Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde asks Trump to 'have mercy' on ...

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Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde (L) arrives as U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during the National Prayer Service at Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 21, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

A bishop asked President Donald Trump to "show mercy" toward the LGBTQ+ community and immigrant families during the national prayer service on Tuesday. 

The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, the Episcopal bishop at the Washington National Cathedral, used her prayer to make "one final plea" directed at Trump.

Plea for mercy

What they're saying:

Budde urged the president to "have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now." 

She added that there were "gay, lesbian and transgender children" that come from all political backgrounds that "fear for their lives." 

Read Budde’s full plea to the president here:  

"Let me make one final plea, Mr. President. Millions have put their trust in you. And as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, Independent families, some who fear for their lives. And the people, the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meat-packing plants. Who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals. They may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors, they are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, gurdwara, and temples. I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. And that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands, to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land. May God grant us the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, to speak the truth to one another in love and walk humbly with each other and our God. For the good of all people. The good of all people in this nation and the world. Amen." 

Trump’s response

Asked afterward by a reporter what he thought of the service, Trump said: "Not too exciting was it. I didn't think it was a good service. They could do much better."

Transgender protections and immigration policies

Budde’s plea was likely in response to the president’s inauguration speech and the litany of executive orders he signed during his first day back in office. 

The backstory:

Trump is rolling back protections for transgender people. 

One order declares that the federal government would recognize only two immutable sexes: male and female. And they’re to be defined based on whether people are born with eggs or sperm, rather than on their chromosomes, according to details of the upcoming order. 

Under the order, federal prisons and shelters for migrants and rape victims would be segregated by sex as defined by the order. And federal taxpayer money could not be used to fund "transition services." 

During his inauguration speech on Monday, Trump said that the federal government would only recognize two genders: male and female.  

"As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female," Trump said. 

Additionally, Trump signed an executive order which would end birthright citizenship in the U.S. 

The order questions whether the 14th Amendment extends citizenship automatically to anyone born in the U.S.

The 14th Amendment was born in the aftermath of the Civil War and ratified in 1868. 

Trump's order excludes the following people from automatic citizenship: those whose mothers were not legally in the United States and whose fathers were not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents; people whose mothers were in the country legally but on a temporary basis and whose fathers were not citizens or legal permanent residents. 

It goes on to bar federal agencies from recognizing the citizenship of people in those categories. It takes effect 30 days from Tuesday, on Feb. 19.