Trump hits back, slams 'dishonest and corrupt' opponents at National Prayer Breakfast

“I don’t like people who use their faith as justification for doing what they know is wrong,” Mr. Trump said with Mrs. Pelosi seated near him on the dias. “Nor do I like people who say ‘I pray for you’ when they know that that’s not so.”

“As everybody knows my family, our great country, and your president, have been put through a terrible ordeal by some very dishonest and corrupt people,” the president said. “They have done everything possible to destroy us. And by so doing, very badly hurt our nation. They put themselves far ahead of our great country.”

A grinning Mr. Trump held aloft front-page newspaper headlines proclaiming him “acquitted” when he entered the ballroom for the breakfast at the Washington Hilton to applause, including from Mrs. Pelosi. Upon reaching his seat on the dias, Mr. Trumppicked up a copy of USA Today from the table and held up the front page to show the audience the banner headline “Acquitted” above his photo.

Mrs. Pelosi was seated on the opposite side of the dias and came to the podium to offer a prayer. She didn’t acknowledge the president, in their first encounter since she ripped up a copy of his State of the Union address on Tuesday night.

Reading from several pages of paper, Mrs. Pelosi prayed for those persecuted across the globe, including journalists in Saudi Arabia. She prayed that “we treat everyone with dignity and respect.”   When she finished, she turned away from the podium and returned to her seat without looking at Mr. Trump.