Politicians, dignitaries and faith leaders gathered in Washington on Thursday to attend the National Prayer Breakfast.  According to the National Prayer Breakfast Foundation (NPBF), the event was created as the annual focal point of a series of gatherings designed to “grow in personal relationship with God and bonds of friendship with each other.” The NPBF assumed responsibility for the gathering in 2023, after decades in which the Fellowship Foundation had organized it on behalf of members of Congress.

The event has often featured remarks from U.S. presidents.

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter, who also taught Sunday school at the First Baptist Church of Washington, D.C., used the event to call the nation to greater humility. “As those of us who are Christians know, the most constantly repeated admonition from Christ was against pride,” he said. “Sometimes it’s easier for us to be humble as individuals than it is for us to admit that our nation makes mistakes.”

President Ronald Reagan, who rose to the presidency in large part due to the support of American evangelical leaders, appealed for forgiveness in his 1983 remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast. “The prayer that I sometimes think we don’t use enough,” he said, “is one of asking forgiveness for the resentment and the bitterness that we sometimes feel toward someone, whether it is in business dealings or in government or in whatever we are doing.”

George W. Bush, who, along with Carter, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, is considered one of the most religiously observant presidents of the past 50 years, often used the event to celebrate religious diversity. “The people in this room come from many faiths and walks of life,” he said in his 2008 remarks. “Yet we share one clear conviction: We believe that the Almighty hears our prayers.”

At this year’s gathering, President Trump also acknowledged the diversity in the room. “I don’t know how a person of faith can vote for a Democrat, I really don’t,” he said. “I know we have some here today. I don’t know why they’re here, because they certainly don’t give us their vote. They cheat.”

Trump later said of Democrats, “Beating these lunatics was incredible.”

The president also recognized the devotion of many in his party, particularly that of the Speaker of the House. “Mike Johnson is a very religious person,” he said. “He does not hide it. He’ll say to me sometimes at lunch, ‘Sir, may we pray?’ I’ll say, ‘Excuse me?’ We’re having lunch.”

The event was attended by El Salvador’s President, Nayib Bukele, whom Trump honored for the exceptionally large prisons he operates.