Trump at the Easter Egg Roll: 'We're Honoring Jesus Christ' and 'Religion Is Coming Back to America' (April 21, 2025)

President Donald Trump opened the White House Easter Egg Roll with a message about faith. “We’re honoring Jesus Christ, and we’re going to honor Jesus Christ very powerfully throughout our lives, all throughout our lives. Not just now, all throughout our lives,” Trump said on the South Lawn on April 21, 2025, according to the transcript published by the American Presidency Project [1].

“We’re bringing religion back in America. We’re bringing a lot of things back, but religion is coming back to America,” he said [1].

The video above shows Trump and first lady Melania Trump opening the Easter Egg Roll on April 21, 2025. Quotes are from the American Presidency Project and the White House [1][2][3][4][5][6].

”He Loved the World”

Trump spoke as the world mourned Pope Francis. “I just signed an Executive order putting the flags of our country, all of them—all Federal flags and State flags at half-mast in honor of Pope Francis. So he was a good man, worked hard. He—he loved the world, and it’s an honor to do that,” Trump said [1].

The order was a proclamation. It directed that “the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, on the day of interment.” [5]

Asked for his message to Catholics, Trump said: “We love you all. We’re with you all. They were with me during the election, as you know, very strongly, and it’s just an honor to have the support of the Catholics.” [2]

Asked how he would remember the pope, Trump said: “He’s a very good man who loved—he loved the world, and he especially loved people that were having a hard time, and that’s good with me.” [3]

Asked whether he would go to the funeral, Trump said: “I don’t know yet. We’re going to be briefed on it right now.” [3]

“She Worked Very, Very Hard on It”

“And I just want to give a special thank you to our great First Lady who organized this entire event. She worked very, very hard on it,” Trump said. “I said, ‘What are you doing?’ She said, ‘I’m working on the egg roll.’ I said, ‘That sounds like a lot of fun,’ and we’re going to have a lot of fun in just a couple of minutes.” [1]

“Forty thousand—forty-two thousand people are expected all throughout the day, and it’s an honor to have you,” he said [1].

He thanked the band playing on the lawn. “But the Marine Corps Band is very, very special,” Trump said [1].

”Religion Keeps It Together”

Later, a reporter asked how important his words about Jesus were for the country. “It brings the country together. It’s so important that we do that. Religion. I said bring religion back. Religion keeps it together. Such a great thing,” Trump said, according to the White House pool report [4].

”Ask the Houthis”

Asked if he still had confidence in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Trump said: “Oh, total. Why do you even ask a question like that? We have—recruitment is at—it’s at an alltime high. The spirit in the Armed Forces is fantastic. No, great confidence.” [2]

“There is no dysfunction. Ask the Houthis how much dysfunction there is. There’s none. Pete is doing a great job,” Trump said [3].

“You know, he was put there to get rid of a lot of bad people, and that’s what he’s doing. So you don’t always have friends when you do that,” he said [3].

In his remarks, he pointed to the numbers. “Our—we had the highest number of recruits, enlistments that we’ve had in, I think, 28 or 29 years, and I’m sure we’re going to actually beat that number,” Trump said [1].

”We Don’t Have Inflation”

“We don’t have inflation. Energy is down at the lowest it’s been in years. We hit, actually, $1.98 recently in a couple of states,” Trump said [2].

Asked about a court hearing that day on the Alien Enemies Act, he said: “Well, we were elected to clean up the mess of this country. And we had millions and millions of people come in who are criminals, who are murderers, who are everything you can imagine—drug lords, drug dealers.” [3]

“If They Came Legally”

Asked about Haitian migrants ordered to leave, Trump said: “Well, I make of the fact that we have to have a safe country. If people are in our country illegally, and if people are—if they have records that are very bad in particular, we have to get them out.” [3]

Told that some had come in legally under a Biden-era program, he said: “Well, if they came legally then they’re going to be in good shape,” according to the pool report [4].

Asked whether Russia and Ukraine could reach a cease-fire deal that week, Trump said: “There’s a chance. There’s a very good chance.” [2]

By the Numbers

42,000: people expected at the Easter Egg Roll, per Trump [1].
28 or 29 years: since military recruiting was this strong, per Trump [1].
$1.98: the price of gas in a couple of states, per Trump [2].

What Happened Next

Trump went to the funeral. Five days later, on April 26, 2025, Trump and the first lady were at Pope Francis’ funeral in St. Peter’s Square. “They are in the front row,” the White House press pool reported [6].

For the funeral and Trump’s Vatican meeting with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, see HYGO News’ page on April 26, 2025. For Trump at the White House Easter prayer dinner the week before, see the page on April 16, 2025.