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© 2025 AFPTrump starts firing opponents, faces criticism in cathedral sermon
By Danny Kemp and Sebastian Smith WASHINGTON©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
82 Comments
TaiwanIsNotChina
Spew hate like the president and his team and you should expect a response.
Underworld
Trump is so much of a snowflake that he can’t handle any criticism. So if you offer a different perspective he can’t bear to hear it.
We can’t expect him to grow up at his stage in life. So, instead there will be a lot of unnecessary disruption.
TaiwanIsNotChina
You're almost to that 2 million mark, Trump. Just order a few more diet cokes to get through it.
Yrral
Only a White Supremacy Devil ,would react like , even not being a believer in God,you rejoice in the spirit of goodness and show mercy and charity to others
plasticmonkey
Who does this bishop think she is, Thomas à Becket?
She should bear in mind that she serves at the pleasure of the King.
lincolnman
The Orange Clown Show begins!
Day #1 and he's already proving what a doddering, old, demented fool he is...
bass4funk
Oh, well. They’ll live. Such is life.
TokyoLiving
Trump wants to turn the US into a white, fundamentalist, ultra-conservative Christian utopia..
It reminds me of Germany in 1933..
Yrral
Their is nothing redemning about a White Supremacy Devil like Trump,
maxjapank
My Japanese wife after hearing the Bishop speak - "At least you have one loving American left." lol.
But anyways, it was interesting to see the facial reactions of Trump and those around him. Trump at first seemed to listen and take it somewhat to heart. Later, he lost interest. Think he has a limited attention span.
Vance - Didn't care at all. He has no heart. Melania - Doesn't care. Never has.
bass4funk
The US is already a Judea-Christian nation
Not even remotely close
plasticmonkey
I think you mean Judeo-Christian.
lol
bass4funk
Typo, lol
Peter Neil
one of his executive orders was to rescind the executive order limiting prescription drug prices.
the ramifications are left up to the reader.
Peter Neil
bass4funkToday 07:20 am JST
no it isn't. there is no law or constitutional basis for that.
it’s just an opinion parroted by religious zealots.
Dango bong
we have a President with a backbone finally. Common sense is the rule now. If you charge America to sell goods in your country we will reciprocate. There are only two genders. Illegal immigrants need to go home. Common sense is back, thank god
Underworld
bass4funk
Trump wants to turn the US into a white, fundamentalist, ultra-conservative Christian utopia..
The Constitution says that it isn’t.
bass4funk
Yes, it is, always has been from its inception.
No, that’s just atheists opinion who hate history
Blacklabel
that’s called “installing your leadership team at your new job. In non biased media anyway. It’s quite common.
using the pulpit for political issues by some woke bishop is quite disgusting.
iknowall
The entire world benefits from Trump being in power.
The_Beagle
Meanwhile short Peter Hotez is threatening an H5N1 "pandemic" immediately...
Dango bong
"But the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals."
the ones who came illegally ARE
Hiro
Every new administration does firing so this is nothing new. But the bishop case clearly what she did was inappropriate and she just needed to do her job. That wasn't a sermon,but bias rambling without taking account to what the majority of people of the nation want who choose their president.
Underworld
Hiro
They don’t have an enemies list and fire 1,000 people because they disagree with you. That is unprecedented.
A sermon calling for empathy is her job.
Dango bong
That is how incompetent Biden's government was. Check the food and gas prices and economic numbers today and check them again in 4 years. Guarantee they get better.
Blacklabel
so it wasn’t a very specific and politically charged “empathy”?
Yes you actually do fire 1000 people who disagree with you when you take over a new job.
and if you had previous bad experiences with an employee by name? You definitely fire them immediately so they don’t infect your new team.
Blacklabel
the article calls this “strongman style”?
TaiwanIsNotChina
No, because he wasn't a populist pos.
kurisupisu
Donald Trump is making America GREAT again!
Underworld
Blacklabel
calling for empathy
No.
It’s unprecedented.
browny1
Trump just put the "Pop" back into Populism.
Pop goes the Weasel.
Snap, Crackle and Pop.
He has the right to do whatever he sees fit - within law - but can he keep up the pantomime performance for 4 years.
