News & Politics
DC’s Episcopal Bishop, Mariann Budde, on Trump, Kindness, and Respect
Are there limits to loving one’s neighbor?

Written by Sylvie McNamara | Published on April 1, 2025


Photograph by Magdalena Papaioannou.

The day after Donald Trump’s inauguration, the Episcopal Bishop of Washington delivered a sermon at the National Cathedral, which became—unexpectedly—one of the newsiest events of that week. From the pulpit, Mariann Budde spoke directly to Trump, who was seated in the front row. “I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now,” she said, invoking gay, lesbian, and transgender children, as well as undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers. Her plea for mercy caused an international firestorm; critics condemned her politicization of the church, and admirers praised her courage.


Prior to her current post, Budde spent 18 years as a parish priest in Minneapolis, where she gave weekly sermons, officiated weddings and baptisms, and provided pastoral care. Then, in 2011, she became a bishop—one with an unusually influential perch. Her role is to oversee 86 churches in DC and Maryland, including Washington National Cathedral. We recently spoke with her about the political dimension of her faith. “There’s nothing that says a Christian can’t be involved in politics,” she says. “Scripture teaches us to be committed to the issues that affect the common good.”

On Truth Social, the President called you a “Radical Left hard line Trump hater” who was “ungracious” and “nasty in tone” and “not compelling or smart.” He suggested that your service was “boring and uninspiring” and that you’re “not very good at [your] job.” Would you like to respond to that?
[Laughs.] I guess he didn’t like it, huh? He’s entitled to his opinion about all of those things. And he’s not the first person to say that Episcopal worship is boring, so I take the critique. In terms of my political leanings, I try my best to ground my views on the teachings of my faith.

Now, do I have a leaning that would be in contradiction to many of the things that the President wants to accomplish? Actually, yes. That doesn’t make me a Trump hater. That just means I see the world differently. You can listen to the sermon—I don’t think it was nasty in tone, but how he experienced it is his own opinion. I guess I’ll leave it at that.

Was there something that made you feel obligated to address him directly?
These themes had been consistent throughout the campaign—the very directed attacks on immigrant populations, characterizing them almost entirely as criminals and a danger to Americans. And casting the gay and lesbian community in such a negative light, particularly the very small number of people in this country who identify as transgender. And I thought: He’s claiming the mantle of being a unifier and even a peacemaker, but there are a lot of people in this country who do not fit into his vision. I wanted to assure those people that they were seen and that their presence here is of great value. It was to say, “We see you and you are a part of us.”

What did it feel like to say that to the President?
I’m not sure I remember how it felt. I get nervous anytime I speak publicly—like anyone does when you’re standing in front of a thousand people. And I was aware of the magnitude of the moment, to be sure. I was conscious of the fact that I had been given uninterrupted speech to a very important group of people at a very important moment. I felt the awe and the weight of it.

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