Donald Trump, in his first-ever thanksgiving address as USA President, mentioned God eight times, a gesture that has among others excited Christians, and prompted news sites to report that his speech was ‘faith-filled.’
President Trump appearing before guests at Mar-a-Lago Resort in Florida, USA on Thursday thanked God for his providence and asked Him to continue to bless this nation.
He, according to LifeSiteNews, recounted how thanking God for his blessings and asking him for his continued blessing is part of the ‘American way’.
He noted that when the pilgrims arrived in Plymouth almost four hundred years ago, their “first act was to pray.”
“On their first Thanksgiving, they came together to rejoice after their harvest and praise God for his provision. Since then, Americans have always remembered the blessings of freedom and the glory of God,” he said.
Trump said that George Washington, in his first year as president, “proclaimed a day of public thanksgiving and prayer. He asked all citizens to unite in sincere and humble thanks for God’s providence and the founding of our country.”
Trump mentioned how President Lincoln in the midst of the civil war made the last Thursday in November a national holiday, calling on Americans to “come together with one heart and one voice to thank God for his gracious gifts and to ask him to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it.”
The president went on to thank all the “warriors” in uniform who have kept America safe. He thanked God for all those who have kept the nation safe.
“Together we give thanks for the loved ones who grace our lives and for the heroes who protect our nation. And we ask for God’s continued blessings on this magnificent land,” he said.
He ended his address mentioning God twice: “God bless you, and God bless America.”
Trump’s explicit references to God comes as a stark contrast to his predecessor President Obama.
Obama made history in his first year in the White House in 2009 as the first president to omit a direct mention of God in his Thanksgiving Proclamation, and he continued the trend during his remaining years in office.
LifeSiteNews contributed to this report.
