What to Know
President Donald Trump did not actually attend Rededicate 250, a prayer event on the National Mall. He was golfing (according to NPR). But he did record a video in which he read the Biblical scripture 2 Chronicles 7:11-22. The recording has been circulating on social media and raising concerns — both about his well-being and his knowledge of the Bible (and maybe his reading skills as well).
Trump’s reading appeared to be edited.
He’s literally never seen or heard these words before https://t.co/EOcsr3LxYU
— Stephanie Grace (@stephgracela) May 17, 2026
Some people noticed that the recording appeared rather…choppy. According to the Irish Star, the recording featured 12 different cuts, making it look as though they had to film multiple takes and put them together in order to get the video that was shown on C-SPAN.
On X, one critic claimed, “The reason it switches to a second camera angle is to cover the edit points where he was unable to read a paragraph off a prompter. It likely took multiple attempts.”
Regardless of how much effort the recording process required, though, people on social media noticed that Trump’s reading of the Bible passage did not sound very smooth. He seemed to struggle to recite it, leading people to suspect there was little to no prep involved. Another critic who reacted to the clip wrote, “My son could read and enunciate better than this illiterate swamp donkey before he turned 5yo. He doesn’t even understand wtf he’s saying.”
And someone else took the clip to mean that Trump wasn’t exactly familiar with what he was reading. “He’s literally never seen or heard these words before,” they commented.
Recently, an old interview in which Trump was asked to share his favorite Bible verses resurfaced on social media. In it, he claimed the question was too personal. Critics, however, took this to mean he was not familiar with the Bible.
To be fair, though, some people think Trump always reads like this.
So, it might have nothing to do with what he was reading. “He is horrible at reading anything out loud,” one critic claimed. Someone else added, “Did nobody sit with him when he was a kid and encourage him to read, out loud? He sounds like a 6 or 7 year old stumbling over big words. It wouldn’t really matter but he is the President of the USA!”
Besides, some people took issue with the fact that Trump did not actually attend the event and was out golfing instead. The gathering was organized by Freedom 250 for the United States of America’s 250th birthday. The goal of the event was to “give thanks for God’s providence, reflect on our nation’s story, and rededicate America as One Nation under God,” per NPR.
Some of the concerns were also health-related.
Trump sent in a pre-recorded video for the Rededicate 250 blasphemy fest instead of speaking in person, and he still could barely read it cogently
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 17, 2026
(also, note him covering up the disfigured back of his right hand) pic.twitter.com/yhf7Gc3WEc
Because people also noticed a strange detail about Trump’s hand. When journalist Aaron Rupar shared the video on X, he pointed to the fact that Trump’s hand was covered throughout the video. Given that his hand bruising (and the makeup used to cover it up) has sparked concerns about his health multiple times now, this hardly seems like a coincidence. “note him covering up the disfigured back of his right hand,” Rupar wrote in the caption.
Someone else concluded that Trump “can’t read, can’t show up, can’t stop hiding whatever’s wrong with that hand.”
READ NEXT: Donald Trump Keeps Going To The Dentist & People Are Suspicious About What It Means
