By Nandita Bose and Steve Holland
WASHINGTON, Feb 5 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump defended three members of his cabinet whose actions have drawn scrutiny and touted U.S. military strength in a free-wheeling speech on Thursday at the annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington.
Trump frequently strayed off the teleprompter in remarks to religious leaders and lawmakers, pushing themes of law and order and American might abroad in a speech that he could easily have given at one of his ubiquitous political rallies.
He warned Hamas fighters in Gaza to disarm or face consequences, promoted first lady Melania Trump’s new documentary and praised El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, who has championed a mega-prison called CEGOT where the United States has sent hundreds of mostly Venezuelan migrants.
In one of his few religious references, he quoted the biblical verse “blessed are the pure in heart” and wondered if he would qualify. “I’m not sure that applies to me necessarily,” he said. “Does that apply to me? I try.”
He also mused about his chances of going to heaven, saying “I really think I probably should make it” while noting he was “not a perfect candidate.”
Trump rejected calls to fire Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who drew criticism after federal officers shot and killed two Americans protesting Trump’s tough migrant deportation policies in Minnesota.
“Why would I do that?” he said, touting Noem’s enforcement of the U.S. southern border and crime-fighting efforts.
The backlash from the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis prompted Trump to put White House border czar Tom Homan in charge of operations in Minnesota in place of Noem. Trump told NBC News on Wednesday that a “softer touch” was needed there.
Trump also defended his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who was present for an FBI raid on an election facility in Georgia as part of Trump’s ongoing quest to raise doubts about the vote in the 2020 presidential election that he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
Claims of voting fraud in the 2020 presidential election have been rejected by courts, state governments and members of Trump’s own former administration.
Gabbard, whose position typically concerns threats from abroad, wrote in a letter to lawmakers dated Monday that she observed FBI personnel executing a search warrant in Atlanta’s Fulton County and was present there for a “brief period of time.”
“She’s doing a great job,” Trump said of Gabbard and hinted of a Russian role in election tampering.
He also praised Attorney General Pam Bondi, who he said had sent Gabbard to Atlanta.
“Pam wanted her to do it,” he said.
Trump expressed happiness with events in Venezuela after the U.S. military abducted and arrested President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas last month and seized control of that country’s oil.
He said he is now working with acting president Delcy Rodriguez and said he is “getting along fantastically” with Venezuela.
Trump, who has assembled a large military force in the Middle East and could unleash it against Iran, extolled the strength of the U.S. military.
“We have a military where they all look like Tom Cruise, only bigger,” he said.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose and Steve Holland; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Alistair Bell)
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