WASHINGTON A pastors explanation of President Donald Trump s sudden visit to his church on Franklin Graham s Pray for Donald Trump Day is casting doubt on the White Houses widely publicized claim that he went there to pray for Fridays shooting victims in Virginia Beach.

David Platt, pastor of McLean Bible Church, a few miles from Trumps golf course in Northern Virginia, wrote in a statement that the first he heard about Trumps visit was after he finished a sermon early Sunday afternoon.

I was immediately called backstage and told that the president of the United States was on his way to the church, would be there in a matter of minutes, and would like for us to pray for him, Platt wrote.

Hours earlier, he had referenced Grahams Prayer for Donald Trump Day, which the son of the famed evangelist had decreed would be that Sunday. Many of you may have seen that there were calls to, particularly on this Sunday, pray for our president, Platt told his congregation as Trump stood beside him.

The White House, though, had given a different reason for the visit. Just as Trump was walking into the church, the press office sent out a statement claiming that he was there to visit with the pastor and pray for the victims and community of Virginia Beach.

That statement was picked up by hundreds of media outlets around the country and the world, some of whom used it in follow-up coverage to Fridays massacre that left 12 dead and several others hospitalized in critical condition.

Yet, during the entirety of Trumps 16-minute stay, Platt did not mention the shooting, and Trump never spoke about the shooting or anything else beyond thanking Platt afterward.

Instead, the president stood on stage, wearing a dark blazer, blue golf shirt, khakis and golf cleats, as Platt prayed for him. In one hand he clutched a white golf hat, thus revealing slicked hair that clung to his head a change from the elaborate coiffure that Trump normally sports in public.