How the Trump administration uses the Bible to justify its actions

Summary

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Episode Overview

Title: How the Trump administration uses the Bible to justify its actions
Podcast: Consider This from NPR
Air Date: May 28, 2026
Host: Juana Summers

This episode delves into the ways the Trump administration has wielded the Bible as a public tool—moving beyond the classic rhetorical comfort of prior presidents—to actively justify controversial policies, including immigration raids and military interventions. Through interviews with religious scholars and ministers, NPR explores what the biblical passages cited actually mean in context, and considers the political and ethical implications of invoking scripture to legitimize government actions.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Presidential Use of the Bible—Then and Now

• Timestamps: 00:00–01:25
  • Previous presidents (Bush, Obama) have referenced scripture to console or inspire during national crises.
    • George W. Bush following 9/11: Cited Psalm 23 to comfort grieving Americans.
      • Bush (Narrator), 00:24:
        “And I pray they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in Psalm 23. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil...”
    • Barack Obama after Sandy Hook: Used 2 Corinthians to encourage resilience.
      • Obama (Narrator), 00:46:
        “Scripture tells us do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”
  • Contrast with Trump Era:
    • Unlike predecessors, Trump himself is not a frequent quoter of scripture, but members of his administration are, using biblical language to justify executive actions (e.g., immigration enforcement, military action) rather than just to comfort.

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2. Examples of Scriptural Justification in Policy

• Timestamps: 01:25–05:13
  • Immigration Enforcement Video (DHS, Jan 13):
    • Used Lord’s cover of “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.”
    • On-screen scripture: “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Sermon on the Mount, Matthew), followed by militarized enforcement footage.
      • Dyron Doherty (Minister & Dean at Pepperdine), 03:51:
        “My first thought was there is a gun called the Peacemaker. It’s sort of this idea of peace through strength.”
      • Yijian Lin (Yale Divinity), 04:31:
        “DHS is causing surprise for a certain reason. To make a statement that whatever Homeland Security is doing is to create peace, even if it looks violent.”
      • Aubrey Hendricks (Columbia), 04:40:
        “They’ve mistaken Caesar for Christ.”
        • Later clarifies:
          “What they’re saying is, yes, we are building an empire.” (04:51)
  • Increased Outspokenness about Christianity:
    • Vice President J.D. Vance, 05:13:
      “We have been, and by the grace of God, we always will be, a Christian nation.”
    • Stats from Pew Research: 51% of Americans want the Bible to have some influence on-policy; deep partisan split.

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3. Further Instances of Combining Scripture and State Power

• Timestamps: 05:49–07:49
  • DHS Social Post Over Immigration Actions:
    • Used Isaiah quotation (“I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness”) over video set to “Jesus Walks.”
  • Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth:
    • Known for openly discussing his evangelical faith and frequently quoting scripture about warfare and sacrifice.
      • At National Prayer Breakfast (Feb 5), cited Mark 8:34–35.
        • Hegseth (Narrator), 06:41:
          “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.”
      • In a subsequent sermon, interprets Christian self-sacrifice as military valor.
        • Hegseth (Narrator), 07:02:
          “The warrior is willing to lay down his life for his unit, his country, and his creator. That warrior finds eternal life.”
      • Yijian Lin, 07:10:
        “What Hegseth is cleverly doing… is calling to arms, right to be warriors, to pick up a sword in a type of glorious martyrdom. But he’s missing the power dynamic here, which is Jesus is not doing that for the cause of empire or whoever is in government over him, but actually against.”

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4. Divergence within the Faith Community

