--- description: President Donald Trump will return to Liberty University in May to deliver this year's commencement address. title: President Trump Is Liberty University's Commencement Speaker image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt144d490b8ecfba58/6988bf5d0a4a221fcd9cd5e7/trump-jerry-falwell-commencement.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [White House](/tag/white-house/) ## White House Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # President Trump Will Give Commencement Address at Liberty University  by [Alana Abramson](/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 22, 2017 2:36 PM CUT  Liberty University President Jerry Falwell, Jr. gives Donald Trump a sports jersey after he delivered the convocation at Liberty University on January 18, 2016 in Lynchburg, Virginia. Liberty University President Jerry Falwell, Jr. gives Donald Trump a sports jersey after he delivered the convocation at Liberty University on January 18, 2016 in Lynchburg, Virginia.Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images  by [Alana Abramson](/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 22, 2017 2:36 PM CUT [President Donald Trump](http://time.com/4704797/donald-trumps-travel-ban-apology/ "undefined") will deliver the first [commencement address](http://time.com/4340310/barack-obama-commencement-address-transcript-rutgers/ "undefined") of his White House tenure at [Liberty University](http://time.com/4184409/donald-trump-liberty-university/ "undefined") in Virginia, the largest Christian university in the world. “I look forward to speaking to this amazing group of students on such a momentous occasion,” Trump told [CBN News](http://www1.cbn.com/thebrodyfile/archive/2017/03/22/brody-file-exclusive-president-trump-will-be-commencement-speaker-at-liberty-university?cpid=:ID:-18446-:DT:-2017-03-22-06:41:26-:US:-JG1-:CN:-CP1-:PO:-GC1-:ME:-SU1-:SO:-FB1-:SP:-NW1-:PF:-TX1- "undefined")‘ David Brody. “Our children truly are the future and I look forward to celebrating the success of this graduating class as well as sharing lessons as they embark on their next chapter full of hope, faith, optimism, and a passion for life.” Liberty’s 2017 commencement will be held on Saturday, May 13. It’s not the first time Trump will visit the university: He was a convocation speaker in 2012, and again as a Presidential candidate in 2016\. During the 2016 convocation, he referred to a bible passage as [“Two Corinthians”](http://time.com/4184409/donald-trump-liberty-university/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") instead of the correct pronunciation, “Second Corinthians.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4709002/trump-liberty-university-commencement-2017/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4709002/trump-liberty-university-commencement-2017/"},"headline":"President Trump Will Give Commencement Address at Liberty University","datePublished":"2017-03-22T14:36:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:58:05.293Z","description":"“I look forward to speaking to this amazing group of students\"","url":"https://time.com/4709002/trump-liberty-university-commencement-2017/","keywords":["White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt144d490b8ecfba58/6988bf5d0a4a221fcd9cd5e7/trump-jerry-falwell-commencement.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alana Abramson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt144d490b8ecfba58/6988bf5d0a4a221fcd9cd5e7/trump-jerry-falwell-commencement.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump Delivers Convocation At Liberty University","caption":"Donald Trump Delivers Convocation At Liberty University","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4709002/trump-liberty-university-commencement-2017/","name":"President Trump Will Give Commencement Address at Liberty University"}}]}] ```