Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2019 Remarks at a National Day Of
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Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2019 Remarks at a National Day of Prayer Service May 2, 2019 The First Lady. Good morning. Welcome to the White House. Please bow your heads for a prayer: "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord makes his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen." Audience members. Amen! The First Lady. Mr. President. The President. Thank you very much, honey. Thank you. Please. Thank you very much. And thank you, Melania, for the great job you do as First Lady. People love you. No matter where I go, they love you. On this National Day of Prayer, the First Lady and I are absolutely delighted to welcome all of you to the White House. A very special occasion for us; I know it is for you too. The White House is a very, very special place. Political Unrest and Violence in Venezuela I'd like to begin by sending our prayers to the people of Venezuela in their righteous struggle for freedom. The brutal repression of the Venezuelan people must end, and it must end soon. People are starving. They have no food. They have no water. And this was once one of the wealthiest countries in the world. So we wish them well. We'll be there to help, and we are there to help. Thank you. National Day of Prayer Service Very importantly, this morning we're grateful to be joined by so many of our representatives, and great representatives they are. And I want to start with somebody who's very special to the success of our administration. We're doing things that haven't been done in a long time, including an economy that may be the best ever. And he's been a big, big help. You'll never guess who that is: Mike Pence, Vice President. And also a wonderful lady and a real friend of the Trump family, and a tremendous wife, I can say that: Karen Pence. Thank you, Karen. We're also glad to have with us Secretary Sonny Perdue. Sonny. Where is Sonny? Stand up, Sonny. Agriculture. Secretary of Housing, Ben Carson. Great job, Ben. Great job. Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan and Ambassador Sam Brownback. Thank you both very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. Oh, I'm looking at that beautiful red hair. Will you please stand up? [Laughter] What a— what a—huh? What a voice. What a voice. Huh? You're so great. You'd better—you'd better come up here. [Laughter] Great to have you. Thanks also to the many faith leaders from across the country with us today. Special, special people. And one of the things I'm most proud of is the Johnson Amendment. You can now speak your mind and speak it freely. I said I was going to do that. I told Paula White, who I want to thank so much for everything she's done. Paula. 1 That was one of the things I said: They took away your voice, politically. And these are the people I want to listen to, politically, but you weren't allowed to speak. They would lose their tax-exempt status. That's not happening anymore. So we got rid of the Johnson Amendment. That's a big thing. And also, I want to very much thank somebody who has done a fantastic job: President of the National Day of Prayer, Dr. Ronnie Floyd, and along with Reverend Rivera. Thank you, Ronnie. Great job. I saw you this morning. Thank you very much. Father Trullols. Where are you, Father? Father. Stand up please, Father. Thank you very much, Father. Mrs. Bachu. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Chaplain Agbere. Great having dinner with you last night. Great, Chaplain. Thank you very much. Rabbi Cohen. Thank you, Rabbi. Great being with you. And the Prestonwood Baptist Church Choir. Wow. Great job. On this special day, we join communities and congregations across our country in continuing a great tradition that helped build our Nation. And we have built it, now, stronger than ever before. They're starting to find out. In March of 1776, as the Founders prepared to draft the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress asked everyone to join in a Day of Prayer and fasting for the "Cause of Freedom." They go hand in hand. It's a beautiful thing to watch. Today we give thanks for this magnificent country, and we proudly come together as one Nation under God. And one of the things that Mike and I were discussing just a little while ago: People are so proud to be using that beautiful word, "God." And they're using the word "God" again. And they're not hiding from it. And they're not being told to take it down. And they're not saying, "We can't honor God." "In God we trust." So important. A little thing on the campaign, but it wasn't such a little thing to me: When I first started 4 years ago—haven't been doing this so long; we did a good job—[laughter]—but when I first started campaigning, people were not allowed or, in some cases, foolishly ashamed to be using on stores, "Merry Christmas," "Happy Christmas." They'd say "Happy Holidays." They'd have red walls, and you'd never see "Christmas." That was 4 years ago. Take a look at your stores nowadays. It's all "Merry Christmas" again. "Merry Christmas" again. They're proud of it. I always said, "You're going to be saying 'Merry Christmas' again." And that's what's happened. As we unite on this Day of Prayer, we renew our resolve to protect communities of faith and to ensure that all people, and all of our people, can live and pray and worship in peace. In recent months—it's been pretty tough—we've seen evil and hate-filled attacks on religious communities in the United States and all around the world. One month ago, three historically Black churches were burned, tragically, in Louisiana. In Sri Lanka and New Zealand, hundreds of Christians and Muslims were brutally murdered at their places of worship. In October, an anti-Semitic killer attacked the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. That was a horrible event. The First Lady and I went. To see that was not even believable. And last week, a gunman opened fire at a synagogue in Poway, California, while Jewish families celebrated the last day of Passover. We mourn for the loss of one extraordinary member of that congregation, Lori Gilbert-Kaye, who stood in front of the shooter and gave her life to protect her rabbi. An incredible man and an incredible person. 2 This morning we are privileged to be in the presence of heroes who raced after the murderer and helped disrupt the attack at the Poway synagogue: Army veteran Oscar Stewart and Border Patrol Agent Jonathan Morales. Please stand. Please stand. Come. Come here. Say a few words. Rancho Bernardo, CA, resident Oscar Stewart. Oh, this is incredible. I just want to say everything that the President has said, I echo. We need to be strong as a good of people that love God, whether you call him Muhammad, whether you call him Shiva, whether you call him Yahweh, HaShem, whatever. We need to be strong, because that's the only way we're going to defeat evil. And just—and do not be afraid to be who you are. Be proud, and lift yourself up. That's all I can say. The President. Beautiful. That's beautiful. Mr. Stewart. Thank you, President. I appreciate it. The President. That's beautiful. Please. That was beautiful. U.S. Customs and Border Protection El Centro Sector, CA, Patrol Agent Jonathan Morales. Good morning, all. I'm a Border Patrol Agent assigned to the El Centro Station—the El Centro Sector in California. And like President Trump said, we were celebrating our last day of Passover. It was supposed to be a joyous, festive event, and we were attacked with our backs turned. But you know, brave people stood up and confronted this person, and we ended the situation the best we could, with the resources we had. And like I said, I'd like to use a quote from the Lubavitcher Rebbe. He said, "In order to fight these random acts of violence, we must continue to do random acts of kindness." And all of us keep doing mitzvah and good deeds, and we will overcome this evilness. The President. Beautiful. I'm proud of you. Thank you, man. Thank you both. Mr. Morales. Thank you. Mr. Stewart. It's a great honor, sir. The President. Incredible job both of you have done. Your bravery is an inspiration to us all. We're also profoundly honored to be joined by somebody that I've gotten to know a little bit by telephone. I had a—what was going to be about a 1-minute conversation just to express my sorrow and gratitude and everything else you could express, and it ended up being about 25 minutes. And it was a very warm—he's a very warm, incredible man: Yisroel Goldstein, Rabbi. And I'll tell you, it wasn't in the schedule, but, Rabbi, I'd love to bring you up because there was nobody that expressed the horror and the beauty of what you represent better than you did.