Bible or no Bible, will Trump keep his oath?
Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump holds the Bible during the presidential inauguration in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Monday. Credit: AP/Morry Gash
And so the United States once again saw Donald J. Trump, now 78, "solemnly swear" to "faithfully execute the Office of President" and, to the best of his ability, "preserve, protect and defend" the Constitution.
Oaths are an ancient practice; they were used to assure fealty in the Roman republic. The words to Trump’s recitation on Monday are prescribed in the Constitution. The phrase "So help me God" apparently was added by President Chester A. Arthur in 1881.
The message of citing the Almighty has an edge that's easy to miss. That phrase means that the oath-taker isn’t as much asking for divine "help" in abiding but citing God’s power to hold them accountable.
In other words, take the oath dishonestly and fear being struck down.
Since the days of George Washington, the new president usually takes the oath with the right hand raised and the left hand on the Bible. Washington used an altar Bible from the Masons’ lodge in New York City.
This time, in the Capitol Rotunda, Trump recited the famous oath with right hand raised — while his left arm hung at his side. First Lady Melania Trump stood to his left holding two Bibles — one famously used by Lincoln in 1861.
Nobody seemed sure if he’d intended but forgot to put his hand on those books, or if he declined to do so. A few other presidents have been sworn in without abiding by the tradition. In contrast, Vice President JD Vance was sworn in with his hand on a family Bible from Kentucky.
Beyond the oath of office, Trump has had an unorthodox relationship with the Holy Scriptures. He once publicly referred to Second Corinthians as ‘Two Corinthians.’ He held up the Bible as a prop for photo-ops in front of a Washington church parish house defaced by graffiti and damaged by a fire in riots that followed George Floyd’s death in Minnesota.
The year before he was first elected, in 2015, he was asked in an interview to name a favorite passage. "I wouldn’t want to get into it. Because to me, that’s very personal," he said. Last year, he began selling ‘God Bless the USA’ Bibles for $59.99 while facing mounting legal bills resulting from his federal and state criminal indictments.
At Monday's swearing-in, The Rev. Franklin Graham, son of the world-famous evangelist leader Billy Graham, was among the clergy selected to speak. What he delivered was not so much an uplifting spiritual message as a barbed Republican Party invocation.
"Mr. President," Graham said to Trump, with departing President Joe Biden standing close by, "In the last four years, there are times I'm sure you thought it was pretty dark. But look what God has done. We praise Him and give Him glory."
Well, Graham probably never swore an oath to political unity. In his own speech, Trump preached: "We will not forget our country, we will not forget our Constitution, and we will not forget our God." But Americans have seen before where he did not defend or preserve the Constitution.
The public may have no stake in judging Trump’s faith — but we do have a vital interest in whether he faithfully executes his earthly office this time. Going forward, the rule of law depends on it. After all, it's supposed to mean something powerful when a president swears an oath.
Columnist Dan Janison's opinions are his own.
Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
