logo
Trump's task force order is latest in efforts to boost Christian nationalism

Trump's task force order is latest in efforts to boost Christian nationalism

The Guardian07-02-2025

Donald Trump is reigniting his alliance with the Christian right, unveiling a flurry of actions that include an aggressive executive order establishing a dedicated task force to combat what he claims is 'anti-Christian bias' across federal agencies.
Addressing supporters at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, Trump announced a far-reaching directive that empowers Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, to lead an effort to 'fully prosecute anti-Christian violence and vandalism' in government institutions.
'You've never had that before,' Trump said. 'If we don't have religious liberty, then we don't have a free country.'
The move represents a direct appeal to energize his Christian conservative base, and follows efforts including pardoning anti-abortion activists such as Paulette Harlow, who was convicted of blocking access to an abortion clinic – which his administration framed as persecution of Christian believers. Trump also signed orders to ban the legal recognition of transgender people by the US government.
The president's push for a religious conservative alliance also bridged domestic and international spheres this week, with his new task force announcement paralleling Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Washington visit.
At Blair House on Monday, Netanyahu met with key evangelical leaders, including Christians United for Israel founder and pastor John Hagee and former governor Mike Huckabee – Trump's ambassador-designate to Israel – drawing together Christian Zionists who form a critical geopolitical support network.
These evangelical powerbrokers, who champion hardline annexation policies such as Trump's surprise announcement to empty out and take ownership of Gaza, and reject traditional diplomatic language around the occupied Palestinian territories, represent a formidable political bloc through groups such as Christians United for Israel, which claims over 10 million members.
The recent executive order announcement takes direct aim at federal agencies including the FBI and IRS, which Trump accused of systematically targeting Christian believers. It includes the creation of a new White House faith office led by Trump's longtime spiritual adviser, televangelist Paula White.
Sign up to This Week in Trumpland
A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration
after newsletter promotion
Some critics were quick to condemn the initiative as a thinly veiled attempt to privilege evangelical Christianity over other religious minorities.
'If Trump really cared about religious freedom and ending religious persecution, he'd be addressing antisemitism in his inner circle, anti-Muslim bigotry, hate crimes against people of color and other religious minorities,' the president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Rachel Laser, said in a statement. 'This task force is not a response to Christian persecution; it's an attempt to make America into an ultra-conservative Christian Nationalist nation.'

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Irish citizens living illegally in US could be transferred to Guantanamo Bay, report says
Irish citizens living illegally in US could be transferred to Guantanamo Bay, report says

BreakingNews.ie

time10 minutes ago

  • BreakingNews.ie

Irish citizens living illegally in US could be transferred to Guantanamo Bay, report says

A number of Irish citizens who are living in the United States illegally could be rounded up and transferred to the notorious Guantanamo Bay prison camp as early as this week, the Washington Post has reported. The Trump administration is currently preparing for the transfer of thousands of foreigners to the US military base, which was established to hold terrorism suspects during the 'War on Terror' that followed the 9/11 attacks. Advertisement The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that the list of foreign nationals under consideration include 'hundreds' from friendly European nations, including Ireland, Britain, Germany and France. US officials familiar with the matter told the newspaper that illegal immigrants' home governments were unlikely to be informed about the impending transfers to the infamous military facility in Cuba. Preparations for the transfer of these foreign nations include medical screening services for up to 9,000 people, which will determine whether they are healthy enough to be sent to Guantanamo. Trump administration officials say the plan is necessary due to a shortage of capacity in domestic detention facilities. By contrast, an official document seen by the Washington Post notes that the military camp is 'not at capacity'. Advertisement In January, Trump claimed that he would send as many as 30,000 migrants to Guantanamo Bay. A limited number were transferred there in March but were subsequently returned to facilities in Louisiana. World Trump orders thousands more troops to Los Angeles... Read More The newspaper said the individuals currently being considered for detention and transfer – including a number of Irish citizens – are in the United States illegally. Many of the detainees' home countries have told the US that they are willing to accept their citizens but have not acted fast enough for the Department of Homeland Security, officials told the Washington Post. US troops at Guantanamo Bay erected a tent city earlier this year in anticipation of a large influx of detained migrants. This did not occur, however, and 195 tents with capacity for more than 3,000 people were taken down. Neither the White House nor the US Department of Homeland Security commented on the report. An official at the Department of Defense said ongoing missions at the military facility remain unchanged, and added that 'we do not comment on any speculative future missions'.

