Split Screen: The Church Is the State Now

The Trump regime’s use of overtly religious imagery sends a chilling message.

Donald Trump’s Jesus photo was just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the questionable usage of overt religious words and imagery through the government.

Trump last month posted to his social media accounts an artificial intelligence image likening himself to Jesus Christ. Though he deleted the post after backlash, a recent Washington Post poll showed that the vast majority of Americans — including the vast majority of Christians — disapproved of the post.

That was hardly the beginning — or the end — of his regime’s use of overtly religious imagery. Though nearly every president in our nation’s history has identified with some denomination of Christianity, the way Trump and his Cabinet are embedding Christianity into every level of government policies and communications is deeply concerning.

According to a Wired investigation by Vittoria Elliott, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins sent out an email titled “He has risen” to the entire agency on Easter Sunday, calling the story of Jesus Christ the “greatest story ever told, the foundation of our faith, and the abiding hope of all mankind.”

Another Defense Department image is striking, featuring a white cross against a dark background, a Bible quote, and the department logo. It’s a visual illustration: The church is the state now.

According to Karen Park for the Religion News Service, Homeland Security, the State Department, and the Justice Department also posted messages about Christ’s resurrection.

This was all as the president of the United States gave an update on the war in Iran, to an audience of mostly children, at the White House Easter Egg Roll event, all while standing next to the Easter Bunny.

In November 2025, on the cover of The Atlantic, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was depicted holding rosary beads next to a headline: “The Most Powerful Man in Science.” The image showed Kennedy dressed in a suit — churchgoing or business attire? — with a light shining on his face, hands clasped as if in prayer, staring straight at you. As a subscriber to The Atlantic, I was viscerally disturbed. I imagine that was the intent from prolific photographer Elinor Carucci, who is known for her intimate work and intense use of shadows and light in her portraits.

The visual of the word “science” next to a white man in an explicitly religious pose is a poignant visual metaphor for how this administration wants to be seen.

But no one compares with the Proselytizer-in-Chief Pete Hegseth. He uses his Instagram like an Amway recruiter, posting videos like one of himself reciting a prayer that he shared with troops (at a podium, with the official government logo). One of his recent priorities (instead of, say, ending a war that is putting countless lives at risk and harming the global economy), has been refocusing the chaplain corps and calling it the “backbone of our nation’s armed forces.”

In one video from Fox and Friends, he urges followers to “Please pray for them, every day, on bended knee, with your family, in your schools, in your churches, in the name of Jesus Christ.”

On Christmas, Hegseth didn’t post “Merry Christmas!,” as past Cabinet secretaries have. He posted a waving American flag with the caption: “Merry Christmas to all. Today we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. May His light bring peace, hope, and joy to you and your families.” This was posted not just from his personal account, but in collaboration with his official secretary account and the department’s account too. He notably has not posted for Hanukkah, Eid, or any holidays outside his own faith.

The First Amendment promises the state will establish no religion. That doesn’t mean, of course, that government officials can’t be religious. But it should mean that they don’t promote a specific religion, too.

Until next time, keep your eyes sharp and your lenses sharper.

Azza Cohen (she/her) is an award-winning documentary filmmaker who served as Vice President Kamala Harris’s official videographer in the White House. She recently founded a production company with her wife, Kathleen, and is writing a book about visual sexism from a cinematographer’s perspective. Uncover and address visual sexism alongside Azza every other week here on The Contrarian and on Instagram and Bluesky. The New Yorker distributed her film “FLOAT!” in 2023.

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