Bishops Who Prayed With Trump Say The White House Exploited The Meeting

Two of the twelve Catholic bishops who prayed around President Donald Trump in the Oval Office last Thursday now say the White House used them. Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob published a statement on Sunday titled “A Public Apology,” and Des Moines Bishop William Joensen issued his own the same day. Both said the meeting of October 22 was publicized by the administration without the bishops’ consent, less than two weeks before the November 3 midterm elections.

What The Bishops Say They Agreed To

Grob said he was invited in mid-September to join a group of bishops for a meeting arranged by the Heritage Foundation — the second such gathering, after one in June to which he was not invited. The bishops were told to expect a private discussion with White House staff and advisers on matters including immigration enforcement, visas for religious workers and human dignity; Joensen said abortion and federal tax credits for private schooling were also on the agenda. They were told Catholic members of the Cabinet might appear, and that there might be an opportunity to pray privately with the president. “I took some time to weigh the decision and ultimately felt that, if I had the opportunity to offer my voice in a way that might improve the lives of God’s children, I ought to take it,” Grob wrote. “I did not go without reservations. I wish I had heeded them. I apologize for any damage my actions have done.”

What Happened In The Oval Office

After roughly ninety minutes of discussion, the bishops were led into the Oval Office, where Trump greeted them and gave them commemorative tokens. Grob said the bishops were directed to stand behind the seated president and pray, staff took photographs, and a video was recorded that the bishops did not know about and did not approve for release. The video was posted on social media by Margo Martin, a special assistant and communications adviser to the president. “To begin, the meeting was in no way an endorsement of the president, his policies, or his party,” Grob wrote. “I feel a heavy sadness, not only over the pain I caused, but also for the fact that something so sacred to a group of religious leaders, prayer to our Heavenly Father, would be manipulated in that way.” The group, he said, “should never have been put in that position by the White House.”

The Second Statement

Joensen’s statement was shorter and pointed the same way. The meeting, he wrote, “was exploited for partisan political purpose.” “I wish I had been more shrewd and less simple, like those who exploited our meeting,” he wrote, adding that he remains “resolute in my openness to engaging and praying for political leaders at all levels.” Grob closed his apology on the same distinction: the bishops came “to pray with a president, not to pose for a political photo opportunity to benefit the few.”

The White House Answer

Asked whether the White House had received the bishops’ consent to release the photos and video, the press office declined to answer the question. Spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said instead: “There has never been a greater president for Catholic Americans than President Trump, and his strong record proves it.”

The Backdrop

The episode lands twelve days before the midterms, in a church whose leadership has tried to stay out of the campaign. Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope, has insisted that bishops avoid political partisanship, and the Vatican’s decision that he will not visit the United States in 2026 was in large part because papal visits traditionally do not take place during election cycles. A Pew Research Center survey found Trump’s approval among U.S. Catholics has fallen from 47 percent in January 2025 to 30 percent.

Sources: The Associated Press; USA Today; the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; CNN — reporting of October 25–26, 2026, including the statements of Archbishop Jeffrey Grob and Bishop William Joensen.