President Trump couldn’t have been more mistaken.

During the January 21, 2025 Washington DC National Cathedral prayer service—the closing presidential inaugural event—Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde concluded her sermon with a courageous personal appeal to President Trump, seated prominently in the front row. 

She urged him to show mercy to a large segment of the American population who, for a wide variety of reasons, now live in fear.  Here’s the heart of what she said.

“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. . . . some who fear for their lives.”

America’s 47^th president was none too pleased. He misinterpreted her appeal and assumed she was throwing rocks at him.

Instead of heeding the Bishop’s wise words, Trump took offense—later deriding her appeal as “nasty,” labeling her a “radical Left hard line Trump hater,” demeaning her as “not very good at her job,” and accusing her for bringing “her church into the world of politics in a very ungracious way.”

He demanded an apology.  

The Bishop’s appeal was wise, compassionate, and prophetic. It produced a flashback that echoes through the ages—deep into ancient biblical history when God’s prophets risked their lives to confront and warn Israel’s kings who were abusing official power and wealth for selfish ends that harmed people the king was supposed to protect. 

Her message to Trump was a sober a reminder that great power comes with heavy responsibility. It carries the potential for good or harm. 

There is a sense of irony in the fact that the January 21 prayer service wasn’t the first time the Bishop and Trump were both in the Washington Cathedral at the same time. Nor was this the first time they both witnessed a service that elevated mercy, compassion, and care for others as vital character traits of a great leader.

Both were present only days before—January 9 to be exact—in the Washington Cathedral at the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter. The Bishop’s direct appeal to America’s 47^th president would find powerful affirmation in the line-up of political leaders, family members, and friends who testified to Carter’s contributions as a leader who committed his entire life to look out for others

Both heard an outpouring of accolades honoring Jimmy Carter’s leadership and relentless efforts for the homeless, the sick, for women, and the poor. (If you missed the service, you can watch it here.) 

Both witnessed a litany of testimonies documenting Carter’s deep friendships with political colleagues and adversaries. Close friends and political opponents were quick to display their deep admiration, respect, love, and honor for Carter. His was a life driven by his Christian faith and Jesus’ call to mercy. It impacted everything about him, including his 70-year remarkable marriage to Roslyn—his full-partner and ally. Ever aware of his higher calling to follow Jesus, President’s Carter’s mercy extended beyond his White House years. Even today, the noble world-wide work of The Carter Center continues. 

Carter’s legacy of compassion was still echoing in the Cathedral when the Bishop boldly urged Trump to show mercy.

She wasn’t casting stones at him. She was throwing him a life-line that still has the power to transform President Trump and his legacy as a leader. May God awaken the President to find the Bishop’s courageous words of wisdom indispensable and impossible to shake—for his great good and for the good of our country and beyond.