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.
(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.
(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.
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.
(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.