Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first president to attend the prayer breakfast, in February 1953, and every president since has spoken at the gathering. Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and Republican Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas are the honorary co-chairs of this year's prayer breakfast.

President Donald Trump said Thursday that his relationship with religion had “changed” after a pair of failed assassination attempts last year, as he advocated at the National Prayer Breakfast at the Capitol for Americans to “bring God back" into their lives.

Extolling the importance of religious liberty, Trump announced the formation of a task force to “eradicate anti-Christian bias” in the country as well as the launch of the White House Faith Office during the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday morning.