Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth led a Wednesday morning Christian prayer session at the Pentagon’s auditorium.
During the session, Hegseth’s pastor declared that President Donald Trump had been appointed by God to rule the country and offer “moral clarity.”
The “Secretary of Defense Christian Prayer & Worship Service” was a 30-minute event that Hegseth plans to organize once a month. Brooks Potteiger, Hegseth’s pastor, was the keynote speaker, the New York Times reported..
“King Jesus, we come humbly before you, seeking your face, seeking your grace, in humble obedience to your law and to your word,” Hegseth prayed as those in the standing room only crowd bowed their heads.
“We come as sinners saved only by that grace, seeking your providence in our lives and in our nation. Lord God, we ask for the wisdom to see what is right and in each and every day, in each and every circumstance, the courage to do what is right in obedience to your will. It is in the name of our lord and savior, Jesus Christ, that we pray. And all God’s people say amen,” Hegseth added.
According to the Times, those in attendance, including at least one general, responded with an “Amen.”
Potteiger, a Christian nationalist who runs the Pilgrim Hill Reformed Fellowship in Tennessee, believes Trump was chosen by God.
“We pray for our leaders who you have sovereignly appointed — for President Trump, thank you for the way that you have used him to bring stability and moral clarity to our land,” Potteiger said. “And we pray that you would continue to protect him, bless him, give him great wisdom.”
President Donald Trump and Hegseth made headlines earlier this week with a big military announcement.
Invoking former President Ronald Reagan’s vision of a system of space-based lasers to shoot down incoming missiles, President Trump expressed enthusiasm for the Pentagon’s initial concept to make his Golden Dome for America dream a reality in an Oval Office presentation Tuesday.
“We will truly be completing the job that President Reagan started 40 years ago, forever ending the missile threat to the American homeland,” Trump said, claiming that technological advances in recent decades now make the concept of an impenetrable missile shield covering the entire United States possible. “The success rate is very close to 100%, which is incredible when you think of it. You’re shooting bullets out of the air.”
“This design for the Golden Dome will integrate with our existing defense capabilities and should be fully operational before the end of my term. So we’ll have it done in about three years,” Trump said, describing the concept as a “state-of-the-art system that will deploy next-generation technologies across the land, sea, and space, including space-based sensors and interceptors.”
“Once fully constructed, the Golden Dome will be capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from other sides of the world and even if they are launched from space,” he said. “It’s a pretty evil world out there. So this is something that goes a long way toward the survival of this great country.”
“Mr. President, add this to the long and growing list of promises made and promises kept. Ultimately, this right here, the Golden Dome for America is a game-changer. It’s a generational investment in the security of America and Americans,” Hegseth said.
“Mr. President, you said we’re going to secure our southern border and get 100 percent operational control after the previous administration allowed an invasion of people into our country. President Reagan 40 years ago cast the vision for it, the technology wasn’t there, now it is and you’re following through to say we will protect the homeland from cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles, drones, whether they’re conventional or nuclear. It’s not lost on me, sir, also, that you had the vision to start the Space Force and here we are, when others said we didn’t need it,” Hegseth added.