• Timestamps: 07:31–08:47
  • Dyron Doherty applauds this open embrace of religiosity in politics:
    • “Where a politician probably wouldn’t have talked like that, let’s say, 30 years ago. Now they’re just openly embracing their religiosity, … even their theological perspectives.” (07:36)
    • “To compete in this world, we have to defend our faith and we have to be evangelistic.” (07:53)
  • Yijian Lin warns about establishing one religion:
    • “There are many different sacred texts that could be used, and also just ethics of what do we think as a people and how do we want to operate as a government that doesn’t have to subscribe to any one religion at all?” (08:13)
  • Aubrey Hendricks critiques “ideological Christianity”:
    • “We’re talking about ideological Christianity versus Christianity of faith. And the ideological Christianity is an ideology that refracts everything in the Bible through the prism of the interest of the one who’s interpreting it.” (08:32)
    • Contrasts with “Christianity of faith,” which critiques every political position rather than blesses any one.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “They’ve mistaken Caesar for Christ.”
  – Aubrey Hendricks, 04:40
• “What Hegseth is cleverly doing right, is calling to arms, right to be warriors, to pick up a sword in a type of glorious martyrdom. But he’s missing the power dynamic here, which is Jesus … is not doing that for the cause of empire.”
  – Yijian Lin, 07:10/07:22
• “We have been, and by the grace of God, we always will be, a Christian nation.”
  – Vice President J.D. Vance, 05:13
• “The ideological Christianity is an ideology that refracts everything in the Bible through the prism of the interest of the one who’s interpreting it.”
  – Aubrey Hendricks, 08:32

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00–01:25 — How past presidents used the Bible
• 01:25–05:13 — Trump administration’s use of scripture to justify policy; social media videos and biblical taglines
• 05:13–07:49 — High-ranking officials’ faith rhetoric; Pew polling on religion/public policy
• 07:49–08:47 — Religious scholars debate implications: faith vs ideological Christianity

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Conclusion

This episode offers a nuanced look at the Trump administration’s use of the Bible beyond tradition—translating scripture into explicit policy justification—and unpacks the debate this stirs within faith communities and the broader American public. Key voices urge listeners to consider not just which scriptures are quoted, but how and why, raising questions about the line between faith and the political interests of those who govern.

Transcript

[Juana Summers]

It's Consider this where every day we go deep on one big news story today, the power of the Bible. American presidents have long used scripture as a rhetorical resource to frame moments of national crisis or purpose.

[Narrator/Reader]

Tonight, I ask for your prayers for

[Juana Summers]

all those who grieve presidents like George W. Bush, who addressed the country after the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001.

[Narrator/Reader]

And I pray they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in Psalm 23 even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I

[Juana Summers]

fear no evil for you and President Barack Obama, who spoke at an interfaith prayer vigil after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012.

[Narrator/Reader]

Scripture tells us do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

[Juana Summers]

But the Trump administration in particular has used the Bible in different ways to publicly justify immigration raids and military action abroad after the invasion of Venezuela. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth quoted from Psalm 144 at a pentagon prayer service

[Narrator/Reader]

in January, Blessed be the Lord my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle.

[Juana Summers]

Consider this what the biblical passages mean in their original context. We ask Bible experts to weigh in. From npr, I'm Juana Summers.

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[Juana Summers]

It's consider this from npr. President Trump isn't much of a Bible quoter, but some members of his administration are. And they've used scripture in different ways to frame controversial policies such as immigration enforcement raids and military actions as justified by the good book. NPR religion correspondent Jason derose takes a closer look at some instances in which the Trump administration has used the Bible to justify justify the president's agenda.

[Jason DeRose]

The Department of Homeland Security posted a video on social media January 13th that uses the singer Lord's cover of the song Everybody wants to rule the world.

[Narrator/Reader]

Help me to decide, Help me make the most of freedom.

[Jason DeRose]

DHS posted the video Just as massive immigration enforcement actions were taking place in Minnesota, the phrase blessed are the peacemakers appears on screen a passage from the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew. The quote is followed by night vision footage of a military style helicopter hovering above. DHS agents in camouflage shoot at doors and storm buildings. Then the phrase for they shall be called the sons of God comes on screen.

[Dyron Doherty]

My first thought was there is a gun called the Peacemaker. It's sort of this idea of peace through strength.

[Jason DeRose]

Dyron Doherty is a minister in the Evangelical Church of Christ and dean of Religion and Philosophy at Pepperdine University.

[Dyron Doherty]

It's very common for armies, militaries, just throughout history to invoke the name of God, to invoke the name of Jesus Christ.

[Jason DeRose]

The video's message is clear. Immigration enforcement is war and the Trump administration's policies are sanctioned by Jesus own words. The goal is also clear, says Yijian Lin, who teaches New Testament to aspiring ministers at Yale Divinity School.

