At a meeting of his Religious Liberty Commission at Washington, D.C.’s Museum of the Bible, President Donald Trump deepened concerns over the separation of church and state, while he encouraged prayer in public schools, unveiled a new initiative urging Americans to gather in groups of at least ten to pray ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary, and, critics said, appeared to downplay domestic abuse.

“To have a great nation, you have to have religion — I believe that so strongly,” Trump said, according to The Washington Post. “There has to be something after we go through all of this, and that something is God.”

The Post declared it was Trump’s “exhortation to have the country unite in prayer” that seemed “most striking.”

Tying into Trump’s urging for groups of Americans to join in prayer is a new White House post, “America Prays: An Invitation to Prayer & Rededication of the United States as One Nation Under God.”

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Among the recommended ideas for prayer was this: “Organize the time of prayer by different subjects, such as prayer for government leaders, cultural renewal, protection of freedom, families, individuals, etc.”

David Cole, the former national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union and a professor at Georgetown Law, told the Post that the initiative “raises serious constitutional questions” and “is directly in violation of, at a minimum, the spirit of the establishment clause.”

The Post noted that the “establishment clause of the First Amendment prohibits the government from passing a law ‘respecting an establishment of religion,’ a nonspecific phrase that has generated decades of legal debate.”

Cole also warned that the Trump administration’s call for prayer appeared to focus specifically on Christian prayer.

“What does this say to a Muslim, a Hindu, a Jew, an agnostic?” Cole posited. “It tells them they are outsiders.”

Brian Kaylor, a Baptist minister with PhD in political communication, wrote: “The ‘America Prays’ initiative is the government teaming up with #ChristianNationalist groups for ‘rededication’ of US as ‘one nation under God.’ Of course, if it’s about celebrating founding era, got to leave ‘under God’ out of it.”

Also drawing backlash was Trump’s apparent encouragement of prayer in public schools, at the meeting that was focused on “Religious Liberty in Public Education.”

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“For most of our country’s history, the Bible was found in every classroom in the nation, yet in many schools, today’s students are instead indoctrinated with anti-religious propaganda and some are even punished for their religious beliefs and very, very strongly punished, it’s ridiculous,” the President said. “I’m pleased to announce this morning that the Department of Education will soon issue new guidance protecting the right to prayer in our public schools.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation responded.

“Students have always had the right to pray in public schools,” they wrote. “What Trump is pushing isn’t about protecting prayer — it’s about giving officials a green light to impose Christianity on everyone else. That’s unconstitutional coercion, not freedom.”

USA Today noted that “Students have long had the right to pray in public schools as individuals.” The paper also reported that Americans United for Separation of Church and State President Rachel Laser  “said the commission hearing was ‘more like a church service’ and promoted the ‘lie that America is a Christian nation and that religion is under attack.'”

The President’s remarks on domestic violence also drew backlash.

“Things that take place in the home, they call crime, you know, they’ll do anything they can to find something,” he told the Religious Liberty Commission (video below). “If a man has a little fight with the wife, they say, ‘This was a crime,’ see?”

New York Governor Kathy Hochul responded, saying: “My mother’s childhood was torn apart by domestic violence. I’ve held survivors’ hands as they relived their darkest moments. For the President to treat that trauma like a joke is despicable.”

Professor of law and former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance wrote: “Domestic abuse is a crime. Marital assault and marital rape are both criminal conduct and anyone who commits them should be prosecuted. Full stop.”

Professor of economics Justin Wolfers added, “Let me say what the President won’t: Domestic violence is not okay. It’s immoral, illegal and abusive, and no real man is okay would do it, approve of it, or minimize it.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

Trump minimizes domestic abuse during a talk at the Museum of the Bible: “Things that take place in the home, they call crime … If a man has a little fight with the wife, they say this was a crime, see?” pic.twitter.com/fDbyMovsMP

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) September 8, 2025

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Image via Reuters

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have released the note attributed to President Donald Trump that appears in sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday book from 2003. The opening line is a quote from a children’s book by beloved author Maurice Sendak.

On Monday, the Epstein estate released a number of documents and files to the House Oversight Committee. While the bulk of the documents the committee received is currently unknown to the public, the official X account (formerly Twitter) of the Oversight Dems released a copy of the note.

🚨🚨HERE IT IS: We got Trump’s birthday note to Jeffrey Epstein that the President said doesn’t exist.

Trump talks about a “wonderful secret” the two of them shared. What is he hiding? Release the files! pic.twitter.com/k2Mq8Hu3LY

— Oversight Dems (@OversightDems) September 8, 2025

Though the note had not been publicly seen until Monday, earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal reported that its journalists had seen the letter in a book compiled by Epstein’s friends for his 50th birthday. The note features a drawing of a young female form with what appears to be Trump’s signature at the bottom. It depicts a fictional conversation between the author—identified only as “Donald”—and Epstein, opening with a line from a “voice over.”

