Bishop Marian Edgar Budde was nearing the end of her opening prayer sermon on Tuesday when she took a breath and looked directly at President Trump.
“I ask you to have mercy on the people in our country who are feeling afraid now,” he said. Bishop Budleader of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. “There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families, and some of them fear for their lives.”
The direct appeal to Mr. Trump, at the start of the first full day of his presidency, was a remarkable moment. Twenty-four hours after he regained the nation’s highest office, summoned tech billionaires as witnesses, and made a sweeping bid for power by signing a flurry of executive orders, he suddenly encountered an extraordinary act of public resistance from an unexpected quarter. Source: Soft-spoken Bishop.
“The vast majority of immigrants are not criminals,” Bishop Budd said. “I ask you, Mr. President, to have mercy on those in our communities whose children fear their parents will be taken from them, and to help those fleeing zones of war and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here.”
Trump, sitting in the first row of pews in the towering Washington National Cathedral, looked down and then away. Vice President J.D. Vance raised his eyebrows and looked several times at his wife, Osha Vance, who kept her gaze trained forward on the bishop. When Bishop Budd finished, Mr. Trump said something to Mr. Vance, who shook his head in obvious annoyance. The Trump family members sitting directly behind them appeared to look at each other, visibly annoyed. Eric Trump, Mr. Trump’s middle son, shook his head.
This was not how Mr. Trump was generally spoken to upon his return to the White House. Since his election victory, he has been courted by powerful businessmen and politicians alike, including many who kept their distance from him during his first term. Just the day before, he celebrated his return to office with an inauguration ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda, a gathering surrounded by supporters and a series of inaugural parties. Even former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. greeted Mr. Trump at the White House by saying: “Welcome home.”
Bishop Budd’s comments came a day after Mr. Trump issued a series of executive orders focusing on transgender rights and immigration.
When a journalist asked him what he thought of the service, the president said: “I don’t think it was a good service, no.”
Shortly after midnight, Trump ramped up his criticism in a post on Truth Social, calling on Bishop Budd and her church to apologize and saying she had made inappropriate remarks.
“She brought her church into politics in a highly inappropriate manner,” Mr. Trump wrote. “She had a bad tone, and she wasn’t persuasive or intelligent.”
In response to Bishop Budd’s comments on immigration, Trump said, without providing evidence, that a “large number” of immigrants came to the United States illegally and killed people.
In an interview, Bishop Budd said she decided to speak to the president directly because of “the fear that I’ve seen and experienced among our people — people that I know and love, both within the immigrant community and within the LGBTQ community, and how terrified so many of them are.”
She said she was concerned about the “level of license for extreme cruelty” some people now feel.
“I wasn’t necessarily asking the president to get out. I was trying to say, ‘I’ve entrusted the country to you,’” Bishop Budd said. “One of the qualities of a leader is compassion, right? mercy. And to be wary of people who feel afraid.
Bishop Budd is not the only prominent member of the clergy to draw attention to the fear caused by Mr. Trump’s agenda. Pope Francis on Sunday called Mr. Trump’s plans for mass deportations a “disgrace.”
Mr. Trump began his presidency on Monday with executive actions aimed at turning his campaign rhetoric into concrete policies, including rescinding a Biden administration order that sought to prevent discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation.
The administration said Trump’s new order seeks to defend women against “gender ideological extremism” that allows biological males to undermine their rights and privacy. The definitions she outlines go further to define “sex” more clearly.
Under the order Trump signed on Monday, males and females will be identified at “pregnancy,” the text states. The order says that the person who eventually produces the “large reproductive cell” will be considered female. A male can be defined as one who “finally produces the young reproductive cell.”
The order also states that the federal government will no longer recognize only “gender identity” and “sex” as defined by “an individual’s established biological classification as male or female.”
The order also prohibits the use of federal funds for any promotion of “gender ideology” through grants or other government programs, as well as the use of public funding for transition-related medical procedures in prisons.
system effectively Defines transgender Americans out of existence.
“This executive order, at its core, is a horribly cruel effort to make transgender people outside the law and put them back in the closet,” said Sarah Warbelo, legal director at the Human Rights Campaign.
Mr. Trump also issued several immigration-related executive orders on Monday that halted refugee admissions, severely restricted asylum for migrants and made clear that he intends to deploy the military to the southern border. However, the border remains relatively calm after a record number of illegal crossings earlier under the Biden administration.
The Trump administration also rescinded a Biden policy that directed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents not to make arrests at schools, places of worship and other places described as “sensitive locations.”
Throughout his campaign, and during his first term, Trump often portrayed all immigrants who crossed the border illegally as criminals. While sporadic crimes committed by immigrants have gained national attention in recent years, Homeland Security officials themselves acknowledge that most people who cross the border are fleeing poverty or violence and seeking a better life.
“Sometimes he talks about immigrants in general, making the picture that is portrayed that all immigrants who come into the country are dangerous,” Bishop Budd said. “And I know that’s not true. That’s not true.
Yan Chuang Contributed to reports.
