Trump hosts faith leaders for Easter prayer dinner, slams effort to rid America of Christian principles
President Donald Trump participated in a Wednesday evening prayer service and dinner as part of a series of Holy Week events ahead of Easter Sunday this weekend.
Faith leaders of various Christian denominations were present and listened to the president address them about the importance of faith, both in governing and in people's personal lives. Trump also took the moment to tout his recent accomplishments in-line with Christian beliefs, and slammed efforts to move the country away from its Christian foundation.
"This is really — I hope — going to be one of the great Easters ever, because we have something going that I don't think this country has seen in 100 years. And as we gather with family and friends, we'll not forget the true source of our joy and our strength: America has put our trust in God," Trump said during his address to attendees. "It will always be 'In God We Trust.' We will never change that."
INSIDE DONALD TRUMP'S RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, IN HIS OWN WORDS: 'I WAS SAVED'
"You know there's a movement to change it," Trump continued. "It won't happen. We won't let that happen. Can you imagine a movement to change that?"
Trump also slammed former administrations for failing to stand up for persecuted Christians around the globe, reassuring the crowd of faith leaders in attendance that things would be different under his administration.
"We had nobody fighting for our Christians in other parts of the world, that were being so incredibly destroyed, killed, injured, hurt. But they died, so many died. You wouldn't think that could happen in this time — in this modern time," Trump said.
Trump also remarked about the anti-Christian bias exhibited in the U.S., pointing out to those in attendance that he established a Justice Department task force to root it out. Trump also touted his creation of the White House Faith Office, which replaced the former White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
TECH COMPANY REVERSES POLICY AFTER CHRISTIAN GROUP SUES FOR RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION
"You don't hear about that very much, but there is anti-Christian bias," Trump said.
Trump will continue his Holy Week celebrations with another prayer service tomorrow, on Holy Thursday, which will again include various faith leaders from different Christian denominations and members of the president's staff. The event will include Christian hymns sung by musicians associated with Liberty University, a private Christian university in Virginia.
The White House is also reportedly hosting a Passover event Thursday afternoon, to celebrate the Jewish holiday that began April 12 and ends April 20.
"With God's help we can overcome every challenge, triumph over every evil, and restore the spirit of faith in the United States for generations to come," Trump concluded. "We have a very simple slogan: 'Make America Great Again,' and that's exactly what we're doing."
TRUMP CHAMPIONS JESUS' 'MIRACULOUS RESURRECTION' IN PALM SUNDAY MESSAGE VOWING TO 'DEFEND THE CHRISTIAN FAITH'
In addition to faith leaders, Patty Morin, whose daughter's death at the hands of an illegal immigrant in 2023 was a major point of contention during the last election, was also present at the Wednesday dinner service. She attended following an emotional press briefing earlier in the day at the White House during which she told her daughter's story.
"Her daughter's looking down on Patty today," Trump noted during the event, adding she's "been through hell."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
29 minutes ago
- Fox News
Trump's military parade was a 'beautiful celebration of America': Lara Trump
All times eastern Legends & Lies: The Real West Legends & Lies: The Real West Legends & Lies: The Real West Legends & Lies: The Real West FOX News Radio Live Channel Coverage WATCH LIVE: President Trump participates in G7 session with world leaders
The Hill
35 minutes ago
- The Hill
Here's what's in the Senate GOP's version of Trump's ‘big, beautiful bill'
The Senate Finance Committee on Monday unveiled its portion of President Trump's 'big, beautiful bill,' containing provisions on Medicaid, taxes and green energy tax credits. The committee's text is the final piece of the upper chamber's version of the bill to be released, and was the most highly anticipated. It contains some of the thorniest provisions that Senate GOP holdouts have expressed concerns about, and the issues that could set the upper chamber on a collision course with the House. The House narrowly passed its version of the legislation last month. Here's what's in the Senate's bill. The bill makes many of the core elements of their 2017 tax cuts permanent but scales back additional cuts from what the House passed. The Senate bill locks in existing federal tax brackets, boosts the standard deduction and maintains the termination of personal exemptions — all without sunsets. In contrast with the House version, the bill sets a lower increase for the child tax credit, raising it to $2,200 per child as opposed to the House's $2,500. The bill creates new deductions for taxes on tips, overtime pay and car loan interest — a priority of Trump's that he campaigned on — but doesn't make them fully deductible. Tips are deductible up to $25,000 through 2028. Overtime pay is deductible up to $12,500, or $25,000 for joint filers, through 2028. Auto loan interest is deductible up to $10,000, also through 2028. Senate Republicans are taking a bigger swing at Medicaid in their version of the bill. The legislation would effectively cap provider taxes at 3.5 percent by 2031, down from the current 6 percent, but only for the states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. The cap would be phased in by lowering it 0.5 percent annually, starting in 2027. Non-expansion states would be prohibited from imposing new taxes, but as was true in the House-passed version, their rates would be frozen at current levels. The lower cap would not apply to nursing homes or intermediate care facilities. Limiting provider taxes is a long-held conservative goal, as they argue states are gaming the current system and driving up federal Medicaid spending. The policies are designed to inflate Medicaid