LA on lockdown as mayor enacts curfew and declares 'local emergency'
LA on lockdown as mayor enacts curfew and declares 'local emergency'

Daily Mail​

time14 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

LA on lockdown as mayor enacts curfew and declares 'local emergency'

Los Angeles was put on lockdown after mayor Karen Bass finally declared a local after days of anti-ICE demonstrations. Parts of the downtown area will be a no-go zone from 8pm to 6am from Tuesday through Wednesday after violent protesters set fire to cars, looted buildings and attacked officers with rocks, fireworks, and cement bricks. Bass said the curfew is expected to last several days, adding: 'If you do not live or work in downtown LA avoid the area. Law enforcement will arrest individuals who break the curfew, and you will be prosecuted.' SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO Meanwhile, governor Gavin Newsom tore into President Trump for exacerbating the chaos. Less than an hour after the curfew was imposed, Newsom spoke out on national television, blaming the federal government for the ongoing crisis. He said: 'Authoritarian regimes begin by targeting people who are least able to defend themselves, but they do not stop there. 'This is a president who in just over 140 days, has fired government watchdogs that could hold him accountable, accountable for corruption and fraud. He's declared a war, a war on culture, on history, on science, on knowledge itself. Databases, quite literally, are vanishing.' Newsom claimed that 'when Donald Trump sought blanket authority to commandeer the National Guard, he made that order apply to every state in this nation', adding: 'This is about all of us. This is about you. California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next. 'Democracy is under assault before our eyes, this moment we have feared has arrived.' While Newsom did urge protesters to remain peaceful if they took to the streets, he encouraged Americans to stand up against Trump: 'What Donald Trump wants most is your fealty, your silence, to be complicit in this moment. Do not give in to him.' Trump also gave orders to send 700 Marines and 4,100 National Guard troops in to take over policing efforts and assist the LAPD. Bass revealed at least 23 businesses have been looted during the ongoing violence and condemned some of the horrifying images which have emerged from the days of carnage. But the mayor said the curfew was contained to where the violence was most apparent, noting: 'Some of the imagery of the protests and the violence gives the appearance as though this is a city wide crisis and is not.' She hopes that by imposing a curfew and declaring a local emergency, she can 'stop the vandalism, stop the looting'. Bass added: 'A curfew has been in consideration for several days, but clearly after the violence that took place last night and just the extensive widespread nature of the vandalism, we reached a tipping point.' While she refrained from locking down the entire downtown area, the LAPD issued alerts listing downtown Los Angeles as 'unlawful assembly' zones in an effort to rid the area of any and all protesters. The regions impacted by the lockdown span from the five freeway to the 110 freeway, and from the 10 freeway to the point where the 110 and the five merge. The development comes as Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to stop the LA rioters, which authorizes the president to deploy military forces inside the United States to suppress rebellion or domestic violence or to enforce the law in certain situations. 'If there's an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We'll see. But I can tell you, last night was terrible. The night before that was terrible,' Trump said. He repeatedly referred to 'bad, sick people' and 'agitators' he said were paid to wreak havoc. A curfew is the natural next step in efforts toward regaining control of the city, as the LAPD ramps up arrests and cracks down on protesters breaching unlawful assembly orders. LAPD chief Jim McDonnell said protests had grown more violent as the week progressed. There were just 27 arrests on Sunday, with 40 on Sunday, 114 on Monday and nearly 200 by 6pm on Tuesday. He said public safety personnel, journalists and homeless people would be exempt from the order. The arrival of Trump's military reinforcements brought its own set of challenges on Tuesday, with furious Newsom filing an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order. The governor wrote on X: I just filed an emergency motion to block Trump's illegal deployment of Marines and National Guard in Los Angeles. Trump is turning the U.S. military against American citizens. The courts must immediately block these illegal actions.' A judge denied the motion and instead granted the Trump administration an extension of time to respond to Newsom's filing. The federal government now has until 2pm on Wednesday to file its response. Newsom will then have an opportunity to file its opposition ahead of a hearing at 1.30pm Thursday. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers the deployment of National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles will cost at least $134 million and last 60 days. 'We stated very publicly that it's 60 days because we want to ensure that those rioters, looters and thugs on the other side assaulting our police officers know that we're not going anywhere,' he said.

