Donald Trump calls Washington bishop Mariann Edgar Budde ‘nasty’, demands apology

Donald Trump on Wednesday called a Washington bishop “nasty” and demanded an apology after she told the US President from the pulpit that he was sowing fear among the country’s immigrants and LGBTQ people.

“The so-called bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a radical left hard-line Trump hater,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“She brought her church into the world of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart,” wrote Trump, after attending a service at the Washington National Cathedral given by Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington.

Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde arrives as US President Donald Trump looks on during the National Prayer Service at Washington National Cathedral. Photo / AFP

Trump issued measures Tuesday, after being sworn in as President for the second time, to suspend the arrival of asylum seekers and expel migrants in the country illegally.

He also decreed that only two sexes – male and female, but not transgender – will be recognised.

Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde: "The vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors...may I ask you to have mercy Mr. President on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away." pic.twitter.com/iXaHJrPsof

— CSPAN (@cspan) January 21, 2025

Budde told an unsmiling Trump, who was seated in the church’s front pew for the customary inaugural service next to his wife Melania: “I ask you to have mercy, Mr President.”

Asked what he thought about her remarks, Trump earlier said: “I didn’t think it was a good service.”

But in his Truth Social post, the President slammed Budde, without naming her, and railed against “illegal migrants”: “Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job! She and her church owe the public an apology!”

- Agence France-Presse