I have a basic thesis going about this regime. Notwithstanding all the Christian nationalism, integralism-in-waiting, and so on, the current Trump regime is the first non-Christian administration in American history. (Indeed, if anything, given the actual views, cultural influences, and revealed preferences of these individuals, it would be more accurate to say because of rather than “notwithstanding.”) More remarkably than that, we are actually experiencing the first genuinely pagan administration in American history.
That point doubtless deserves development elsewhere, although I encourage you to look for the many signs. In the meantime, today’s story doesn’t exactly shake my confidence in the general thesis: Here is El Salvadorean strongman and torture-site innovator Nayib Bukele, accepting an invitation to address the National Prayer Breakfast. And here is the transcript of Donald J. Trump’s speech. In fairness, I would not call the latter especially pagan; J.D. Vance, Stephen Miller, their mentors outside the government, and their Claremont-vetted epigones throughout the executive branch are far more pagan than Trump. But as speeches go, let alone speeches at a religious event, it is unmistakably profane. You will not be shocked to learn that over the course of the interminable length of the speech, “God” and “prayer” make a few cameo appearances but are dwarfed by the hundreds and hundreds of uses of variants on “me,” “myself,” and “I.”