In some ways I hope so to give all the billions of non-associated others a reason to chuckle.
That was pure gold - each signing was pre announced and then rapturous cheering.
We will be leaving the WHO (evil people) - Hurrah, Hurrah, Hurrah - lol.
WoodyLee
"" He said his team was "in the process of identifying and removing over a thousand presidential Appointees from the previous Administration, who are not aligned with our vision to Make America Great Again. ""
Isn't that the NORM?
Who would allow an opponent to be on his team only to cause problems and headaches.
nishikat
Then shouldn't Trump fire this bishop?
It sounds like Trump had a bad experience being insulted by this bishop. What is Trump going to do about this?
wallace
The faces of the Trump family members were shocked. This was not what they were expecting from the bishop. You're fired.
Bob Fosse
Har!
Ken
Digging America's grave one step at a time
theFu
Episcopal? Bishop? Ooooooh - kay.
Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and some Lutheran flavors of Christianity are "Episcopal". The Catholic church doesn't allow females to be priests, so this bishop definitely isn't Catholic, FWIW.
So much for having the "Best People" in their jobs. To Trump, "best people" means ass-kissers as the #1 requirement.
Underworld
Oh, it gets worse. He stripped John Bolton’s Secret Service detail, even though Bolton had been targeted by Iran.
As an assassination survivor, you wouldn’t expect Trump to be so cruel.
Yrral
Trump is a sociopath,he lack basis empathy for anyone,but himself any could care less about the plight of those who groveling too him
tjguy
Everyone is complaining about the firings, but I think Trump learned from the last time he was President. There were a lot of people working in government who opposed him and it made it very difficult to get anything done. If these workers would not seek to undermine his administration, it would be fine, but there is a movement to oppose him. SO, if you were President, elected by the people and tasked to do the job, what would you do? You need people who will support you and work for you rather than against you. Is there a revenge targeting of people? I don't know. That would not be appropriate, but getting a team you can trust, one that you can work together with to get things done is a no brainer. If they had not worked to undermine him last time, and if they were not openly plotting to undermine him this time, perhaps this would not be happening.
Jay
A lot of modern churches have strayed SO far they have become little more than woke echo chambers, bending the knee to globalist ideologies instead of standing firm on God's eternal truth. LGBT propaganda, now even pushed within some churches, is in direct contradiction to Biblical teachings on marriage and morality, as clearly outlined in Scripture.
This is similar to how the Pope himself DESECRATED the Vatican by welcoming a statue of the South American fertility god Pachamama, openly spitting in the face of the 10 Commandments and God's Law. These institutions have traded the cross for a rainbow flag and the gospel for virtue signaling.
If the "Bishop" Budde wants to push the LGBT narrative, that's her prerogative - but doing so in a church is absolutely out of line. The church is meant to uphold God's teachings, not bend them to fit the latest woke agenda. Promoting ideologies that directly contradict Scripture within a sacred space is a BETRAYAL of the very foundation of Christianity. A church should be a place for truth, not a platform for pandering to cultural trends, and if "bishops" like Budde can't respect that, they have no business preaching from the pulpit.
Underworld
Jay
Bishop: There are gay and lesbian and transgender
It isn’t really. And Jesus teaches to love your neighbor. This bishop is closer to Jesus’ teachings than the Christian Nationalists.
TorafusuTorasan
@theFu--the only connection between Catholic and Episcopalian, aka Anglican/Methodist/Lutheran, that is listed on wikipedia is independent, interdenominational Catholics, so a small subset. The mainstream Catholic church would avoid using the term as it suggests Protestant denominations.
Bob Fosse
Of course, you know better about your religion than a bishop.
Oh wait. You know better than the pope. I see.
nishikat
Was Jesus a real person?
bass4funk
I don’t think so, I think they really just don’t care.
Bob Fosse
You’re right and that’s the problem. They don’t care about other people.
Legrande
The cleric knew about his executive orders regarding these issues and went ahead to stir up things regardless, knowing if anything it would provoke rather than get anything constructive done.
JJE
You're fired! Get out of here!
Weeding out obstructionists and potential plants is a smart move.
