The president went on to applaud "courageous Republican politicians and leaders" who he said "had the wisdom, fortitude and strength to do what everyone knows was right" amid the impeachment fight.

"I don't like people who use their faith as justification for doing what they know is wrong," Trump added. "Nor do I like people who say, 'I pray for you' when they know that that's not so. So many people have been hurt, and we can't let that go on. And I'll be discussing that a little bit later at the White House."

The president’s incendiary remarks, lobbed during the traditionally bipartisan annual event in Washington, echo a broadside he leveled in December against Pelosi, a devout Catholic, after the speaker insisted during a heated exchange with a reporter that she does not hate Trump and prays "all the time" for him.

"Nancy Pelosi just had a nervous fit," Trump tweeted of the interaction, adding: "She says she 'prays for the President.' I don’t believe her, not even close." Two weeks later, on the day of his impeachment by the House, Trump seemed to sarcastically encourage his supporters online to "Say a PRAYER!”

Pelosi struck back at the president during a news conference in the Capitol, telling reporters Thursday morning that she found his statements to be "so completely inappropriate" and chiding Trump for "talking about things that he knows little about: Faith and prayer."

"He really needs our prayers," she said. "So he can say whatever he wants. He can say whatever he wants. But I do pray for him, and I do so sincerely and without anguish."

The comments by Trump also called to mind Romney's address from the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon, when he announced his intention to vote in favor of the first article of impeachment accusing the president of abuse of power.

Romney, who is Mormon, emotionally cited his "promise before God to apply impartial justice" in defending his decision, and said that ignoring his oath would "expose my character to history's rebuke and the censure of my own conscience."

Asked about the president's barbs Thursday, Mercedes Schlapp, the former White House director of strategic communications and staffer on Trump's reelection campaign, offered more explicit criticism of Romney on Fox News.

"I don't question his faith. I think that it's kind of odd that he would use his faith as an excuse to go after the president, especially when we know that there's a personal vendetta against the president," she said.

The president's appearance Thursday morning at the National Prayer Breakfast turned decidedly political as soon as he entered the Washington Hilton's ballroom, brandishing copies of USA TODAY and The Washington Post with news of his acquittal splashed across the front pages.

As he addressed the crowd, the president referred to "enemies" of the administration and equated the plight of Gen. George Washington and his troops at Valley Forge to the Trump campaign's prospects in the most recent White House race.

"Reminded me a little bit of 2016. We had very little chance of victory," he said. "Except for the people in this room and some others believed we were going to win. I believed we were going to win."

Trump later returned to the subject of impeachment, asserting that some of the breakfast's participants occasionally "hate people" — another apparent insult toward Pelosi, who was seated near the president on stage.

"We are grateful to the people in this room for the love they show to religion. Not one religion, but many religions. They're brave, they're brilliant, they're fighters, they like people and sometimes they hate people, I'm sorry," Trump said.

"I apologize. I am trying to learn," he continued. "It's not easy. It's not easy. When they impeach you for nothing, then you're supposed to like them. It's not easy, folks. I do my best."

Trump is scheduled to deliver remarks from the White House at noon Thursday, after tweeting Wednesday evening that he would be "making a public statement" at that time "to discuss our Country’s VICTORY on the Impeachment Hoax!"

Previewing the address during an interview on Fox News, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham ominously predicted that Trump is "going to talk about just how horribly he was treated and, you know, that maybe people should pay for that."

Myah Ward contributed to this report.