President Donald Trump welcomed visitors to the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, heralding his efforts to “(bring) religion back” at the traditional springtime event.
“Easter is special and it’s one of our favorite days. It’s one of our favorite periods of time. We’re honoring Jesus Christ, and we’re going to honor Jesus Christ very powerfully, powerfully throughout our lives,” he said as he addressed attendees from the Blue Room Balcony.
“We’re bringing religion back in America. We’re bringing a lot of things back, but religion is coming back to America. That’s why you see the kind of numbers that you see, the spirit and the kind of numbers that you see,” he continued.
Trump thanked the Marine Corps Band, the National Park Service, and first lady Melania Trump, who joined him on the balcony alongside the Easter Bunny.
But the president took a veiled political swipe during his remarks.
“Our country is doing very well, we had the highest number of recruits, enlistments. … Since November 5 it’s all happened. … We were setting records. Six months ago we couldn’t get anybody and now we’re setting records,” he said.
The president and first lady, joined by Donald Trump, Jr. and his five children and girlfriend Bettina Anderson, led children in egg rolling, blowing a whistle to start the races. The president also spent several minutes at a picnic table where children were coloring.
“Happy Easter and enjoy your lives,” he told the crowd, which is expected to crack 42,000 today, according to the president.
