The book created further controversy in 2024 when then-former President Donald Trump promoted a new edition.[14] In March, Trump began promoting the Bible at a price point of $60, the website selling the book calling it "the only Bible endorsed by" Trump and that his "name, likeness and image" are being used under paid license from one of Trump's organizations, CIC Ventures LLC.[15][16]
The website also lists themed editions (e.g., “Pink & Gold,” “Patriot,” “Veteran”) priced at US $74.99–$99.99, and a limited “President Donald J. Trump Signature Edition Bible” for US $1,000.[17]
Trump's 2025 financial disclosure included royalty payments amounting to $1,306,035 for his endorsement of Greenwood’s Bible.[18]
Criticism
The creation and sale of this Bible version has drawn criticism from various quarters due to its incorporation of documents specific to a single country, and assertions it is an effort to profit from a religious text.[11]Charlotte, North Carolina, Evangelicalpastor Loran Livingston drew national attention when he preached a sermon denouncing the Trump Bible as "blasphemous" and "disgusting" for tying scripture to American politics.[19][20]Baptist minister and YouTube Bible reviewer Tim Wildsmith's review of the Trump Bible amassed over 500,000 views, as he called it "overpriced," "a money grab," and "a really cheap[ly made] Bible that did not cost them very much money to make.”[21] Wildsmith found sticky pages that ripped when he tried to separate these, while the letter spacing was too tight to make it legible.[22][23] The Trump Bible was also noted to be missing Constitutional amendments 11–27.[24]
In June 2024, Oklahoma State Superintendent of SchoolsRyan Walters issued a memo announcing that all public schools in Oklahoma would be required to teach the Bible, including the Ten Commandments, directing "that every teacher, every classroom in the state will have a Bible in the classroom and will be teaching from the Bible in the classroom."[25][26] In September 2024, Walters opened bids to supply the Oklahoma State Department of Education with 55,000 Bibles. The bid documents required that "Bibles must be the King James Version; must contain the Old and New Testaments; must include copies of the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights; and must be bound in leather or leather-like material." Under these conditions, the only eligible versions are Greenwood’s Bible and another also endorsed by Donald Trump Jr.[27] The two versions are sold for $60 and $90 despite far cheaper or free versions of the Bible being readily accessible.[27][28] Multiple state legislators and a state school board member criticized Walters' proposal on both legal and constitutional grounds.[29] Former Oklahoma Attorney GeneralDrew Edmondson said that the request for proposals was not genuinely competitive and thus might violate state law.[27]Democratic state senator Mary Boren criticized Walters' RFP as a flagrant violation of the separation of church and state (as guaranteed by the state’s Constitution), and for favoring the KJV over other Bible translations (such as the Latin Catholic Bible, New International Version, or English Standard Version).[29] Days after the criticisms arose, the RFP was revised to say the American founding documents may be included within or separately from the text of the Bible. Walters stated in a video, "The left-wing media hates Donald Trump so much, and they hate the Bible so much, they will lie and go to any means necessary to stop this initiative from happening."[30]
The Associated Press reported in October 2024 that nearly 120,000 copies of the Bible were printed in Hangzhou, China, and shipped to the United States earlier in the year, at a cost of less than $3 per book.[22]
CBS News reported that, along with Trump's other ventures during his campaign, the Bible raises potential conflicts of interest as they could be considered a campaign contribution.[23]
References
^ abSquiers, Anthony (2018). The Politics of the Sacred in America: The Role of Civil Religion in Political Practice. New York: Springer International Publishing. ISBN978-3-319-68870-1. OCLC1105449948.
^ ab"Trump is a critic of China's trade practices. His "God Bless the USA" Bibles were printed there". CBS News. October 9, 2024. Retrieved October 10, 2024. Selling products at prices that exceed their value may be considered a campaign contribution, said Claire Finkelstein, founder of the nonpartisan Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law and a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania. 'You have to assume that everything that the individual does is being done as a candidate and so that any money that flows through to him benefits him as a candidate,' Finkelstein said. 'Suppose Vladimir Putin were to buy a Trump watch. Is that a campaign finance violation? I would think so.'
