WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aimed at protecting the religious freedoms of Americans and ending the “anti-Christian weaponization of government.”
Trump signed executive action, titled “Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias,” on Thursday afternoon after speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. The order condemns the Biden administration for its “egregious pattern of targeting peaceful Christians, while ignoring violent, anti-Christian offenses.”
“The Biden Department of Justice sought to squelch faith in the public square by bringing Federal criminal charges and obtaining in numerous cases multi-year prison sentences against nearly two dozen peaceful pro-life Christians for praying and demonstrating outside abortion facilities,” Trump’s order states.
It continues: “Those convicted included a Catholic priest and 75-year-old grandmother, as well as an 87-year-old woman and a father of 11 children who were arrested 18 months after praying and singing hymns outside an abortion facility in Tennessee as a part of a politically motivated prosecution campaign by the Biden Administration. I rectified this injustice on January 23, 2025, by issuing pardons in these cases.”
Trump also highlights that at the same time, the Biden Justice Department ignored a slew of crimes against religious Americans. Since the leak of the draft Supreme Court opinion indicating that Roe v. Wade would be overturned, there have been 319 attacks on Catholic Churches throughout the United States and 96 attacks on pregnancy centers.
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“At the same time, Catholic churches, charities, and pro-life centers sought justice for violence, theft, and arson perpetrated against them, which the Biden Department of Justice largely ignored,” the order states. “After more than 100 attacks, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning this violence and calling on the Biden Administration to enforce the law.”
It also mentions the FBI’s 2023 memo targeting traditional Catholics, the Biden Education Department’s attempts at repealing religious-liberty protections for faith-based organizations on college campuses, the Biden HHS’s attempts to drive Christians away from the foster-care system if they wouldn’t affirm gender ideology in children, and the Biden administration’s declaration that Easter Sunday was “Transgender Day of Visibility.”
“In this atmosphere of anti-Christian government, hostility and vandalism against Christian churches and places of worship surged, with the number of such identified acts in 2023 exceeding by more than eight times the number from 2018,” the order states. “Catholic churches and institutions have been aggressively targeted with hundreds of acts of hostility, violence, and vandalism.”
“My Administration will not tolerate anti-Christian weaponization of government or unlawful conduct targeting Christians,” Trump’s order adds. “The law protects the freedom of Americans and groups of Americans to practice their faith in peace, and my Administration will enforce the law and protect these freedoms. My Administration will ensure that any unlawful and improper conduct, policies, or practices that target Christians are identified, terminated, and rectified.”
The order creates a “Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias,” to be helmed by Attorney General Pam Bondi, which will guard against future injustices and protect religious Americans in the practice of the free expression of their faith.
