The Vice President:
Good morning.
It is the National
Day of Prayer.
And on behalf of the
President of the United
States and the first
family, welcome to
the White House.
(applause)
The Vice President: To
Pastor Paula White, Pastor
Jack Graham, our Cardinal
Wuerl, Rabbi Hier, and to
all our distinguished
guests, the President and
I are honored by your
presence and grateful
for your prayers.
From the founding of this
nation, Americans have
claimed that ancient
promise that if his people
who are called by his name
will humble themselves and
pray and seek his face,
that he will hear from
heaven and heal
their land.
In 1775 the Second
Continental Congress
established a day of
fasting and prayer.
President Abraham Lincoln
similarly urged Americans
to pray so that in his
words, "the united cry of
the nation will be heard
on high and
answered with blessing."
In 1952, President Harry
Truman and the Congress
formally established this
National Day of Prayer as
a time set aside each year
for the American people
to turn to God in prayer
and meditation.
Every president has issued
a proclamation in honor of
this day ever since.
But not every president
has done so in the Rose
Garden at the White House.
(applause)
The Vice President:
Today, our President will
continue that great
tradition to proclaim the
importance of prayer to
the American people and to
reaffirm the vital role
that institutions and
people of faith play
in our national life.
Our President
is a believer.
He loves his family and he
loves his country with an
unshakable faith in God
and the American people.
So with gratitude for that
faith, and for the actions
that he takes today and
every day, it is now my
high honor and distinct
privilege to introduce to
all of you the President
of the United States of
America, President
Donald Trump.
(applause)
The President:
Thank you, Mike.
Thank you everyone.
Thank you very much.
(applause)
The President:
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you very much to
Vice President Mike Pence.
I am very fortunate
to have Mike with me.
He's a man of
very deep faith.
I could tell you that.
Great character
and conviction.
And that, Mike, thank you
very much for making this
journey with me and with
all of us, believe me.
It's been great
to have you.
I also want to thank
Pastor Jack Graham,
Cardinal Donald Wuerl,
and Rabbi Marvin Hier for
leading us so
beautifully in prayer.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you.
(applause)
The President: I also want
to mention, as you know,
Cardinal Dornado and all
of the other great faith
leaders that we have.
I see Franklin Graham.
So many are here.
So many great friends.
So many great supporters.
And we very much
appreciate it.
Because we're a
nation of believers.
(applause)
The President: Faith is
deeply embedded into the
history of our country.
The spirit of our founding
and the soul of our nation.
It is a beautiful thing
to see these three faith
leaders from three very
different faith traditions
come together to lift up
our nation in prayer.
And it's great to do it at
the White House, isn't it?
Isn't that great?
(applause)
The President: Because not
only are we a nation of
faith, but we're a
nation of tolerance.
As we look at the violence
around the world, and
believe me, it's violent,
I get to see it perhaps
better than anybody, we
realized how truly blessed
we are to live in a nation
that honors the
freedom of worship.
Today my administration is
leading by example as we
take historic steps to
protect religious liberty
in the United
States of America.
(applause)
The President: We will not
allow people of faith to
be targeted, bullied,
or silenced anymore.
(applause)
The President: And we
will never ever stand for
religious discrimination.
Never, ever.
(applause)
The President: Tolerance
is the cornerstone of peace.
And that is why I am
proud to make a major and
historic announcement this
morning and to share with
you that my first foreign
trip as President of the
United States will be to
Saudi Arabia, then Israel,
and then to a place that
my Cardinals love
very much, Rome.
(applause)
The President: These
visits will take place
ahead of the NATO G7
meetings and will begin
with a truly historic
gathering in Saudi Arabia
with leaders from all
across the Muslim world.
Saudi Arabia is the
custodian of the two
holiest sites in Islam.
And it is there that we
will begin to construct a
new foundation of
cooperation, and support
with our Muslim allies
to combat extremism,
terrorism, and violence,
and to embrace a more just
and hopeful future for
young Muslims
in their countries.
(applause)
The President: Our task is
not to dictate to others
how to live but to build a
coalition of friends and
partners who share the
goal of fighting terrorism
and bringing safety,
opportunity, and stability
to the war-ravaged
Middle-East.
