Striking a somber but still hopeful tone, President Donald Trump participated in the National Prayer Breakfast at the Capitol on Thursday, calling for a religious revival in America, lamenting fate, and seeking Congress' help to reform U.S. air traffic control systems.
Trump mourned the loss of the 67 victims of the Washington, D.C., helicopter-passenger jet crash, talking about how death brings Americans closer to faith, telling the bipartisan breakfast crowd how his near assassination strengthened his faith this past summer.
It changed something in me, I feel," Trump said. "I believed in God, but I feel much more strongly about it. Something happened."
He drew laughs when he expressed gratitude that the bullet that ripped through his ear "didn't affect my hair."
The president, who's a nondenominational Christian, called religious liberty "part of the bedrock of American life" and called for protecting it with "absolute devotion."
Lamenting twists of fate – like the failed assassin's bullet missing killing him, which Trump said was akin to missing a "one-foot putt" – Trump said the D.C. helicopter crash had equally long odds like "two golf balls colliding on a golf course."
Trump spoke about reforming the Federal Aviation Administration's air traffic control (ATC) systems with satellites and one or two companies collaborating instead of "39."
"I would have never happened if we had the right equipment," Trump said, blaming last week's deadly collision on what he called an "obsolete" computer system used by U.S. air traffic controllers, and he vowed to replace it.
"A lot of mistakes happened," Trump said.
U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman issued a statement to Newsmax, supporting the urging of congressional leaders to modernize the U.S. air traffic control system.
"We are encouraged by the focus and leadership of President Trump and Secretary [Sean] Duffy on addressing longstanding challenges in America's air traffic control system," Freeman's statement read. "The travel industry has repeatedly called for greater investments in technology and manpower to build a world-class aviation experience.
"We are eager to work with the president to build the system Americans deserve, one that can ensure their safety and keep up with a surging demand in air travel."
Trump joined the prayer breakfast's bipartisan group of lawmakers for fellowship, making a call for unity that was more hopeful than optimistic.
"It would be very nice if we could come together," Trump said to Republicans and Democrats in the room. "It would be unbelievable, but might not happen."
Trump repeated his campaign vow "to bring religion back" and continued to lament "if it was up to Democrats, I would not be in a good place," which he suggested with either death by assassination or jail from myriad political prosecutions.
Trump will also speak at a separate prayer breakfast at a Washington hotel sponsored by a private group.
The Republican president made waves at the final prayer breakfast during his first term. That year, the gathering came the day after the Senate acquitted him in his first impeachment trial.
Trump in his remarks then threw not-so-subtle barbs at Democrat then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, who publicly said she prayed for Trump, and Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, who had cited his faith in his decision to vote to convict Trump.
"I don't like people who use their faith as justification for doing what they know is wrong," Trump said then in his winding speech, in which he also held up two newspapers with banner headlines about his acquittal. "Nor do I like people who say, 'I pray for you,' when they know that that's not so."
Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first president to attend the prayer breakfast, in February 1953, and every president since has spoken at the gathering.
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., are the honorary co-chairs of this year's prayer breakfast.
In 2023, the National Prayer Breakfast split into two dueling events, the one on Capitol Hill largely attended by lawmakers and government officials and a larger private event for thousands at a hotel ballroom. The split occurred when lawmakers sought to distance themselves from the private religious group that for decades had overseen the bigger event, due to questions about its organization and how it was funded.
In 2023 and 2024, Democrat President Joe Biden spoke at the Capitol Hill event, and his remarks were livestreamed to the other gathering.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.