Israel confirms Hamas terror chief ‘The Shadow' is dead as it releases footage of his hiding place in secret tunnels
Israel confirms Hamas terror chief ‘The Shadow' is dead as it releases footage of his hiding place in secret tunnels

Daily Mail​

time14 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

Israel confirms Hamas terror chief ‘The Shadow' is dead as it releases footage of his hiding place in secret tunnels

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have confirmed that Hamas chief Mohammed Sinwar was killed in a strike on the European hospital in southern Gaza as it released footage of his body being discovered in secret tunnels. The de facto leader of the terror group, 49, was eliminated in an IDF strike on May 13 with troops on Sunday recovering his body from a tunnel in Khan Yunis. The military made the announcement after the body had gone through an identification process, with the military sharing on X Sinwar's alleged Israeli and Hamas documentation, as well as his driver's license. In bodycam footage of the find also posted to X, a soldier enters a deep tunnel outside the medical facility before making their way down a dim corridor. They stumble into a packed out room filled with what appears to be guns and ammunition before panning the camera to find Sinwar's camouflaged body on the ground. The IDF member then makes their way through several other tunnels which lead to dark rooms filled with equipment. The IDF wrote: 'Mohammad Sinwar was responsible for the deaths of countless civilians. He was eliminated in an IDF & ISA strike on May 13. 'His body was found beneath the European hospital in Khan Yunis - more proof of how Sinwar, and Hamas, hide behind their civilians and purposely embed themselves in civilian areas, such as hospitals. The IDF said: 'His body was found beneath the European hospital in Khan Yunis - more proof of how Sinwar, and Hamas, hide behind their civilians and purposely embed themselves in civilian areas, such as hospitals' 'He died the way he lived - underground'. Sinwar, nicknamed 'The Shadow' and 'The Butcher of Khan Younis', was targeted in a massive airstrike on the hospital in Khan Yunis on May 13, just a day after Hamas released Israeli-American soldier Edan Alexander. At the time, the IDF said it had struck 'Hamas terrorists in a command-and-control centre' in underground infrastructure at the hospital. Yet, it took over two weeks for Israel to confirm it had definitely killed Sinwar in the strike. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the announcement on the 600th day of the war two weeks ago. 'We changed the face of the Middle East, we pushed the terrorists from our territories, we entered the Gaza Strip with force, we eliminated tens of thousands of terrorists, we eliminated (Mohammad) Deif, (Ismail) Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Sinwar,' he said in a speech at the Knesset, Israel's parliament. The attack killed 28 Palestinians and wounded more than 50 others, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said after the strike. Hamas apparently hid Sinwar's body in a tunnel to prevent Israel verifying his death and to ensure he could receive a high-profile funeral at a time of the group's choosing. According to Israeli reports, its military took advantage of Sinwar briefly separating himself from some of the hostages who remain in Hamas custody following the atrocities of October 7, 2023. Sinwar used the hostages as human shields, confident Israel would not target him, but he attended talks with Hamas political leaders on May 13 without them. Word reached Israeli military commanders, and to the surprise of those involved in the operation, authorization was granted for air strikes close to the hospital. Mohammed Sinwar took over the leadership of Hamas's military wing last year following the death of his older brother Yahya. Remarkable footage recorded by a drone showed Yahya sitting in an armchair in the devastated remains of a multi-story building following an air strike in October. He appeared to wave a piece of floorboard in defiance at the reconnaissance drone. Minutes later an air strike reduced the structure to rubble. Israeli soldiers subsequently dragged Yahya's body from the rubble. His death was a watershed moment for the country as he was the main planner behind the October 7 attacks which killed 1,200 people and resulted in 250 hostages being taken into Gaza. The atrocity triggered Israel's retaliatory assault on the Occupied Palestinian Territories which has cost more than 50,000 lives, led to two million people being displaced and caused a humanitarian catastrophe. The celebration in Israel surrounding Mohammed Sinwar's death came amid shocking scenes of humanitarian aid centers being over-run and crowds looting boxes of desperately needed supplies in Gaza. Controversially, Israel has sidelined the major international aid agencies and set up its own distribution system in conjunction with the U.S. It said it did not want Hamas to intercept aid meant for Gaza residents. Opponents of Israel have accused the country of orchestrating the provision of lifesaving supplies effectively to enable ethnic cleansing.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store