[Yijian Lin]

DHS is causing surprise for a certain reason. To make a statement that whatever Homeland Security is doing is to create peace, even if it looks violent.

[Narrator/Reader]

They've mistaken Caesar for Christ.

[Jason DeRose]

That's Aubrey Hendricks, an elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church who also teaches at Columbia University, to use that song

[Narrator/Reader]

Everybody wants to rule the world. What they're saying is, yes, we are building an empire.

[Jason DeRose]

An empire they portray as blessed by a particular reading of the Bible, one favored by Donald Trump's white evangelical base. During the second Trump administration, officials have been even more outspoken about favoring Christianity. Here's Vice President J.D. vance.

[Narrator/Reader]

We have been, and by the grace of God, we always will be, a Christian nation.

[Jason DeRose]

But Americans overall are divided about whether they want religion and the Bible to help form public policy. According to a recent survey by Pew Research, 51% say the Bible should have some or a great deal of influence, while 48% say it should not. Pew also found that three quarters of Republicans say religion's growing influence in American life is a good thing, double the share of Democrats who say the same

[Narrator/Reader]

God, show me the way, because the devil's trying to break me down.

[Jason DeRose]

Another social media post from Homeland Security opens with the phrase forgotten country on screen over video of immigration enforcement actions set to the song Jesus Walks. The text above the post is a quote from the prophet Isaiah, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

[Narrator/Reader]

I wanna talk to God, but I'm afraid cause we ain't spoken so long.

[Jason DeRose]

Among the Trump administration officials most vocal about his conservative evangelical faith is Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth during the run up to the Iran conflict, he was a frequent invoker of scripture.

[Narrator/Reader]

Here is a reading from the Holy Gospel According to Mark, including at the

[Jason DeRose]

national prayer breakfast on February 5.

[Narrator/Reader]

He said to them, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me, for whoever would save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.

[Jason DeRose]

Following the reading, Hegseth gave a brief sermon on the text, during which he

[Narrator/Reader]

said, the warrior is willing to lay down his life for his unit, his country, and his creator. That warrior finds eternal life.

[Yijian Lin]

What Hegseth is cleverly doing right, is calling to arms, right to be warriors, to pick up a sword in a type of glorious martyrdom.

[Jason DeRose]

Again, Yale's Yijian Lin.

[Yijian Lin]

But he's missing the power dynamic here, which is Jesus is not doing that for the cause of empire or for whoever is in government over him, but actually against.

[Jason DeRose]

But evangelicals like Dyron Doherty at Pepperdine like the fact that Hegseth speaks this

[Dyron Doherty]

way, where a politician probably wouldn't have talked like that, let's say, 30 years ago. Now they're just openly embracing their religiosity. They're openly embracing even their theological perspectives.

[Jason DeRose]

He says this approach is good for evangelicals to have someone like Hegseth promoting

[Dyron Doherty]

the faith to compete in this world, we have to defend our faith and we have to be evangelistic.

[Jason DeRose]

But Yale's Yijian Lin, who was raised in an evangelical immigrant church, is concerned that in a country whose constitution prohibits establishing a religion, some within the Trump administration are privileging the Bible.

[Yijian Lin]

There are many different sacred texts that could be used, and also just ethics of what do we think as a people and how do we want to operate as a government that doesn't have to subscribe to any one religion at all?

[Jason DeRose]

The concern for Columbia's Aubrey Hendrix is not so much that the administration is using the Bible, but how it's using the Bible.

[Narrator/Reader]

We're talking about ideological Christianity versus Christianity of faith. And the ideological Christianity is an ideology that refracts everything in the Bible through the prism of the interest of the one who's interpreting it.

[Jason DeRose]

Whereas in a Christianity of faith, says Hendrix, the Bible critiques every political position rather than blessing any one agenda.

[Juana Summers]

That's NPR religion correspondent Jason DeRose. This episode was produced by Sarah Ventri and Karen Zamora, with audio engineering by Peter Elena. It was edited by Daniel Burke and William Troup. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun, It's consider this from npr. I'm Juana Summers.

[Yijian Lin]

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