Trump Administration Begins With Prayer Service and a Visit to the CIA
The president will thank workers at the intelligence agency, after friction over CIA reports
President Donald Trump attends the National Prayer Services with his wife, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and his wife Karen Pence, at the National Cathedral on Jan. 21 in Washington. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
By CAROL E. LEE
Jan. 21, 2017 11:49 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump’s first full day in office began Saturday morning at the National Prayer Service at Washington National Cathedral, as thousands of protesters gathered a few miles away near the U.S. Capitol to oppose his new administration.
Participation in the prayer service is a tradition for new presidents. Some presidents have made remarks at the event, although Mr. Trump didn’t speak. Organizers described the interfaith service as an opportunity for Mr. Trump to demonstrate his “commitment to be president for all Americans.”
Mr. Trump also will visit the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency on Saturday, according to White House press secretary Sean Spicer. Mr. Spicer wrote on Twitter that Mr. Trump is “excited to thank the men and women of the intelligence community.”
The visit comes after weeks in which Mr. Trump questioned the accuracy of the U.S. intelligence agencies, following their assessment that Russia used cyberattacks to try to interfere in the election to favor his candidacy.
Mr. Trump accused the CIA of leaking information about Russian hacking and unsubstantiated accusations that Moscow has collected compromising information about him. A congressional investigation has been launched to determine the accuracy of claims of ties between the Trump campaign and Moscow.
Mr. Trump’s appearance at the CIA presents an opportunity to repair the relationship with the government’s main intelligence service. Mr. Spicer said the president’s appearance at the CIA “is over capacity” and that more than 300 people are expected to attend.
At protest rallies in the U.S. and abroad, opponents of the new administration vowed to pressure the new administration to protect the rights of women, minorities and others.
“Marchers make no mistake we are every single one of us under attack,” said actress America Ferrera at the Washington event. “We are the only ones who can protect one another.”
Beyond his inaugural events, Mr. Trump on Friday signed his first executive order, instructing federal agencies to take steps to pare back provisions of the Affordable Care Act.
Also on Friday, the Justice Department published a legal opinion finding that Mr. Trump wouldn’t violate anti-nepotism rules by appointing his son-in-law Jared Kushner as a senior adviser.
“In choosing his personal staff, the president enjoys an unusual degree of freedom, which Congress found suitable to the demands of his office,” the 14-page legal opinion says. It was signed by Daniel Koffsky, a deputy assistant attorney general.
But a number of legal experts have said Mr. Kushner’s role in the White House does violate these rulings, and lawsuits challenging the opinion are expected.
The president was up early Saturday after a late night making the rounds Friday at his inaugural balls, where he danced with first lady Melania Trump and rallied his supporters. Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter around 7 a.m. that he’d had “a fantastic day and evening in Washington D.C.”
He also appeared to try to counter critics of his inaugural address, which painted a bleak picture of America and criticized Congress for failing to remedy its problems. He thanked Fox News “and so many other news outlets for the GREAT reviews of the speech!”
The president said Friday at one of the inaugural balls that using Twitter is his way of going around reporters, whom he described as “the enemies.”
“Should I keep the Twitter going or not?” he asked the crowd, which responded with cheers.
“I think so,” he said. “You know, the enemies keep saying, ‘Oh that’s terrible,’ but it’s a way of bypassing dishonest media.”
While Mr. Trump continues to tweet, his administration issued a directive Friday suspending the Twitter accounts operated by the Interior Department, after the National Parks Service displayed tweets saying the crowd at the president’s inauguration was smaller than the crowd that turned out for his predecessor in 2009, and that the Trump White House website had removed issues such as climate change.
The tweets have since been removed and the accounts reactivated. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. |
