On Sunday, May 17, Donald Trump publicly called his own cabinet member’s wife “beautiful” in a post tied to the holy Rededicate 250 prayer festival held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. He then told her to “give me a call,” a line that nobody who read it could hide their reaction to. The comment spread within minutes, and people across the country called it “absolutely disgusting.”
The remark came through a Truth Social post in which Trump, 79, was writing about the all-day prayer festival marking America’s 250th birthday. The post was supposed to be a show of patriotic and religious support. Instead, it stopped people mid-scroll and sparked one of the most talked-about moments of the week.
Trump wrote in his signature all-caps style:
“IF THERE IS ANYTHING I CAN DO TO HELP, JUST HAVE OUR BEAUTIFUL, BOTH INSIDE AND OUT, RACHAEL C.D., GIVE ME A CALL.”
The “Rachael C.D.” he referred to is Rachel Campos-Duffy, 54, the Fox and Friends Weekend co-host and wife of U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy. Sean Duffy is one of Trump’s own senior cabinet members, which made the public comment land even harder with millions of readers. Rachel and Sean have been married for over 20 years and are parents to nine children together.
It is still unclear whether Trump meant to send the message privately or intended it as a public post. What is clear is that it went live for every follower and media outlet to see. This is not the first time Trump has made this kind of mistake on the platform. He previously posted a private-looking message directly addressed to former Attorney General Pam Bondi, which also ended up going fully public on Truth Social.
What made this moment even more striking was the timing. While Trump was posting about Rachel Campos-Duffy’s looks, she was actually on air at Fox and Friends, covering the Rededicate 250 event live as it unfolded. Her husband’s own boss was calling her “beautiful” and asking her to call him, while she was busy doing her job on national television. The awkward contrast was impossible to miss.
Once the post went viral, the reaction online was swift and unforgiving. Critics flooded X and other platforms, mocking the president sharply for his choice of words about another man’s wife. The tone of the responses ranged from genuine shock to outright disgust.
One person wrote, “Oh my god, Trump’s back from China and he’s already flirting with Rachel, doing his part for the party. At least he’s home and ready to serve American citizens, one phone call at a time.”
Another user simply replied, “He’s so creepy.”
A third person said, “Are you hitting on Sec. Duffy’s wife? WTF are you talking about?”
The Trump administration also faced a separate but related wave of backlash over its support for the Rededicate 250 event itself. Critics and legal experts argued that a sitting president publicly endorsing and participating in a religious rally on federal land pushes hard against the constitutional principle of separation of church and state. The Americans United for Separation of Church and State said the event advances Christian nationalism rather than genuine religious freedom.
One X user wrote bluntly, “I’m old enough to remember when America had freedom of religion.”
Another critic added, “Nothing says separation of church and state like a presidential shout-out to a 250,000-person prayer rally on federal property.”
The government watchdog group Public Citizen went even further in its criticism. It stated that “the agenda for this jubilee reads less like a traditional religious event and more like a program for the Church of Trump.” According to Pew Research Center data, 29 percent of Americans are religiously unaffiliated, and 7 percent follow non-Christian faiths, meaning a large portion of the country felt left out of the event entirely.
The Rededicate 250 event itself drew thousands of attendees to the National Mall for a nine-hour program featuring worship music, prayer, and speeches from Trump administration figures. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth headlined the speaker lineup, alongside Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Organizers described the gathering as a way to “prepare for the nation’s 250th birthday with Scripture, testimony, and prayer.”
On the same day as the prayer festival, Trump issued a serious warning to Iran on Truth Social.
All of this played out on the very same day Trump posted a sharp and serious warning to Iran on Truth Social. “For Iran, the clock is ticking, and they better get moving fast, or there won’t be anything left of them,” he wrote. “TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!”
According to Axios, Trump told reporters he is waiting for Iran to come back with a stronger deal proposal. He warned, “We want to make a deal. They are not where we want them to be. They will have to get there, or they will be hit badly, and they don’t want that.” Trump is expected to convene his top national security team in the Situation Room on Tuesday, May 19, to formally discuss military options against Iran.
Sunday painted a picture that many Americans found hard to process. The president opened the day by backing a holy prayer festival meant to honor God, unity, and national history. He then publicly flattered a married cabinet official’s wife in a way that left the entire country visibly stunned, all while threatening a foreign nation with military force in the same breath. For those watching closely, it was a day that captured everything unsettling about this particular moment in American political life.
