During the National Prayer Breakfast on Feb. 5, a prayer delivered by Rep. Jonathan Jackson that was critical of President Trump has gone viral as the president can be seen in the background. (Photo credit: Congressman Jonathan L. Jackson (D-IL 01) / YouTube)
Uncomfortable Prayer About President Trump Delivered By Democrat Representative
“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.”
– 1 Timothy 2:1-2
Every year, the National Prayer Breakfast is a moment to reflect on the state of the nation while putting God’s sovereignty at the foreground.
There, on Thursday, Feb. 5, President Donald Trump delivered remarks at length, championing many of his common sense policies and telling some of his favorite stories from both of his terms as president.
He also announced that there will be a special day to “rededicate America as one nation under God,” saying, “This prayer breakfast comes at a special time for our country as we prepare to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence. When our founders proclaimed the immortal truths that echoed around the world and down all the way through time, they declared that all of us are made free and equal by the hand of our Creator.”
Dubbed “Rededicate 250: National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise, and Thanksgiving,” the primary prayer event will be held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on May 17, with Americans across the country encouraged to pray.
However, this announcement — as well as the keynote address by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee — was largely overshadowed by the prayer given at the National Prayer Breakfast.
The prayer was delivered by Rep. Jonathan Jackson, D-IL, who is the son of Rev. Jesse Jackson.
Video of the prayer, which was filled with veiled and transparent criticisms of Trump with Trump visible in the background for the length of the entire prayer, has since gone viral.
RELATED: Is Christianity Going Through A Revival? Brandon Lake Thinks So
Watch Trump’s Face During The Prayer About Him
Beginning by invoking the Latin phrase “imago Dei,” which translates to the “image of God,” Jackson stated, “That we always be reminded we are made in the image of God.”
From there, Jackson prayed, “Our good and gracious God, we pray for the health and deliberations of the president of the United States, and we pray that You would be the final arbiter of whatever decisions he endeavors to make. That you would increase the stature of his wisdom, because without you, none of us can adjudicate the overwhelming details of leadership and life.”
Praying for wisdom is a sentiment with a firm Biblical basis, with verses like James 1:5 championing such an effort, which states, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
Continuing, Jackson prayed:
“Today, we pray for America and we pray for all parliamentarians around the world. The book of Timothy teaches us that you have been entrusted with leadership. Today, we pray for the future of this nation, that You would lead this president into greater levels of compassion for Your name’s sake. We pray that You would protect him from iniquities of evil and that You would give him greater clarity, greater courage, and greater capacity to do what is right.”
Getting more pointed at Trump in his prayer, Jackson prayed, “Today, we remind him that the lives of millions of people are in his hands, and that he has the power to turn mourning into dancing, or to reduce the country into a cosmic elegy of chaos and suffering, and it is because of this that we pray that the best of this president would rise among us.”
He added, “For the sake of this nation, for the sake of this world, we pray that goodness and mercy would announce themselves in his life in new and powerful ways.”
Jackson then stated, “We pray that he would be mindful of the poor, and that he would be invested in the alleviation of suffering happening on farms in the Midwest and families preparing to bury their loved ones in Minneapolis.”
This was in reference to the two anti-immigration enforcement demonstrators in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were killed by officers with ICE and Border Patrol in January.
“Remind him that we are all Americans, made in the image of God, and that none of us are free unless all of us have our freedoms protected,” he prayed of Trump. “Many people are not lazy, many people are simply tired. Many people are simply not OK.”
He then referenced Matthew 25:31-46, which finds Jesus famously saying in verse 40, “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”
Near the end of his prayer, Jackson asked that God’s will be worked out in Trump’s life, adding, “That we all do more for the greater glory of God, because when it’s all said and done, we pray as Jesus taught us to pray … ‘Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.’”
Watch the prayer delivered by Rep. Jonathan Jackson, D-IL, here:
RELATED: President Trump Renews Promise To “Defend The Christian Faith”
The Public Responds To The Prayer
With Jackson’s prayer gaining viral traction, there have been many comments on the prayer as well as Trump’s reaction to its content.
Some have described this prayer as being “humiliating” to Trump, with others simply marveling at how “awkward” the whole moment is.
One person wrote on YouTube, “Trump is going to be really angry once someone explains this to him.”
Another wrote, “Waaaaaay over his head.”
While Trump’s faith has long been in question, Trump has been a champion of Christianity in America, celebrating evangelical communities and even embracing Catholics, particularly in light of Vice President JD Vance’s faith.
At the start of his second term, Trump announced he was establishing the White House Faith Office, though his selection of Paula White-Cain was seen as controversial by many supporters of the new department.
In May of 2025, he went on to establish the Religious Liberty Commission.
(function(d, s, id) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&appId=890556024304383&version=v2.10”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;
n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,
document,’script’,’https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
fbq(‘init’, ‘1642875949273548’);
fbq(‘track’, “PageView”);
