President Donald Trump speaks to the 2017 Value Voters Summit, Friday, Oct. 13, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Republished October 13, 2017 - 10:32 AM
Original Publication Date October 13, 2017 - 8:01 AM
WASHINGTON - The Latest on President Donald Trump's speech to the Values Voters (all times local):
1:30 p.m.
President Donald Trump assured a high-profile gathering of Christian conservatives on Friday that his administration will defend religious organizations. He's promising a return to traditional American values while again subtly stoking the fire he helped ignite over NFL players kneeling during the national anthem.
Trump is the first sitting president to address the Values Voter Summit. He pledged Friday to turn back the clock in what he described as a nation that has drifted away from its religious roots.
He bemoaned the use of the phrase "Happy Holidays" as a secular seasonal greeting and vowed to return "Merry Christmas" to the national discourse.
He noted, as Christian conservatives often do, that there are four references to the "creator" in the Declaration of Independence, saying that "religious liberty is enshrined" in the nation's founding documents.
___
10:50 a.m.
President Donald Trump reviewed his accomplishments this year in a speech to social conservatives.
Trump told the annual Values Voter summit in Washington he's followed through on promise after promise since taking office.
Trump mentioned his nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. He says Gorsuch is in the mould of Justice Antonin Scalia, the conservative whose death in February 2016 created the vacancy on the high court that Trump was able to fill.
Trump also said he's "stopping cold" attacks on Judeo-Christian values.
He says people are saying "Merry Christmas" again. He adds his hope that Congress will give the American people a Christmas gift by passing his tax cut proposal.
___
10:10 a.m.
President Donald Trump plans to promote his first-year accomplishments and argue for his tax plan to conservatives on Friday.
Trump is addressing the annual Values Voter summit in Washington. The event is sponsored by the Family Research Council.
The president's speech follows his decision to halt federal subsidies to health insurers under the "Obamacare" law. The White House says Congress must appropriate the $7 billion in subsidies, which have stabilized the health care markets.
The president will address the social conservatives after he announced last week that he would end an Obama-era mandate that made it a requirement for employers to cover birth control in health insurance plans.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017