“I am so proud of the president for stepping forward and saying he believes in God, he is a Christian and this nation should be praying,” Greenwood said in an interview with Newsmax, referencing his personal copy of the Bible, signed by Trump.

Greenwood launched the God Bless the USA Bible three years ago, first with plans to publish using the New International Version Bible (NIV). The NIV print was slated in an agreement with HarperCollins, whose subsidiary Zondervan is licensed to publish the NIV. Zondervan ended up objecting, HarperCollins backed out and the KJV was used instead. The KJV is in the public domain—free to use without copyright entanglement.

While the publisher for God Bless the USA Bible has not been released, it appears that Trump’s religious fight is also boosting his finances. When Trump Media closed out trading on Tuesday, the shares ended up at 16%, valuing the company at close to $8 billion. While analysts don’t think it will stay that high, according to USA Today, this values Trump Media on par with Lyft and Etsy.

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Trump’s Bible announcement came on the heels of mounting legal bills. On Monday (Mar. 25), New York appeals court gave him a pause on collecting the more than $454 million he owes following a civil fraud judgment. This break is only handed out if Trump is able to put up $175 million in 10 days. The following day, he went live with the Bible sale video.

The God Bless the USA Bible website states that funds will not go to his political campaign but does not comment on whether or not the funds go towards any legal fees. But Trump did license the agreement—which makes it likely he is financially benefiting from it.

“President Donald J. Trump lacks all the authority—and sincerity—to stand up and advertise a Bible for $59.99. Really, no one does,” wrote Andrew T. Walker,  managing editor of WORLD Opinions, in an opinion piece last week titled “Leave the Bible Alone.”

Critics spoke out widely over Easter weekend, discussing the ethics of Bible translations and binding the Scriptures with other documents.

“To put matters bluntly, a Bible like this should never have been made. That is not because I’m anti-Bible or anti-Constitution. Actually, I am very much in favor of both,” Walker wrote. “But fusing the two in the name of religious-civic identity can quickly become a form of identity politics.”

Trump was also called out by Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“The Bible does not need Donald Trump’s endorsement, and Jesus in the very last week of his life chased the money changers out of the temple, those who would take sacred things and use them as cheap relics to be sold in the marketplace,” Warnock said to CNN. Warnock is also a working pastor.

This is not Trump’s first commercial campaign. Most recently, Trump launched a pair of sneakers in February (“The Never Surrender High-Top Sneaker”) that sold out in hours. They are currently available for pre-order for $399 along with the “Red Wave” and “Potus 45” sneaker sets for $199/pair and $99 bottles of “Victory47” perfume and cologne.

“None of us are surprised by this,” Warnock added in his CNN interview. “This is the kind of behavior we have come to expect.”

But Dr. Anthony Bradley, professor of religious studies at The King’s College, pointed out that while he has heard widespread complaints about Trump’s Bible project, this is not consistent with other Bible translations.

“I don’t remember complaints about the 1995 God Bless America Bible, CEV version, with the pledge of Allegiance to the (US) Flag on the inside cover. This isn’t new. So, what changed?” Bradley posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Bradley’s correct. There have been other patriotic Bibles published. In 2009, The NKJV, American Patriot’s Bible, was published by Thomas Nelson, now owned by HarperCollins. This Bible combines Scripture and American history essays, complete with a patriotic cover. In addition, you can purchase the “In God We Still Trust” devotional, a 1599 Geneva Bible: Patriot’s Edition and The Founders’ Bible, the latter from evangelical author David Barton. All are available on Amazon.

More broadly, other study Bibles are widely sold and celebrated. This includes the MacArthur Study Bible, first released in 1997, which has sold well over 2 million copies. While hard tallies on Bible sales are hard to quantify, the New Yorker reported that a conservative estimate for 2005 alone is 25 million Bibles sold just to Americans.

Both Zondervan and the team behind the God Bless the USA Bible were contacted for comments but no response was given at print deadline.

“If people heard the president’s comments about the Bible, maybe there is a glimmer of hope. Maybe some people will be called back to their faith,” said Newsmax anchor Bianca de la Garza in an interview holding up her copy of the God Bless the USA Bible. “At the end of the day, we are all here and we are all Americans.”

Ed Stetzer, editor in chief of Outreach magazine, posted on X that loving the Bible and holding patriotic values are not a dichotomy.

“I love the Bible and I love my country—and you can love both! But, inappropriately mixing them devalues the scriptures and confuses the mission,” Stetzer said. “Our kingdom is not of this world, and the Bible is for every person in every nation. We don’t need a Bible wrapped in (any) flag.”

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