President Donald Trump swiftly returned to his favorite pastime in the White House: late-night grievance-sharing via social media.
His inaugural target following the glitz of Inauguration Day: the “so-called Bishop” who urged him to show compassion towards immigrants and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
During an interfaith service at Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday, the Episcopal bishop Right Rev. Mariann Budde addressed Trump directly—who was seated in the audience alongside Vice President J.D. Vance and their families—urging him to “have mercy on the people in our country who are frightened right now.”
Following the service, Trump remarked to reporters that he did not find the service to be satisfactory and felt, “They could improve significantly.” Later, around 1 a.m., he took to his social media platform Truth Social to label Budde a “Radical left hard line Trump hater.”
“Her tone was unpleasant, and she was neither compelling nor intelligent,” the president expressed his dissatisfaction.
Budde—whose voice is soothing and reminiscent of meditation app narrators—neglected to mention the “large influx of illegal immigrants who have entered our Country and caused harm” or the “significant crime surge that is happening in the USA,” Trump continued.
However, in reality, violent crime rates have decreased significantly over the last three years, as reported by ABC News, with studies indicating that undocumented immigrants commit significantly fewer crimes than native-born citizens.
Despite this, Trump criticized Budde for intertwining her religious views with politics “in an incredibly ungracious manner,” and declared the service “quite dull and uninspiring.”
“She and her church should publicly apologize!” he declared.
That evening on CNN, Budde explained that she chose to directly reach out to Trump because the president “often feels charged and entitled to pursue his instincts,” and she aimed to remind him that “there’s space for greater compassion.”
It seems, however, that the message did not resonate.
On a positive note, the president exhibited some restraint in at least one area. Unlike his usual tirades against “nasty” women, his latest post on Truth Social refrained from using any all-caps letters.
