In the middle of his ugliest feud with the Pope, Trump just signed up for a week-long Bible reading

President Trump has announced that he will take part in a week-long Bible reading event called America Reads the Bible, just as his public feud with Pope Leo XIV is heating up. The event starts on Saturday evening and runs for a week, with Trump listed as one of many participants. Several current and former Trump administration officials have also signed up to take part.

According to the event’s website, Trump will be reading from the Old Testament book of 2 Chronicles, a passage that many of his Christian supporters see as a call for national repentance and blessing. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson are among the Trump allies also scheduled to read.

The event is a marathon reading of the Bible, with over 500 readers listed on its website, according to The Hill. Participants will read from different parts of the Bible over the course of the week. In his statement, Trump applauded “every citizen participating in the America Reads the Bible initiative” and emphasized the importance of honoring Holy Scripture and renewing faith.

Trump’s Bible event comes as his spat with Pope Leo XIV turns increasingly bitter

The timing of Trump’s participation is drawing attention because of his ongoing feud with Pope Leo XIV. The pope has been critical of the US military’s operation in Iran and has called for peace. Trump dismissed these calls and accused the pope of being “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” and also claimed the pope wants Iran to have nuclear weapons, something the pope has never actually said.

Iran has also pushed back strongly against Trump’s statements, with the country rejecting Trump’s uranium claims and calling out other false statements he made in a single hour. Pope Leo XIV has since spoken out about the feud, saying that his criticism of “tyrants” was not directed at Trump. He explained that the remarks had been written a fortnight earlier, well before Trump made his comments on the matter.

The pope’s clarification did little to ease the tension, as the back-and-forth between the two figures has continued to play out publicly, drawing widespread attention from both religious communities and political observers around the world. According to the BBC, the pope made these statements on a flight to Angola, where he is currently on a tour of Africa.

The tour includes stops in 11 cities across four countries and reflects the growing importance of Catholicism on the continent. Over a fifth of the world’s Catholics live in Africa, with around 288 million people identifying as Catholic. The tour is being closely watched internationally, especially given the timing of his public disagreement with the US president.

Trump’s decision to join the Bible reading event has received a mixed reaction. Some have praised it as a show of his commitment to faith, while others see it as a public relations move given the timing of the ongoing feud with the pope. Meanwhile, Trump is also facing scrutiny on other fronts, including his multi-billion dollar lawsuit against the IRS which his own appointees may have to approve.

Regardless of the motivation, the event puts Trump’s religious identity front and center at a moment when his conflict with one of the world’s most prominent Christian leaders is very much in the public eye. With the feud showing no signs of cooling down, the Bible reading event is unlikely to go unnoticed by either side.