Memorable Moments with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office

The message came out of the blue. At 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 6, I fielded a note from our Priests for Life headquarters to call the White House. As I looked for more information before making that call, I discovered that Priests for Life National Director Frank Pavone had already alerted me to this, an invitation to go to the Oval Office the next day for a bill signing establishing a White House  Faith Office.

Highlights

By Fr. Denis Wilde, OSA (Pastoral Associate, Priests for Life)
2/13/2025 (3 hours ago)

Published in Blog

Keywords: Donald Trump, Priests for Life

They wanted a member of Priests for Life to join some 30 Protestant pastors from around the country to stand behind President Trump on Friday as he signed the executive order establishing the White House Faith Office. So the next day, after an engagement at Gwynedd Mercy Academy in Pennsylvania, I rerouted and headed south to D.C., arriving at 12:15 p.m., in sufficient time to rendezvous at the entrance to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on State and 17th Street, NW. 

Immediately I recognized Rev. Franklin Graham, Billy Graham's son, who is connected with my ministry at Priests for Life and my former ties with the Asheville, N.C. area, where his ministry, Samaritan's Purse, is headquartered. I complimented him on the fine work Samaritan's Purse is doing on site of the terrible flooding and devastation caused by Hurricane Helene last September.

The security undertaking at the Eisenhower building was simple enough. The night before, I submitted by email a form with all my information and that was matched up with my credentials once I arrived. Cleared for entrance, I connected with my pro-life colleague Dr. Alveda King, who is a Priests for Life board member, and had a chance to chat for a bit with Dr. Negiel Bigpond, the pastor, president and co-founder of Morning Star Church of All Nations and Two Rivers Native American Training Center in Oklahoma. I expressed interest in our people working with his on furthering pro-life activism and protection of the pre-born among Native Americans.

Then we were escorted first to the Theodore Roosevelt room in the Executive Office Building as we waited to be summoned to the White House. When the word came, we were led to a holding room adjacent to the Oval Office until President Trump finished his discussions on trade and collaboration with Japanese government leaders. 

At about 2:30 p.m., we were shown into the Oval Office. As I passed the famous Resolute Desk, President Trump singled me out to shake hands, probably because I stood out in my Roman collar rather than the business attire worn by most of the other pastors. I thanked the president for his strong pro-life actions thus far in his new term,  and mentioned that I was with Priests For Life and that Frank Pavone sent his blessings and greetings.

"Oh, he's a great man," the president immediately replied. 

Our 47th president was as natural and at ease as could be. He bantered about a few things and thanked all of us for coming, while singling out a few for recognition, Franklin Graham among them.

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During the course of his off-the-cuff monologue he pointed to two gold-plated angel sculptures he had positioned on the upper lintel at opposite ends of the Oval Office.

"I need the protection of the angels," he said. 

Just a few media cameras were rolling. It's policy that visitors to the office are not allowed to have cell phones and no individual photos were taken with the president. 

The actual signing of the document on which the executive order was printed was brief but the president quipped about his John Hancock scrawl and drew our attention to a vintage framed portrait of President Ronald Reagan that Trump had just days earlier hung on the wall. I had just spent a day, coincidentally, at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California, the week before.

I was so impressed with how kind and genuine the president was as he reiterated his deep gratitude for "his pastors." There is no question he feels the important blessing that all rendered on him as the gathering concluded around 3 p.m. Four people had been selected ahead of time by Paula White, who coordinated the event, to verbally pray over the president for about 30 seconds each, in a variety of expressions of faith. It was very moving.

We left after a memorable and God-present experience, mutually appreciating the opportunity to share faith and joy in the Lord and with "church and state." As I chatted with several pastors as we exited the White House, we were detained on 17th Street while the Japanese entourage in black limousines made its way out from what, one could argue, is the government epicenter of the world. Even Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba had quipped earlier in the day that President Trump is "frightening" on TV but very sincere in person. 
The latter was certainly the atmosphere we experienced. It was an honor to be with the president for those 20 or so minutes. I look forward to expanding the number of Catholic priests and bishops in the new Office of Faith the White House has opened. 

The sky's the limit with God in charge!