Claim: According to a post on social media Donald Trump’s expression while hearing the Muslim “call to prayer” at the national prayer service surprised everyone.
Fact: The caption is misleading as the video itself does not show anything of the sort. During the national prayer service, Trump did not make any statement or expressions while listening to the call of prayer or “Azaan”.
On 23 January 2025, Public News posted a video on Facebook with the caption,
دعائیہ تقریب میں تلاوتِ قرآن پاک اور اذان ڈونلڈ ٹرمپ کے تاثرات پر سب حیران ہوگئے
شکایت پر پادری سےمعافی کا مطالبہ کر دیا
Translation: [Everyone was surprised at Donald Trump’s reaction to the recitation of the Holy Quran and the call to prayer during the prayer ceremony.
Asked for forgiveness from the priest on the complaint].
The video was shared after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States, making a comeback with his second term on 20 January 2025. The inauguration ceremony in which the president takes the oath was held inside the presidential complex at the Capitol Rotunda in Washington.
Fact or Fiction?
To investigate the claim’s authenticity, Soch Fact Check watched the full video posted by Public News and found that the caption is misleading. The video itself does not mention that any complaints were registered by Trump against the call to prayer. The voiceover in the video being fact-checked mentions that Trump complained about the priest but it does not say that it was due to the call to prayer being sounded during the service.
A 3-hour long YouTube video published by the Times of India from the national prayer service held on 21 January 2025 at the Washington National Cathedral. The video title reads, “LIVE: Trump Joins Christian, Muslim, Jewish Prayer Leaders At Washington National Cathedral | Watch”. In the video, different religious leaders can be seen reciting religious verses and singing as per their religious practices. At the 33:12 second mark of the video, a man can be seen giving a call to prayer. However, it does not show Trump expressing any disrespect or complaining about the call to prayer as the caption makes it seem.
A Google search then led to an article published by Associated Press (AP) with the headline titled, “Trump demands an apology from bishop who asked him to ‘have mercy’ on LGBTQ+ people and migrants”. The article reported that during the prayer service, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, Mariann Budde, asked Trump to have mercy towards the LGBTQ+ community and migrant workers who are in the United States illegally. Trump then, upon returning to the White House, took to social media and in a post on Truth Social, called the Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde’s remarks were “nasty” and not smart. He also called her and the church to apologise to him.
Rev. Budde discussed the issues of trans rights and migrants after President Trump signed a series of executive orders, including one defining only two sexes—male and female—and another imposing immigration restrictions to fulfill his campaign pledge of targeting migrants, particularly those with criminal records in the United States.
Therefore, all the evidence confirms that the video’s caption is clickbait. Trump did not protest against or ask for an apology over the Muslim call to prayer being sounded during the national prayer service.
Virality
The misleading post on Facebook received 45,000 likes, 2,400 comments and 1,500 likes.
Conclusion: A video by Public News shares a clickbait caption implying that Donald Trump asked the Bishop of Washington to apologise when he heard the call to prayer during the national prayer service. Trump asked her to apologise due to remarks on LGBTQ and migrant issues.
Background image in cover photo: Getty Images
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