One can't be too careful.
The more important than this irrelevant preacher is his pledge to meet the statesman Putin, mentioned at the very end.
Bob Fosse
Adulterers?
So is 47 going to purgatory or hell?
TorafusuTorasan
@I think they really just dont care.
Reminds me of the words on Melanias trenchcoat back in the day. Governance by fashion company slogans is facile.
Jay
Um, what? Christ's existence, teachings, and impact are objective facts - some of the most well-documented and transformative events in human history, supported by secular AND Christian, Jewish and Islamic sources alike. Like, seriously lady?
Bob Fosse
Yeah perhaps but you mix it all up with a bunch of fairytale stuff like turning water into wine, walking on water and being the son of god and you end up where you are.
ok1517
Donald is just such a little cry-baby when he doesn't get it his way.
Removing General Milley's picture - oh, c'mon!
"Firing" thousands of government employees he doesn't like - gimme a break.
Ending the Paris climate accord and WHO membership.
Giving tax cuts to the most wealthy ones - because of what?
Hunting down immigrants - all had in Germany in 1933, too!
Praising NK's Kim.
Pardoning Jan th insurrectionists who are responsible for beating up cops.
Firing of Coast Guard chief Linda Fagan - he really likes the "sucking and losing military", right?
Taking care that insulin prices will increase by xxx% - sure he takes care of what - not the "people"!
Even the US Constitution has been removed from the White House website - according to several sources.
And expect more like this to follow - it won't get better!!
Bob Fosse
Ok then. If you want to take the Bible literally and follow ‘biblical truth’ 47 is certainly guilty of the following;
fornicator, adulterer, thief, covetous, extortioner.
How many ‘Hail Marys’
Oh wait, were Hail Marys in the Bible? Oops, you can forget those then. He’s going straight to hell.
He doesn’t drink so he’s off the hook on that one.
maxjapank
Not inappropriate. It's actually her job to pray for the mercy of people and to remind everyone to love thy neighbor as thyself. And you should be careful of using the word "majority". In the end, it was 77 million to 75 million, which says that only a slim amount favored Trump. So this is not a mandate or landslide victory. But I'm sure you will do your best to apply critical thinking to facts and actual events from now.
plasticmonkey
“Get even with people. If they screw you, screw them back 10 times as hard.”
The Gospel of St. Donald 5:43-44
Blacklabel
but it IS a “majority”. So no need to be careful in using that factually accurate word.
Jimizo
The churches will have to evolve or else they will die, regardless of what they think their self-contradicting book says.
Sticking to the bigotry and primitive understanding of the world from the deserts of the Middle-East thousands of years ago isn’t going to wash in the 21st century.
You aren’t going to have enough worshippers/clients/punters to stay afloat.
Old bigots and incels in basements/internet trolls aren’t going to cut it. They don’t have enough money
nishikat
Well the majority of Trump and Melinia Coin buyers original coin creators get all the money. Trump really is pulling a good scam. That what crypto is all about and it's working well for Trump
bass4funk
Why? No one elected a clergyman to anything
The voters don’t feel so.
Eat the left
It reminds you? Maybe English isn't your first language, but that means you were actually there to experience it and Trump has caused a memory to resurface. So how old are you exactly?
Mercy for what? Not giving the alphabet mob special treatment? They already have equal rights. Nothing wrong with that. Not the right for men to use women's bathrooms, of course. The lunatics are no longer running the asylum.
Who'd have thought it needed the President to enshrine the obvious in law?
The rest of the whining is just white noise.
Bob Fosse
Some of the voters. About 48%.
Peter Neil
bass4funkToday 07:36 am JST
laughably wrong and an incredibly uninformed, revisionist opinion.
ironically, episcopalians became the church of england, which was a fundamental reason for independence - the freedom to not be enslaved to religion bound with or by the state.
what the heck are they teaching kids in history now?
Blacklabel
blah blah from the guy who said don’t buy 1000 shares of Tesla at $150. Or 10,000 DJT at $17.
and Kamala def winning!
thanks for always being reliably…wrong.
bass4funk
Yes, and most of the military rank and file were happy about that. No, crying, just implementing his agenda.
