There was a time, not so long ago, when Donald Trump was not very familiar with the Bible.
When Trump first ran for the Christian Republican party’s nomination, he couldn’t quote a single verse from the Bible. Early in the 2016 presidential campaign, he referred to the Eucharist as “a little crack.” On a later church visit, trying to prove his religious identity, he placed money in a plate that was supposed to keep the congregation.
How times have changed.
“All Americans need a Bible in their home, and I have many. “This is my favorite book,” Trump said in a video posted on Truth Social in March. “I am proud to support and encourage you to purchase this Bible. “We must make America pray again.”
In the video, Trump, who has a long history of endorsing and selling things, is holding a God Bless the USA Bible, a “patriotic” interpretation of the sacred text that Trump is currently selling for $59.99.
“I want a lot of people to have this,” Trump continued. “You have to have this for your heart and soul.”
So who am I to oppose a one-time, twice-impeached former president who is currently on trial for paying hush money to a porn star? I bought.
Buying from Donald Trump is fraught with danger. Trump is known for not following up on business deals: Ahead of the 2016 election, hundreds of people, including lawyers, carpenters and painters, came forward to accuse Trump of not paying them for their work.
Luckily, the Bible eventually arrived, costing $83.37 after tax and shipping. I eagerly opened the packaging, holding the bag upside down and revealing what was essentially a Christian nationalist’s fantasy: A Bible all American flags and bald eagles, the lyrics of a patriotic anthem placed next to sacred text and the founding documents.
The front of the Bible features the US flag embossed on it. On the back are glossy pages bearing some of America’s most sacred documents: the Declaration of Independence; pledge of allegiance; and the lyrics of Lee Greenwood’s song God Bless the USA, which has been played repeatedly at Trump’s political rallies.
These pages feature the American flag and some of the nation’s most revered things: the bald eagle, the Statue of Liberty that, yes, also looks like a rifle, and, somewhat ironically, the Capitol being attacked by its supporters. Trump three years ago.
One of the most intriguing questions in the Trump Bible website’s FAQ section asks: “What if my Bible has sticky pages?”
My Bible actually had sticky pages. But don’t bother: The FAQ guide explains that sticky pages are a common problem with new Bibles and directs the reader to “a YouTube video that does a great job of explaining how to crack open your new Bible.”
This video is six minutes long. It shows a man unboxing a Bible that objectively looks better than the God Bless the USA version, then flipping through the entire book page by page. “Separating the pages is a bit of a tedious process,” says Adam.
He was right. The Trump Bible, which uses public domain texts from the King James version, has 1,350 thin to translucent pages, and I wasn’t about to skim through the entire thing. But all the good stuff seems to be here: There’s Noah, who desperately gathers the animals into a big boat, Job, whose life is ruined by what amounts to a bet between god and the devil, and the book of Leviticus, which is largely given away. Let’s move on to the correct way to sacrifice animals. (For an ox, sprinkle its blood around the altar and wash the inside before setting it on fire; if offering a dove, be sure to squeeze its head before plucking.)
You don’t need to pay $59.99 for this type of content. Search “free Bible” online and there are literally hundreds of places giving it away. This Trump-endorsed Bible represents something special for his supporters, said Kristin Du Mez, a professor at Calvin University whose research focuses on the intersection of gender, religion and politics.
“In my opinion, most people are not buying this Bible to read,” Du Mez said. “They buy the Bible to own it and participate in this kind of collective identity. Putting down $60 and saying: ‘Yes, this is my man and I’m committed to this and this is my belief.’”
Du Mez said the common identity is to embrace the “myth of Christian America”: “The idea that America was founded as an explicitly Christian nation: the first conservative, white evangelical version of the country that never actually existed. It’s the shared vision of a mythical past and this present day.” It is the determination to re-establish the likeness of a kind of mythological order.”
After initial failures in trying to appeal to Christians, Trump was eventually embraced by the evangelicals who make up most of the GOP; the same GOP attacked church-state separation with an axe. In fact, the former president’s relationship with the religious right has now deepened to the point that Trump is comfortable with comparing himself to their messiahs.
Further solidifying this bond helps explain Trump’s decision to promote the God Bless USA Bible. But there is also a financial aspect of the matter.
Trump owes more than $500 million as a result of his civil court convictions. He has been charged with more than 90 felonies in five different jurisdictions, and lawyers are paid (unless you pay).
The God Bless USA Bible website states that the Bible “is not owned, directed or controlled by Donald J Trump” while the startup “uses the name, likeness and likeness of Donald J Trump under a paid license from CIC Ventures LLC” he adds.
Trump is a director, president, secretary and treasurer of CIC Ventures LLC, according to a financial disclosure report filed last year.
Happy days for Trump then. This Bible wheeze didn’t go over well with everyone, though.
The decision by Loran Livingston, the conservative evangelical pastor who leads the Central church in North Carolina, was “blasphemous” and “disgusting.” A priest in South Carolina aforementioned The Bible was a “commandment violation”; Democratic Georgia senator Raphael Warnock, himself a pastor, wasn’t happy either.
“The Bible doesn’t need Donald Trump’s approval,” Warnock told CNN.
“And in the last week of his life, Jesus expelled from the temple the money changers who were taking holy things and using them as cheap relics to be sold in the market.”
It is unclear how many of these “cheap relics” were sold. As of early May, God Bless the USA Bibles were still being sold online, unlike the Trump-licensed sneakers he sold earlier this year.
After the failure of Trump Steaks, Trump Vodka, Trump Mortgage, Trump Magazine, various Trump casinos and the Trump table game, perhaps the former president has finally put his name to a winning product. At $59.99 per person for what is objectively a pretty poorly printed, pretty tacky book, the God Bless the USA Bible seems like a pretty safe bet. Maybe those lawyers will be paid after all.