# God Bless the U.S.A. Bible

The God Bless the U.S.A. Bible, also known as the Trump Bible, is an anthology or compilation of texts in the realm of American Civil Religion and Trumpism, containing an edition of the King James Version of the Christian Bible alongside texts related to the foundation and politics of the United States such as the Constitution of the United States, Declaration of Independence, and the Pledge of Allegiance. The compilation was created by country music singer-songwriter Lee Greenwood and first published in 2021. It was later marketed by Donald Trump under his brand name and promoted as part of his 2024 presidential campaign.

## History

In May 2021, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center in New York, Greenwood published a "God Bless the U.S.A." edition of the Bible. It has the U.S. flag on its leather cover and includes the texts of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution before amendments, the Bill of Rights, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the chorus of Greenwood's song "God Bless the USA" in Greenwood's handwriting. It is a product of American Civil Religion and Trumpism. The text of the Bible was intended to be the New International Version, but Zondervan, the division of HarperCollins that owns the rights to the New International Version, withheld them after multiple public complaints, and the King James Version was used, which is in the public domain in the United States.
The book created further controversy in 2024 when then former president Donald Trump promoted a new edition of it. In March, Trump began promoting the book at a price point of $60. The website selling the Bible bills it as "the only Bible endorsed by" Trump and that his "name, likeness and image" are being used under paid license from one of Trump's organizations, CIC Ventures LLC.

## Criticism

The creation and sale of this version of the Bible has drawn criticism from various quarters due to its incorporation of documents specific to a single country, and assertions that it is an effort to profit from a text of religious significance. Charlotte, North Carolina, evangelical pastor Loran Livingston drew national attention when he gave a sermon denouncing the Trump Bible as "blasphemous" and "disgusting" for tying the Bible to American politics. Baptist minister and YouTube Bible reviewer Tim Wildsmith's review of the Bible, where he described it as "overpriced," "a money grab," and "a really cheap[ly made] Bible that did not cost them very much money to make," amassed over 500,000 views. Wildsmith found sticky pages that ripped when the reader tried to separate them, and said the letters were packed too tightly to easily read. The Trump Bible was noted to be missing amendments 11–27 to the Constitution.
In June 2024, Oklahoma State Superintendent of Schools Ryan Walters issued a memo announcing that all public schools in Oklahoma would be required to teach the Bible, including the Ten Commandments, directing "that every teacher, every classroom in the state will have a Bible in the classroom and will be teaching from the Bible in the classroom." In September 2024, Walters opened bids to supply the Oklahoma Department of Education with 55,000 Bibles. The bid documents required that "Bibles must be the King James Version; must contain the Old and New Testaments; must include copies of the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights; and must be bound in leather or leather-like material." Under these conditions, this Bible and another endorsed by Donald Trump Jr. are the only versions eligible. The two versions are sold for $60 and $90; free or far cheaper versions of the Bible are readily accessible. Multiple state legislators and a state school board member criticized Walters' proposal on legal and constitutional grounds. Former Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson said that the request for proposals was not genuinely competitive and thus might violate state law. Democratic state senator Mary Boren criticized Walters' RFP as a flagrant violation of the separation of church and state (as guaranteed by the state Constitution), and for favoring the KJV over other Bible translations (such as the Latin Catholic Bible, New International Version, or English Standard Version). Days after the criticisms arose, the RFP was revised to say the American founding documents may be included within or separately from the Bible. Walters stated in a video, "The left-wing media hates Donald Trump so much, and they hate the Bible so much, they will lie and go to any means necessary to stop this initiative from happening."
The Associated Press reported in October 2024 that nearly 120,000 copies of the Bible were printed in Hangzhou, China, and shipped to the United States earlier in the year, at a cost of less than $3 per book.
CBS News reported that, along with Trump's other ventures during his campaign, it raises potential conflicts of interest as they could be considered a campaign contribution.