As he celebrated the second day of his presidency, Donald Trump heard “one final plea” from the pulpit at the Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday.
Hours after the president signed a series of executive orders that upend immigration policy and seek to remove transgender Americans from public life, Episocal Bishop Mariann Budde urged the president to “have mercy” for the “scared” LGBT+ children and immigrant families across the country
“Millions have put their trust in you, and as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God,” Budde said in her remarks as Trump looked on from the front row.
In his inaugural address on Monday, Trump proclaimed he was “saved by God to make America great again” after an assassination attempt last summer.
“In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now,” Budde continued.
“There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families — some who fear for their lives,” she added.
She continued: “The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meatpacking plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals — they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, gurdwara, and temples.”
Trump — sitting in the front pew next to First Lady Melania Trump and Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha Vance, with members of the Trump family behind them — watched her, expressionless, but shifted in his seat and turned up his mouth after her mention of immigrant workers.
Vance could be seen raising his eyebrows and turning to his wife to get a reaction. She didn’t budge.
“I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here,” Budde continued.
“Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land,” she said. “May God grant us the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, to speak the truth to one another in love, and walk humbly with each other and our God, for the good of all people — the good of all people in this nation and the world. Amen.”
Her remarks follow Trump’s executive orders seeking to “clarify” the Constitution’s citizenship clause, suspending refugee admissions and the right to asylum, and declaring a national emergency to surge troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, among other actions.
The presence of people living in the country illegally has been declared an “invasion,” and an executive order appears to grant Trump unilateral authority to suspend entry until he determines the “invasion” has “ceased.”
Another sweeping order dismantles the recognition of transgender, intersex and gender nonconforming people across the United States government.
Asked by a reporter what he thought of the service, Trump said: “Did you like it? Did you find it exciting? Not too exciting, was it?”
“I didn’t think it was a good service, no,” he said. “They can do much better.”
