Trump Announces New Guidance To Protect Prayer In Public Schools: 'To Have A Great Nation, You Have To Have Religion'

(MENAFN- Live Mint) President Donald Trump on Monday (September 8) announced that the Department of Education will issue new guidance aimed at protecting prayer in public schools. He made the declaration at the White House Religious Liberty Commission's hearing, held at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC.

The event, themed“Religious Liberty in Public Education”, marked the commission's second public meeting.

Trump:“To have a great nation, you have to have religion”

Trump , who has frequently vowed to restore religion to American life, walked out to the crowd just after 10:30 a.m., thanking the commission for its work.

“To have a great nation, you have to have religion – I believe that so strongly,” he said.“There has to be something after we go through all of this, and that something is God.”

He accused public schools of“indoctrinating students with antireligious propaganda” before unveiling the new Department of Education initiative. The details of the guidance were not immediately clear.

Broader agenda

In his nearly hour-long remarks, Trump listed other priorities, including deploying the National Guard to curb crime in Washington , DC, combating what he described as“anti-Christian bias,” and pushing back against perceived“wokeness” at the Smithsonian Institution.

“Honestly they're making changes, you know,” he said.“They were also told what to do by people that came before me, in all fairness, but they're making changes. Big changes are being made at the Smithsonian.”

A nation built on prayer

The speech closed with a prayer led by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner. Trump then declared:“The United States has always been a nation that believes in the power of prayer. We will defend our liberties, our values, our sovereignty, and we will defend our freedom.”

He concluded on an optimistic note:“We're at the very beginning of a golden age.” He exited the stage to a rendition of“Amazing Grace.”

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Public schools have been barred from leading classroom prayers since a 1962 Supreme Court ruling that found such practices violated the First Amendment. However, students have retained the right to pray privately or in groups during free time.

Trump previously issued revised guidance in 2020, while former President Joe Biden's administration updated the rules in 2023 to emphasize that schools could take“reasonable steps” to ensure students weren't coerced into prayer.

During his 2023 campaign, Trump pledged to support“bringing back prayer to our schools,” a promise now echoed in his second-term policy push.

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