Trump mocks Arnold Schwarzenegger, talks tough on national security at National Prayer Breakfast

President Trump used his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast to mock his domestic opponents and "be tough" with foreign leaders.

WASHINGTON — President Trump turned his speech to National Prayer Breakfast into a roast, mocking critics including Arnold Schwarzenegger and promising to "be tough" with foreign leaders at an event that is normally solemn and bipartisan in tone.

"The world is in trouble and we're going to straighten it out, okay? That's what I do," Trump said to the thousands gathered in Washington, D.C. for the National Prayer Breakfast, including foreign leaders like Jordan's King Abdullah II. "When you hear about the tough phone calls I'm having don't worry about it, just don't worry about it. They're tough. We have to be tough, it's time we're going to be a little tough, folks. We're taken advantage of by every nation in the world virtually. It's not going to happen anymore."


Those comments refer to shockingly combative calls Trump has held with traditional U.S. allies like Australia and Mexico in recent days.

Trump blasted Australia's leader over a refugee agreement the two countries previously made, at one point telling Australian Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull that he'd talked to four other world leaders that day including Russian President Vladimir Putin and "this was the worst call by far." He also told Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto that he was ready to send American troops to stop the "bad hombres down there" if Mexico's military doesn't step up, according to the Associated Press. It also comes after Trump announced he was putting Iran "on notice" over its testing of a ballistic missile.

Trump's braggadocios style wasn't tempered much by the solemnity of the National Prayer Breakfast, a bipartisan tradition that dates back more than a half-century.

President Trump speaks during the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington on Thursday. (Evan Vucci/AP)

He led off his speech by attacking actor and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), who has replaced him on "The Apprentice," asking the audience to "pray" for the show's rating to improve.

"They hired a big big movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger to take my place, and we know how that turned out. The ratings went right down the tubes, it's been a total disaster, and Mark will never, ever bet against Trump again, and I want to just pray for Arnold if we can for those ratings," he said.

Schwarzenegger was quick to fire back.

"Hey Donald, I have a great idea. Why don't we switch jobs? You take over TV, because you're such an expert in ratings, and then I take over your job and then people can finally sleep comfortably again," he said in a video he tweeted immediately after the speech.

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In a nod to the audience, Trump repeatedly invoked God and religion during the speech. And he repeated a campaign promise that would have huge ramifications, promising to lift a regulation dating back to the 1960s that bars churches from explicitly engaging in partisan political activities lest they risk their tax-exempt status.


That would open the floodgates to much more active political church organizing, a huge win for the religious right, which has lobbied to lift the ban for years. Congress would have to pass a law to allow this to happen.

But the rest of his speech sounded a lot more like a standard Trump speech than anything before delivered at the National Prayer Breakfast, where past presidents avoided controversy. The one recent exception was President Obama discussing jihadi extremism as a horror justified by religion alongside the inquisition, the Crusades and Jim Crow.

President Trump spoke about being “tough” on foreign leaders during his Thursday speech.
President Trump spoke about being “tough” on foreign leaders during his Thursday speech. (CARLOS BARRIA/REUTERS)

Trump joked early on that he would appoint Senate Chaplain Barry Black to another term after Black gave a stirring sermon, admitting he wasn't sure whose job it was to appoint Black. He finished with a shrug and a "What the hell," to scattered laughs in the religious audience.

And he dissed those who opposed his newly confirmed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who critics worry is too cozy with Russia's leadership.

"Some people didn't like Rex because he actually got along with leaders in the world. I said 'no you have to understand, that's a good thing. That's a good thing, not a bad thing,'" he said.


Trump also used the speech to defend his controversial refugee ban — and promise an ideological test for those who come into the U.S., returning to a campaign promise.

"We will not allow a beachhead of intolerance to spread in our nation," he said. "In the coming days we will develop a system to help ensure that those coming into our country fully embrace our values of religious and personal liberty. … We want people to come into our nation but we want people to love us and to love our values, not to hate us and hate our values."