Yes, something I wish he would have done last time and I blame him for not doing that because a lot of those holdovers worked to undermine his agenda, so this purge is needed so that will never happen again. This is good and needed.
Absolutely
You can’t get employed or move up in life through poor people, makes sense to me.
Illegals and criminals who entered illegally should absolutely be deported. Even Mexico wouldn’t tolerate law breakers.
There was no insurrection, they rioted, they spent enough time in captivity, they should be freed, as for Kim, why not try and get along?
DEI, gone.
No, it’s there.
It is already getting better. Woke is finished.
nishikat
Then why does Trump go to a church if the bishop insults him. I wouldn't. If Trump goes to that church again he's setting himself up for some more insults.
Mocheake
This is not a shock and the only oohs and awes are coming from his sycophants and lapdogs. These moves will all come back to hurt America in general more than anyone.
Peter Neil
don’t forget withdrawing from the who.
he might withdraw from nato. i can’t wait for nato countries to tell him to get the heck out. you got 30 days, like the philippines did.
and pull all the military from korea and japan. fine, get out in 30 days.
he’s got something up his sleeve with not meeting ishiba. there always something devious in the back of his mind. let’s see if i’m right.
Jay
There is so much to unpack here, where do we even get started...
As he should. There is a ton of administrative bloat in the federal government, and cutting the fat would be a great start.
None of Trump's policies have put LGBT folks in harm's way. None of these policies infringe upon their rights to safety and freedom. No one wants to persecute or harm LGBT individuals, so this statement from a fake bishop is pretty rich. Let's not forget that the traditional Jewish/Christian doctrine strongly condemns homosexuality:
Leviticus 18:22 ~ You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.
Leviticus 20:13 ~ If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
Jude 1:7 ~ Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
Romans 1:26-28 ~ For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
So, basically admitting that we need to keep illegal immigrants as low-wage indentured servants to do the jobs people don't like. A pretty nasty insinuation.
Entering the US illegally without documentation (permission from the government) is a federal crime. So they are by definition, criminals. Just because they are not violent criminals does not absolve them from their crimes. Just because they have children after coming to America, it does not absolve them of their crimes.
nishikat
I'm positioned to make a lot from Trump Coin because the Trump followers who buy later will be left holding the bag. When it unlocks for me I will be set for life financially, but since Trump Coin is a zero sun game my winnings are at the expense of all the Trump suckers who buy high. That's how Coin works.
Garthgoyle
He doesn't need to show any mercy to illegal immigrants and neither to the alphabet soup. He only needs to get the job done. Immigrants come in two flavors, legal and illegal. If illegal, then they need to get out. No mercy. Come legally and you're to go.
u_s__reamer
47 is no different from felon 45. No sooner did he swear to faithfully "execute" the laws of the land and defend the Constitution than he immediately embarked on his twisted intent of trashing his oath with illegal executive orders attempting to change the American Birthright of citizens enshrined in the Constitution and making a mockery of the Law with his monstrous pardonpalooza. When is enough enough?
Blacklabel
if you are buying, I’m selling. Please confirm.
Deo Gratias
"Trump starts firing opponents, faces criticism" -- because according to the left and the media (but I repeat myself), only conservative Republican presidents are required to employ people who oppose them on their staff.
Seriously, media folks, do you even hear yourselves when you come up with headlines like that?
What do you expect a president -- any president, regardless of party -- to do? To have political opponents on his staff?
bass4funk
Yes, long overdue.
They would never cut their own throat, NATO is not suicidal.
Will never, ever happen.
I think you’re plain wrong.
Jimizo
Have you read a lot about the history of this?
Zaphod
Waitasec.... so Biden did not fire any opponents? What do they expect Trump to do..... fill posisiton with swamp reps? Did the writer even think before going to the keyboard?
FizzBit
opponents?
The INGSOC is gonna be strong for the next decade. No way Americans will ever go back to globalist elitists running their imperialist con and war games.
Zaphod
u_s__reamer
Can you remind us who just presented the biggest pardonpalooza your country has ever seen, including his own crime family, and including pre-pardons for people who have not even be charged? I am curious.