The White House appeared to delete video footage online from an Easter event where President Donald Trump mused about being king, insulted European leaders, encouraged Charlie Kirk’s widow to sue her critics and was compared to Jesus by his spiritual adviser.
A video of the event was initially posted on the official White House website and YouTube channel, but it has since been removed from public view. A thumbnail of the video remained on the site as of Thursday.
Paula White‑Cain, a televangelist who has served as Trump’s spiritual adviser across both his presidencies, was blasted for comparing the billionaire president's life to that of Jesus Christ’s during the Easter lunch event Wednesday at the White House.
“Mr. President, no one has paid the price like you have paid the price. It almost cost you your life,” Cain said of Trump in her remarks. “You were betrayed and arrested and falsely accused. It’s a familiar pattern that our Lord and savior showed us. But it didn’t end there for him, and it didn’t end there for you,” she said.
The lunch was closed to the press, but attendees included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Erika Kirk, the widow of the slain right-wing activist, according to a pool report.
Clips from Trump’s closed-door speech are now circulating on social media after the White House took down the footage from the official website.
It was not immediately clear whether the video was posted unintentionally but it was downloaded by reporters and a social media account run by the Democratic National Committee before the White House took it down. Photos from the event remained on the White House social media accounts.
The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.
In one clip posted on social media by the DNC’s FactPost account, Trump mused about what he could achieve if he was king.
“I can't get a ballroom approved,” he grumbled about an unfavorable ruling that came down this week about his $400 million project. “It's pretty amazing, right? If I was a king, we'd be doing a lot more. I'm doing a lot, but I could be doing a lot more if I was a king.”
The president also urged Erika Kirk to sue after she was mocked last week by controversial social media comedian Druski.
“I said, you ought to sue, I can say — you’re not allowed to say this — you have to be nicer. Sue their a** off,” Trump said to Kirk, without explicitly referencing Druski.
The 31-year-old influencer, whose real name is Drew Desbordes, wore prosthetics to appear as a white woman in the skit titled “How Conservative Women in America act.”
He portrayed a character holding a mock press conference about the war in Iran, being interviewed while clutching a Bible, participating in a pilates class and ordering a “sweet cream foam chai iced matcha” at a drive-through.
During the religious White House event, Trump also took the opportunity to mock European leaders and at one point appeared to impersonate U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Trump told the room how he asked the British leader to send two aircraft carriers to the Middle East amid his war with Iran.
“Oh… I’ll have to ask my team” Trump said, appearing to mock Starmer by putting on a concerned voice. A few laughs were then heard from the room.
The president then made a dig at French president Emmanuel Macron, and said his wife Brigitte Macron “treats him very badly,” appearing to reference the infamous incident last year where the French first lady pushed her husband in the face as they disembarked an aircraft.
“I call up France, Macron – whose wife treats him extremely badly... Still recovering from the right to the jaw,” Trump said.
Trump paused briefly after making the quip as the room laughed again, and the president smirked.
As war rages and prices surge, Trump posts video of himself every year since 1980
Iran-US war latest: Macron tells Trump ‘don’t speak every day’ in scathing attack
Activist Mahmoud Khalil wants ex-Justice Department official off panel of judges weighing his appeal
Stocks swing in choppy trade amid war uncertainty
First group of 12 deportees from the US arrives in Uganda, lawyers say
MAGA lawmaker says Americans would be ‘unglued’ over alien briefings
