The cold open of Saturday Night Live last night was a signing of the Declaration of Independence in the attire of those days, with Lin-Manuel Miranda appearing (remember his Hamilton?) as Alexander Hamilton. But in pops President Donald Trump:"Just like my founding fathers, I am creating a new country as well. And just like them, we're doing it very white-ly. Workplaces must go back to looking like the TV show ‘The Office.' Mostly white people but with one funny Black guy who's having a really bad time. We're bringing back Stanley culture."
On his first full day back in the White House, President Trump vowed to do what no president had ever done before. “We’re going to do things that people will be shocked at,” he declared. Of all the thousands of words that Trump uttered during his fact-challenged, talkathon-style opening days as the nation’s 47th president, those may have been the truest.
Right out of the gate, Trump challenged the expectations of what a president can and should do, demonstrating a belief that the rules his predecessors largely followed were meant to be bent, bypassed or broken.
Trump’s allies reject the notion that he has authoritarian aspirations. After all, he is still subject to the 22nd Amendment, which bars him from running in four years. Still, one House Republican was eager to get rid of even that guardrail. Representative Andy Ogles of Tennessee, whose campaign finances, as it happens, are under investigation by the F.B.I., introduced a constitutional amendment last week to allow Trump to run again.
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"In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country. ... The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meatpacking plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals. They may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes, and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, gurdwara and temples. I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here."
What was Trump's response? 
He criticized the prayer service remarks as nasty and not smart, plus demanded an apology. Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) said that Bishop Budde should be added to the deportation list. In the past few days, Budde has given interviews about her sermon and the backlash it sparked. She told reporters she would not apologize for her remarks, despite the criticism from the president and his allies. “I don’t hate the president, and I pray for him,” Budde told NPR. “I don’t feel there’s a need to apologize for a request for mercy.
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