Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C.

One of the controversies surrounding this photo op was the bible that the president was using as a prop. Though he made it quite clear when asked, that it was not his bible (Reporter: "Is that your Bible?" Trump: "It's a Bible."), some did not feel "the bible," was the correct one. You see the president was carrying a Revised Standard Version (RSV), which is liberal version of the bible and under the copyright of the liberal National Council of Churches (NCC), an organization evangelicals describe as “the nemesis of evangelicals.” It should also be noted that the RSV is outdated and the New Revised Standard Version, NRSV, was published in 1989 to replace it.²

The astute WitFoHer will notice I am also awkwardly holding  a version of a bible in my right hand: The bible of the pre-2016 conservative movement, The Wall Street Journal.

Recently an AfterActionReport.info subscriber asked if I feel anything special when visiting the exact location where history went down.  While some locations did give me an adrenaline boost (Snake River Canyon), or left me feeling grateful (Pointe du Hoc), statesmanlike (Westminster College),  or gave me the creeps (Hitler's Mirror), none gave me any kind of deeper connection or epiphany. That is until now, as this time around I felt the presence of Providence or maybe even something greater. 

I also remembered another photo that may have even done a better job of capturing this historical moment. 

The above storage building that the president sauntered past that day en-route the St. John's parish house is made of stucco/EIFS, which is a material that is very difficult to remove paint from. So there is a very good chance the inscribed presidential greeting has been painted over, for future archeological revelation.    

I wondered after holding the bible in various different positions, what did the 45/47 president of the United States do? I thought perhaps he might have celebrated the impact foreigners have had on this country by visiting the four statues cornering Lafayette Park: Rochambeau, von Steuben, Kościuszko, and Lafayette (as I did), or perhaps he would enter St. John's Church, sit in the pew that President Tyler paid for use in perpetuity by all future presidents (#54) and pray for interstate healing. Maybe he would sit in the Bernard Baruch Bench of Inspiration and think about the best way to effect justice for the weak, the tired, and the poor (as I did). If you decide to visit Lafayette Square yourself, you may want to go sooner, not later as less and less of the park is accessible to public. This time around I noticed that the area at both ends of Pennsylvania Ave have been cordoned off and are now inaccessible to the public.   

Another option would be to get something to eat: I know he loves Florida, so one nearby possibility could have been Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab or maybe Washington's oldest saloon, the Old Ebbitt Grill (as I did) or perhaps the Cheesecake Factory.  Though more likely he headed back to the White House, watched Fox News and basked in the glory.

If you visit Old Ebbitt, a little Clyde’s Chili might be in order, most definitely washed down by a lager from America's oldest brewery. I had mine at the long bar as the back bar was closed. Though I took the opportunity to briefly sit back there and think some very squinty and conservative thoughts. 

Epilog

A subsequent Beer O'clock at The Vue Rooftop Bar atop the W Hotel allowed for meditative though costly views of Lafayette Square and a monument dedicated to the country's second greatest president. 

July 22, 2025

Footnotes:

¹ Trump may have presciently picked the Ashburton House for his biblical rendezvous as it was the site in 1842 of negotiations which led to the Webster–Ashburton Treaty. A treaty between the US and Great Britain that resolved several border issues between the United States and the British North American colonies (the region that later became the Dominion of Canada). 

² While some might say "What's the diff?" Others were displeased with his choice of the Revised Standard Version (RSV), largely due to its translation of Isaiah 7:14, where the word “virgin” is translated as “young woman.” According to evangelicals, this translation can be read as a downplaying of the miracle of Jesus’ conception, which is a cardinal tenet of the faith. 

Others may think this is making a mountain out of a molehill and that maybe instead of being concerned  with the etymology of the word "עַלְמָה"‎ ("almāh"), Christians should focus more on the etymology of the term, "the Golden Rule."  

³ Immediately after walking in Trump's footsteps I noticed a two stones directly in front of me that had laid directly in the president's path. Two stones that President Trump must have trod upon. I picked them up and similar to an earlier art project, I plan on creating a contemplation stone that allows the owner, when challenged with an important life decisions such as interacting with foreigners, making friends, dealing with dictators, and settling affairs of the heart, to stop and ask, “What Would Trump Do?”     

"Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;

 maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.

Rescue the weak and the needy;

    deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

• Psalm 82:3-4