Pete Hegseth to Headline DC Faith Rally With Christian Nationalist Speakers
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is set to headline "Rededicate 250," a faith rally on the National Mall in Washington DC on May 17, 2026. The event, billed as the faith component of America's semiquincentennial, is organized by Freedom 250 in partnership with the White House. Experts have described several speakers as Christian nationalist or extremist.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will headline a faith rally on the National Mall in Washington DC this weekend. The event, called "Rededicate 250," is billed as the faith-based component of America's semiquincentennial celebration.
The rally is organized by Freedom 250, a private non-profit launched by the White House in December 2025. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and House Speaker Mike Johnson are also scheduled to appear.
The speaker lineup has drawn criticism from religious scholars and civil liberties groups. Matthew D. Taylor, author of "Defying Tyrants," said the lineup includes "some of the most active Christian nationalist leaders in the country."
Among the featured speakers is a Detroit pastor who called the Democratic platform "demonic" and launched a memecoin after praying at Trump's second inauguration. A rabbi who authored an essay titled "The Virtue of Hate" is also on the bill, along with a Christian author who said in 2020 he would "die in the fight" to keep Joe Biden out of the White House.
The lineup includes no Muslims, no representatives of historically Black churches, no Indigenous faith leaders, and no mainline Protestants.
Hegseth is a member of Pilgrim Hill Reformed Fellowship in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, a congregation of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC). CREC founder Douglas Wilson told The Guardian in April 2026 that Hegseth's "worldview is broadly the same as ours." CREC pastors have publicly called for restricting voting rights, overturning same-sex marriage rulings, and applying biblical law through the courts.
Hegseth has hosted monthly Christian prayer services at the Pentagon since May 2025. His 2020 book "American Crusade" depicts Islam as a historic enemy of the West and calls for an "American crusade" against domestic enemies.
Freedom 250 is currently under congressional investigation over the alleged redirection of federal funds and the sale of access to Trump.
A multifaith coalition sued the Trump administration in February 2026, arguing that the religious liberty commission's overwhelming Christian composition breaches federal advisory requirements for balanced membership.
