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