Trump Bible gets Inauguration Day twist four years to the day after January 6 riot
Four years to the day after a chaotic and violent riot on the United States Capitol, a limited-edition Bible endorsed by President-elect Donald Trump was released.
The new, “Inauguration Day Edition” Bible — part of a collection of Bibles inspired by Lee Greenwood’s song, “God Bless the USA” — became available for purchase Jan. 6 and costs $69.99 each, according to a news release.
This Bible swanks a custom embossing of the inauguration date, and like other Bibles in the collection, it is written in the King James translation and includes historic American documents, like the text of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.
Also on the website are the original “God Bless the USA” Bible, first published in 2021, for $59.99; a “The Day God Intervened Edition,” with an engraving of the date of an assassination attempt on Trump, for $69.99; and a “Signature Edition,” signed by Trump, for $1,000.
“Christianity has been experiencing a recent surge, and now more than ever, every home needs to have Bibles readily available,” an advertisement for the new edition says.
According to the latest Religious Change in America study by the Public Religion Research Institute, the only major religious category experiencing growth in the country is the religiously unaffiliated.
Bible usage is down a significant amount too, at 38% of adult Bible users compared with 53% 10 years ago, according to a 2024 American Bible Society study.
Trump’s controversial history with the “God Bless the USA” Bible
When Trump officially endorsed the “God Bless the USA” Bible during Holy Week last year, it drew backlash among some Christians.
Several people commented on the post, some calling it “heresy” and “sacrilegious.”
“Jesus overturned the tables in the temple, rebuking those who turned a house of prayer into a den of robbers. To me, this situation feels uncomfortably close to that,” one person said.
According to an August financial disclosure, Trump made $300,000 from a royalty payment for endorsing the Bible, The New York Times reported.
Will Trump use the ‘Inauguration Day Edition’ during his swearing in?
Trump has not yet revealed which Bible he will use for the swearing-in ceremony Jan. 20, according to a news release for the new edition.
At his first inauguration in 2017, he used two Bibles — one given to him by his mother two days before his ninth birthday, and the Bible Abraham Lincoln used during his swearing-in ceremony in 1861, according to the release.
