WATCH: John Gray, Alveda King Flank Donald Trump for Big Announcement
Relentless Church pastor John Gray and evangelist Alveda King flanked President Donald Trump during a White House meeting with pastors.
“These are great people, most of whom I know,” Trump said while greeting a handful by name, including pastors Choco DeJesus, Darrell Scott and Paula White and Bishop Harry Jackson.
It was my great honor to be joined by leading pastors and faith leaders from across our Nation today at the @WhiteHouse!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 1, 2018
“Today we’ll discuss the progress we’ve made, and it’s been tremendous, and the next steps we must take bringing opportunity and safety to all our citizens,” the president said.
Lunch meeting with President Trump today at the Whitehouse regarding Urban Revitalization, Prison Reform, and other concerns. Several inner city Pastors have also been invited to participate. Great things are on the horizon. #UrbanRevitalizationCoalition
— Scott (@PastorDScott) August 1, 2018
Some of the faith leaders, like White, spent time in the nation’s capital before the roundtable.
What a GREAT day @WhiteHouse Faith Initiative and Opportunity meeting with Millennial leaders! Thank you @IvankaTrump and all that were with us! These sessions help inform and connect us to be the most effective we can for all people… #WH #faith #millennials #makeadifference
— Paula White-Cain (@Paula_White) August 1, 2018
Here’s how social media responded:
.@realDonaldTrump with faith leaders in meeting happening now.
— Kelly O’Donnell (@KellyO) August 1, 2018
Now: President Trump listening as inner city pastors, mostly African-American, thank him and most praise him – for boldness, being a man of his word, listening.
He clearly loves these kinds of events, including this one.
— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) August 1, 2018
President Trump met & prayed w/ faith leaders @WhiteHouse to discuss..
– prison reform
– workforce development
– partnering w/ faith based community— Ben Kennedy (@BenKennedyTV) August 1, 2018
#Trump meeting with these pastors on prison reform. #cjr #CJreform @KristenClarkeJD @RevDrBarber @DrJasonJohnson @barbs73 @OfficialCBC @rolandsmartin
— Lauren Victoria (@LVBurke) August 1, 2018
PASTOR’S PRAISE: At a meeting with inner city pastors, Darrell Scott of Ohio tells Trump he is “the most pro-black president” is recent history who “actually wants to prove something to our community.” “The last president didn’t feel like he had to,” Scott told the President.
— World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) August 1, 2018
Regarding the president’s meeting today at the White House with what the schedule describes as “inner city pastors” (Trump ally @PastorDScott also set to attend), here’s a bit of Trump’s view on solving Chicago’s, and elsewhere’s, problems in black communities
— Asawin Suebsaeng (@swin24) August 1, 2018
From WH pool report on @POTUS meeting with inner-city pastors this afternoon: “Dr. Phillip Goudeaux, of the Calvary Christian Center in Sacramento, Calif. asked President Trump not to ‘give up on California,’ a line that made everyone laugh”
— Emily Cadei (@emilycadei) August 1, 2018