Live updates: President Trump demands apology from bishop who used sermon to plead for mercy

Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown includes a highly-publicised order reinterpreting birthright citizenship and redefining what it means to be American.

“As commander-in-chief, I have no higher responsibility than to defend our country from threats and invasions, and that is exactly what I am going to do,” Trump said in his inaugural address.

Confused about what this entails exactly?

My colleague Jessica Riga has broken down the details of that controversial plan and if it is likely to become a reality:

We’ve also heard the Trump administration is directing that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff be put on paid leave, and that agencies develop plans to lay them off, according to a memo.

The memo from the Office of Personnel Management follows an executive order Trump signed yesterday ordering a sweeping dismantling of the federal government’s diversity and inclusion programs.

This could include anything from anti-bias training to funding for minority farmers and homeowners.

The Office of Personnel Management memo directs agencies to place DEI office staffers on paid leave by 5pm Wednesday and take down all public DEI-focused webpages by the same deadline.

Several federal departments had removed the webpages even before the memorandum.

 Agencies must also cancel any DEI-related training and end any related contracts, and federal workers are being asked to report to Trump’s Office of Personnel Management if they suspect any DEI-related program has been renamed to obfuscate its purpose within 10 days or face “adverse consequences”.

The move comes after Monday’s executive order accused former president Joe Biden of forcing “discrimination” programs into “virtually all aspects of the federal government”.

Hello, I’m Tessa Flemming joining you this evening with the latest from Donald Trump‘s second term.

Now to the latest, where Trump has asked for an apology from a bishop who delivered a pointed plea for “mercy” from the Republican.

Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde was delivering an interfaith sermon on Tuesday morning to a crowd which included the president and his supporters.

During prayer, she seemingly directed the message at the Trump administration saying, “In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now.

“There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families. Some who fear for their lives,” she added.

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Now, Trump has condemned Reverend Budde.

“The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater,” he wrote on social media platform Truth Social.

“She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way.

“She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart.”

He added he found the bishop’s sermon also “very boring and uninspiring”.

“She is not very good at her job! She and her church owe the public an apology!”