“There must be more to life than having everything,” the voice over says.

READ MORE: ‘He’s So Frustrated’: Johnson Defends Trump Over Explosive Epstein Birthday Letter

That line comes from Higglety Pigglety Pop by Sendak. The 1967 book is about Sendak’s pet dog Jennie going on adventures. The link to the book—which has also been adapted into an operetta in 1999—was first surfaced on Bluesky by journalist Ben Collins.

Has anybody noted that the first line in this is from the Maurice Sendak children's book Higglety Pigglety Pop?

— Tim Onion (@bencollins.bsky.social) 2025-09-08T19:31:32.083Z

This is not the only time Maurice Sendak has been linked with Donald Trump. In 1993, Sendak wrote the picture book We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy, which adapted two nursery rhymes. The book addresses the AIDS crisis and homelessness as well as other news of the day; though intended for children, the depth of the artwork means that adults can find much to enjoy as well. One page features an illustration of homeless children outside of Trump Tower. The children say “Lost!”, “Tricked,” “Trumped,” and “Dumped!” as a concerned moon looks on.

Image via Reuters

In an attempt to walk back his previous claim that President Donald Trump had been an FBI informant in the case against sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) said that Trump wants to see all the files released. This runs counter to many statements from Trump calling the files’ release “foolish” and that the files themselves are a “hoax.”

On Friday, video of Johnson telling CNN’s Manu Raju that Trump had been an FBI informant in the Epstein case went viral. Over the weekend, Johnson’s office released a statement clarifying that he meant Trump “was the only one more than a decade ago willing to help prosecutors expose Epstein for being a disgusting child predator.”

Mike Johnson claims that his comments about Trump being an FBI informant to take down Epstein have been “common knowledge for a long time”

(This is a lie) pic.twitter.com/SRBV6SJwhR

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 8, 2025

In a new video, Raju asks Johnson again about the claim. Though Johnson said he didn’t know if he “used the right terminology,” the fact that Trump was willing to assist prosecutors and had previously ejected Epstein from Mar-a-Lago was “common knowledge.” Raju asked if Trump had been “asked to wear a wire,” but Johnson said he had no knowledge of that, only that Trump “was helpful in trying to get Epstein for law enforcement.”

READ MORE: Trump Launches Bizarre Epstein Files ‘Scam’ Rant When Asked About Russiagate

“The President and I have talked about the Epstein evils many times. He’s disgusted by it as everybody else. He has long had a history of acknowledging that, and he has said repeatedly he wants everything to come out, all credible information, everything for the American public to decide,” Johnson added.

Despite Johnson’s statement, Trump has had varied reactions to the Epstein files. While many in his orbit said his administration would release the Epstein files in full during his 2024 campaign, Trump himself was less keen on the idea, according to Time. While Trump suggested he may release the files, he also warned of inaccuracies in the data.

In a June 2, 2004 appearance on Fox & Friends, Trump said, “I guess I would [declassify the Epstein files. I think that less so, because you don’t know—you don’t want to  affect people’s lives if there’s phony stuff in there, because there’s a lot of phony stuff in that whole world. But I think I would.”  A few months later, Trump told Lex Fridman that he’d “certainly take a look” at releasing the client list.

On the other hand, Vice President JD Vance, during the campaign told comedian and podcaster Theo Von, “Seriously, we need to release the Epstein list. That is an important thing.” FBI Director Kash Patel also repeatedly called for “ALL of it to be released” during the campaign. Former advisor Elon Musk called for Trump to beat former Vice President Kamala Harris, because if he won “that Epstein client list is going to become public. And some of those billionaires behind Kamala are terrified of that outcome.”

Trump’s own son also demanded the release of the client list during the campaign.

“Everyone knows Bill Clinton was on Jeffrey Epstein’s plane and island a lot. Literally no one is at all surprised that he’s all over the release. What we want to know is ALL THE OTHER NAMES that the government has been hiding & running cover for. That will actually be revealing!” Donald Trump Jr. wrote on X (formerly Twitter) in January 2024.

But after Trump’s election, his administration released a portion of the Epstein files—though most of the files released had already been publicly available. Trump had also dismissed calls from fellow Republicans to release the rest of the files.

“Their new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bullsh*t,’ hook, line, and sinker,” he wrote on Truth Social this July.

Around the same time, he called Republicans still interested in the Epstein files “former supporters” who had been “duped by the Democrats.”

On Monday, Politico reported that the House Oversight Committee had received additional files from the Epstein estate. The committee is led by James Comer (R-Ky.). It is yet unclear what from these latest files will be released publicly and when.

Comer’s fellow Kentucky Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie, has been behind a push to compel the Department of Justice to release all information on Epstein publicly. Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Ca.) say they have the votes to force the DOJ to release the information.

Image via Reuters