President Trump and first lady Melania Trump attended mass Sunday night in Florida on the eve of Christmas.
The first couple attended mass at the Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach, arriving after the service had already started, according to a White House pool report.
The couple also attended the church’s midnight services last year, about a month before Trump took office. The church is where the couple had their wedding.
{mosads}
The Rev. James Harlan escorted the Trumps inside while asking audience members to put away their phones and cameras so they do not serve as “an intrusion,” according to a pool report.
“We’re here to worship,” Harlan told the congregation.
Shortly before the president’s motorcade carted him over to the church, Trump touted in a tweet that people are saying “Merry Christmas again.”
“People are proud to be saying Merry Christmas again. I am proud to have led the charge against the assault of our cherished and beautiful phrase,” Trump tweeted on Christmas Eve. “MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!”
Trump frequently claimed on the 2016 campaign trail that he would bring back the holiday greeting, while railing against the idea of being politically correct and wishing “happy holidays” over “merry Christmas.”
Earlier on Sunday, the first couple also spoke by phone with children about Santa Claus’s whereabouts, participating in the longtime North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) tradition that also tracks the whereabouts of Santa and his reindeer as they travel around the world delivering gifts.
Trump is celebrating Christmas at Mar-a-Lago, his private beach resort in Palm Beach.