The President returned to the White House shortly after hearing Reverend Mariann Budde call for a change in policies aimed at the LGBTQ+ community and immigrants. Asked what he thought, he only said that “they could have done much better”
One day after signing executive orders that establish the existence of only two sexes (male and female) and more aggressive laws against immigrants (those who are already there and those who want to be there), Donald Trump had to listen to an authentic sermon at the National Cathedral from Washington.
24 hours after swearing to uphold the Constitution and announcing those same measures, the President of the United States attended a mass in Washington DC, where Reverend Mariann Budde, the city’s Episcopal bishop, made clear requests to the new head of state.
“He felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of God, I ask you to have mercy on the people of our country who are scared at this moment”, he said, in a clear allusion to the invocation made by Donald Trump at the inauguration, when he said that it was God who prevented his death in the attack in Pennsylvania.
And these people, confirmed Mariann Budde, are those who belong to the LGBTQ+ community, but also immigrants, namely illegal ones.
“Let me make one final appeal, Mr. President. Millions have put their faith in you. There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and Independent families, some of them fear for their lives,” he stressed.
Regarding immigrants, the bishop recalled that they are the ones who “harvest and clean our buildings”, they are the ones who “wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work night shifts in hospitals”.
“They may not be citizens or have legalized documentation, but a large majority of immigrants are not criminals,” he added.
Always with an air of disapproval and, at times, visible jocosity, Donald Trump had to hear the reverend say that that mass sought a “prayer for unity as a people and as a nation – not for agreements, political or otherwise – but for the kind of unity that fosters community through diversity and division.”
“The union is not factional”, reiterated Mariann Budde.
Donald Trump, his family and JD Vance at mass at the Washington National Cathedral (Evan Vucci/AP)
Back at the White House, Donald Trump was inevitably asked about what happened at the church. “It wasn’t very exciting, was it? I don’t think it was a good mass. They could have done much better”, he said, after a mass that also had representatives of other religions as speakers.
At the mass, in addition to a large part of the family, the vice president, JD Vance, and the Secretary of State, Peter Hegseth, were at Donald Trump’s side.