spending on paper to allow states to receive more federal reimbursement dollars. The Senate bill also cuts certain existing state-directed payments to hospitals, which would be a significant hit to the hospitals' bottom line. The House version in contrast limited future payments but grandfathered existing arrangements. The change in the Senate bill is sure to anger Republicans who were already expressing concerns about the impact of the freeze in the House-passed version, including key holdouts like Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.). Provider taxes have become an important lifeline for hospitals, and rural hospitals would be hit hardest by the cuts. Hawley on Monday night signaled dissatisfaction with the newly unveiled text. Like the House bill, the Senate legislation imposes work requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries beginning at 19 years old. But the Senate version says adults with dependent children older than 14 will also have to prove they work, attend school or perform community service for 80 hours a month, while the House-passed version would exempt all adults with dependent children. The bill includes changes to green energy tax credits that are more flexible than those passed by the House — but would still be a significant rollback. The Senate text appears to eliminate the most stringent provision in the House bill, deleting a measure that would have required climate-friendly energy sources to start construction within 60 days of the bill's enactment to qualify for the credits at all. Instead, things such as solar panels and wind farms would need to begin construction this year in order to receive the full credit amount. Projects that begin construction in 2026 would get 60 percent of the credit, while projects that begin construction in 2027 would receive 20 percent. Projects constructed in 2028 or later would not be eligible for the credit. This, too, appears to be more flexible than the House text, which required projects to not just start construction but actually be producing electricity by the end of 2028 to qualify for the credit. Nevertheless, the Senate provisions are still a major rollback of the tax credits passed by Democrats in their 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Under that law, the credits would have lasted until either 2032 or when U.S. emissions from the electric sector are 25 percent lower than their 2022 levels, whichever came later. The Senate text also adds carve-outs for hydro, nuclear and geothermal power, allowing them to receive the full credit if they begin construction before 2034. The Senate bill as drafted would keep the cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions at $10,000 a year, rolling back the deal that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) painstakingly cut with blue state Republicans to raise the limit on SALT deductions to $40,000 a year for households earning less than $500,000 annually. It would permanently extend the $10,000 cap, which is scheduled to expire at the end of this year. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters Monday afternoon that the $10,000 deduction cap is a 'marker' for talks with House Republicans, and that they will find a number in the middle that satisfies both camps. But the House's SALT Caucus Republicans are insisting on the $40,000 number. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), a key member of the group, wrote on the social platform X that the proposal was 'DEAD ON ARRIVAL' and warned in a statement that a $40,000 deduction cap 'is the deal and I will not accept a penny less.' The bill would raise the debt ceiling by $5 trillion, instead of the $4 trillion increase adopted by House Republicans. The debt-ceiling language is a major problem for Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who has told his leadership he won't support the bill if it includes such a large extension of federal borrowing authority. Mychael Schnell and Al Weaver contributed.
Los Angeles Times
35 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
South L.A. mother deports herself to Mexico amid Trump's immigration crackdown, family says
Amid a surge in raids and forced deportations by federal immigration agents, a South Los Angeles mother deported herself last week to Mexico after living in the U.S. for 36 years, according to her family. The woman's daughter, Julia Ear, recorded the entire experience and posted the video on TikTok. The family drove from Los Angeles to Tijuana on June 7 while demonstrators were taking to the streets in downtown L.A. to protest the Trump administration's immigration crackdown and ongoing raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Ear told CBS News that her mother, Regina Higuera, 51, chose to self-deport after seeing the increase in immigration raids and deciding that she didn't want to be deported against her will. 'She made this decision out of fear,' Ear said. While fear is a motivator for some, the Trump administration has also offered undocumented immigrants $1,000 if they return to their home country voluntarily. Anyone who uses the the Customs and Border Protection Home Mobile App to inform the government that they plan to return home, the department said, would receive a $1,000 payment after their return is confirmed by the government. It is unclear how many people have taken advantage of this program. Higuera's family drove her to the airport in Tijuana, where she took a flight to Mexico City and then drove five hours to Guerrero state, where she plans on retiring. 'With my mom's complicated legal status, she decided to do this in her own terms,' Ear says in the TikTok video. 'She has no criminal record and is a hardworking taxpayer who has been working 12-hour shifts since she was 15, six days out of the week.' Higuera first moved to the U.S. when she was 15 and hadn't seen her mother in 22 years, Ear says in the video. Along with her children, she left behind three grandchildren in the U.S. Her husband was planning to join her in Mexico in a few months. 'She asked me not to cry, to let her go in peace, to take care of myself and not to trust all of these new people I'm meeting,' Ear says in the video. As of early June, around 51,000 undocumented migrants were in ICE custody, the highest number since September 2019.
