During an over 75-minute speech full of digressions, the US president announced that he was the leader who had done the most for religion in the country's history, although he added that it was not difficult, considering the policies of his predecessors.
What did Donald Trump announce at the National Prayer Breakfast?
What new guidelines has the Department of Education issued under Trump?
When should Americans come to Washington to pray?
How did Trump summarize his achievements as president in the context of religion?
— Few presidents have done much for religion. Certainly the modern ones […] presidents. They withdrew. They left you. They want to be neutral. They want to be neutral or against, Trump argued. – You know, Democrats are against it. I don't know how a person of faith can vote for a Democrat. I really don't know. I know we have some (Democrats) here today, and I don't know why they're here because they're certainly not giving us their vote. (…) They only cheat, he said. Trump announced that under his administration religion is “back” and “hotter than ever.”
The president announced that the Ministry of Education, at his request, has issued new guidelines on the protection of the right to pray in public schools. The guidelines say students have the right to pray outside of school activities, and schools that restrict this right will not receive federal funding.
Donald Trump “will trust America in God again”
Trump also invited all Americans to come to Washington's central park, the National Mall, on May 17 to pray together to “recommit America to God as one nation.”
The president made repeated references to his own conscience. He claimed he was joking when he said last year that he didn't think he could get to heaven.
“Actually, I think I should probably get there.” “I mean, I'm not a perfect candidate, but I've done a lot of good things for perfect people,” he concluded. However, quoting the words of Jesus from the Gospel: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God”, Trump admitted that he did not know whether he was pure in heart. He also said – repeating his claims about the rigged 2020 elections – that he had to win the next election because “he needed it for his own ego.”
— I would have a bad ego for the rest of my life. But now I have a really big ego. Defeating these madmen was amazing, wasn't it? What a great feeling, he said.