(applause)
The President: We all
pray that we can
make a difference.
We pray for peace.
Just over 150 years ago,
President Lincoln called
for a National Day of
Prayer, today, after he
feared that we were
becoming a nation too
proud to pray to the
god that made us.
(applause)
The President: Today we
recall President Lincoln's
words as we sign a
proclamation designating
today a National
Day of Prayer.
That's what we want, a
National Day of Prayer.
And it's so great to be
doing it in the Rose Garden.
How beautiful is that?
It was looking like you'd
never get here, folks.
But you got here.
(applause)
The President: Thank you.
(applause)
The President: Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
So true.
And we remember
this eternal truth.
Freedom is not a
gift from government.
Freedom is a
gift from God.
(applause)
The President: It was
Thomas Jefferson who said,
"the God who gave us
life, gave us liberty."
Our founding fathers
believed that religious
liberty was so fundamental
that they enshrined it in
the very first amendment
of our great and
beloved constitution.
Yet for too long, the
federal government has
used the power of the
state as a weapon against
people of faith.
Bullying and even
punishing Americans for
following their
religious beliefs.
That's been happening.
That is why I am signing
today an executive order
to defend the freedom of
religion and
speech in America.
The freedoms that
we've wanted.
The freedoms that you
fought for so long.
And we are doing it in
just a little while
right over here.
(applause)
The President: Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
(applause)
The President:
Thank you all.
Thank you.
No American should be
forced to choose between
the dictates of the
federal government and the
tenants of their faith.
As I campaigned across the
country, faith leaders
explained that they were
prevented from speaking
their minds because of a
1954 rule known as the
Johnson amendment.
I spoke about it a lot.
Under this rule if a
pastor, priest, or imam
speaks about issues of
public or political
importance, they are
threatened with the loss
of their
tax-exempt status.
A crippling financial
punishment.
Very, very unfair.
But no longer.
I promised to take
action if I won.
If I didn't win, I gave
you no promise that's for sure.
(laughter)
The President: If I didn't
win, I guess I'd be gone, right?
I'd be out enjoying
my life, I think.
But I wouldn't be helping
you with the Johnson Amendment.
And to this end, this
financial threat
against the faith
community, is over.
(applause)
The President: In just
a few moments I will be
signing an executive order
to follow through in that
pledge and to prevent the
Johnson Amendment from
interfering with your
first amendment rights.
And you're the people
I want to listen to.
Other people aren't
allowed to tell me and
everybody what to do.
I want to hear it from you
and so do a lot of other people.
So you're now in a
position where you can say
what you want to say.
And I know you'll
only say good.
And you'll say
what's in your heart.
And that's what
we want from you.
You are great,
great people.
You are great,
great people.
Thank you.
Thank you.
(applause)
The President: This
executive order directs
the IRS not to unfairly
targets churches and
religious organizations
for political speech.
No one should be censoring
sermons or targeting pastors.
(applause)
The President: And I know
one thing it never stopped
Dr. Ben Carson.
He said, the heck with the
Johnson Amendment right, Ben?
I've been with Ben and he
did what he wanted to do.
(laughter)
The President: But not
everybody is going to do
that, Ben, you
know that, right?
In America, we do not fear
people speaking freely
from the pulpit.
We embrace it.
America has a rich
tradition of social change
beginning in our
pews and our pulpits.
Perhaps there is no
greater example than the
historic role of the
African-American church as
the agent for social
progress, sparing our
nation to greater
justice and equality.
We must never infringe on
the noble tradition of
change from the church and
progress from the pew.
(applause)
The President: Thank you.
Thank you.
Under my administration,
free speech does not end
at the steps of a
cathedral or synagogue or
any other house
of worship.
We are giving our churches
their voices back.
We are giving them back
in the highest form.
With this executive order
we also make clear that
the federal government
will never ever penalize
any person for their
protected religious beliefs.
(applause)
The President: That is why
I am, today, directing the
Department of Justice
to develop new rules to
ensure these religious
protections are afforded
to all Americans.
There are more than 50
religious Americans and
groups sued the previous
-- and you've seen that,
50 sued the previous
administration for
violating their
religious freedom.
The abuses were
widespread.
The abuses were all over.
As just one example,
people were forbidden from
giving or receiving
religious items at a
military hospital where
our brave service members
were being treated.
And where they wanted
those religious items.
These were great,
great people.
These are great soldiers.
They wanted those items.
They were precluded
from getting them.
And we know all too well
the attacks against the
Little Sisters
of the Poor.
(applause)
The President: Incredible
nuns to care for the sick,
the elderly, and
the forgotten.
Where are they,
by the way?
Male Speaker:
Right over here.
The President:
Where are they?
Could you stand, sisters?
Just stand.
Come on up here, sister.
Come on up.
Right?
Come on up.
(applause)
The President: So nice.
(applause)
The President:
Congratulations.
They sort of just
won a lawsuit.
That was pretty good.
(laughter)
The President: That's a
good way of doing it, huh?
Well, I want you to know
that your long ordeal will
soon be over.
Female Speaker
Thank you so much.
The President: Okay?
It's been a long hard
ordeal we've all been
watching some of you have
been very much involved a
lot of us have been
watching the news for years.
And the five years,
you had good lawyers?
(laughter)
The President: Huh?
Where are your lawyers?
Stand up.
Come on.
Stand up.
(applause)
The President: Good job.
(applause)
The President: Do you mind
if I use your lawyers for
various things?
(laughter)
The President: I could use
some good lawyers, too.
Good job.
Great job.
With this executive order
we are ending the attacks
on your religious liberty
and we are proudly
reaffirming America's
leadership role as a
nation that protects
religious freedom for everyone.
(applause)
The President: Okay?
Great.
Over 60 years ago the IRS
went after one of the
greatest leaders
in history.
Reverend Martin Luther
King Jr. It is a sobering
reminder of the need for
vigilance the words of
Reverend King and other
religious leaders have
awakened the conscience of
millions and
millions of Americans.
And inspired us to act
in the name of peace,
justice, freedom
and charity.
Every president must work
to protect and we have to
do this we have no choice
to do this we have
absolutely no choice to
protect these hard-fought gains.
They have been
hard fought.
They have been fought for
so many years for so many
decades for so
many centuries.
And this is a very special
day perhaps for that reason.
And that's why we're here
today, to defend the
rights of all Americans,
to honor our great
constitution, and to
protect the sacred
liberties given to us, not
by any earthly power, but
by our creator in Heaven.
(applause)
The President: I'd like to
thank all of you great,
great religious leaders
for being with us today we
have some of our political
leaders, that you
could have them.
(laughter)
The President: They know.
They know.
And today's a
very big day.
We have a big vote coming
up in a little while.
And I thought it was very
appropriate that it turned
out to be you folks.
And then I have to deal
with those politicians.
But they're good.
I will tell you.
They're good.
They work very hard.
And hopefully we can have
a wonderful day and a
wonderful vote.
And we're going to take
care of a lot of people,
great, great people from
this country with their
healthcare and their
healthcare needs.
So we hope to be
able to do that.
And we have all fought
very hard to be able to do that.
So I want to say to
everybody in attendance,
and everybody in our
country, and everybody in
the world, God bless you,
and God bless America.
Thank you all very much.
Thank you.
Thank you.
(applause)
The President:
Thank you very much.
(applause)
The President: Okay.
National Day of Prayer.
We like that, don't we?
Proclamation.
(applause)
The President:
Thank you very much.
So, who's getting this
pen, Mr. Vice President, huh?
(laughter)
The President: How about,
in honor of Dr. Martin
Luther King?
Is that --
(applause)
The President:
Thank you very much.
This is promoting and the
promotion of free speech
and religious liberty
that's a big one that's as
big as it gets, right?
Where's Paula?
Male Speaker: Right
behind you, sir.
The President: Paula --
Pastor Paula White:
Oh, thank you.
The President: -- you
worked, just worked so hard.
Male Speaker: Absolutely.
The President: Two
years, she's worked.
(applause)
The President: Thank you
very much, everybody.
Fantastic to have you.
We really appreciate.
Very special.
These are two very, very,
special executive orders
and I'm honored to have
everybody here and thank
you all so much.
Multiple Speaker:
Thank you, sir.
Bless you.
