WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration is monitoring Chinese persecution of Christians and religious minority groups in China, The Daily Wire can first report.
The State Department informed senators Friday morning that State shares their concerns about &#8220;the Chinese Communist Party&#8217;s systematic abuse of religious freedom,&#8221; according to a May 8 letter sent to Republican North Carolina Senator Ted Budd, first obtained by The Daily Wire.
&#8220;We are monitoring the detentions of leaders and members of Christian house churches, including Zion Church, Yayang Church, Light of Zion Church, and Early Rain Covenant Church,&#8221; writes Paul Guaglianone, Senior Bureau Official in the Bureau of Legislative Affairs at the State Department.
&#8220;Even churches that have registered with the party-state system designed to control them have faced increasing restrictions and political pressure to replace Christian theology and practice with the ideology of the CCP.&#8221;
The news comes just days ahead of the president&#8217;s visit to Beijing to meet with China&#8217;s leader, Xi Jinping. Trump has already promised that he will speak with President Xi about Jimmy Lai, a Catholic, pro-democracy newspaper publisher and media tycoon imprisoned by the Chinese Communist Party.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-white-house-calls-out-chinas-christian-persecution-as-trump-preps-for-beijing-visit/signal-2026-05-08-112201" rel="attachment wp-att-1091769"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-1091769 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/signal-2026-05-08-112201.jpeg" alt="" width="1179" height="2021" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/signal-2026-05-08-112201.jpeg 1179w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/signal-2026-05-08-112201-175x300.jpeg 175w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/signal-2026-05-08-112201-336x576.jpeg 336w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/signal-2026-05-08-112201-768x1316.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/signal-2026-05-08-112201-896x1536.jpeg 896w" sizes=" (max-width: 1179px) 100vw, 1179px" /></a>
The State Department regularly speaks with Chinese authorities about both the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government&#8217;s &#8220;abuses and violations of religious freedom,&#8221; the letter notes.
&#8220;We also consider the use of all appropriate authorities, such as targeted sanctions and visa restrictions, to hold perpetrators of religious freedom abuses accountable,&#8221; Guaglianone wrote. &#8220;This Administration will continue to champion international religious freedom.&#8221;
State&#8217;s letter was a response to a <a href="https://www.budd.senate.gov/2026/03/25/budd-kaine-lead-bipartisan-letter-urging-president-trump-to-advocate-for-pastor-ezra-jins-release/">bipartisan March 24 letter sent to President Trump</a> regarding the release of Pastor Ezra Jin. That letter was led by Budd and Democratic Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine and joined by dozens of other lawmakers, who urged Trump to advocate for the release of Jin and other Christians.
They shared that abuses against Christians in China &#8220;include arbitrary detentions, lengthy prison sentences, forced closures of places of worship, destruction of religious property, and surveillance and intimidation of clergy and congregants.&#8221;
“Through the International Religious Freedom Act, the Administration is empowered to use targeted sanctions and increase reporting and diplomatic engagement to support your efforts to address severe violations of individuals’ right to freedom of religion,&#8221; the lawmakers wrote.
Trump is currently scheduled to head to China on May 14, where U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said that Trump and Xi will discuss the Iran war. Trump will reportedly urge China to join the United States in opening the Strait of Hormuz. He will also push for trade concessions from Beijing.

TOPSHOT-SKOREA-US-CHINA-DIPLOMACY

EXCLUSIVE: White House Monitoring Chinese Persecution Of Christians, Minority Religions

China

Christians

Donald Trump

A Christian school in Vermont is set to receive more than half a million dollars in damages and attorneys&#8217; fees from the Vermont Principals&#8217; Association, partially settling a lawsuit after the school was punished when its girls&#8217; basketball team refused to play against a team with a transgender-identifying boy.
Mid Vermont Christian School will receive $566,000 under the agreement, more than three years after it was removed from the state athletic association for forfeiting the game.
The settlement follows a federal appeals court ruling that the school must be allowed to compete in games as the case proceeds.
“The government cannot punish religious schools — and the families they serve — by permanently kicking them out of state-sponsored sports simply because the state disagrees with their religious beliefs,” said David Cortman, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, which represents the Christian school.
“For more than two years, state officials denied Mid Vermont Christian School a public benefit available to all other schools in Vermont just because it stood by the widely held, biblical belief that boys and girls are different,&#8221; he added. &#8220;There’s a price to pay for violating constitutional rights for Christian schools and students.”
In February of 2023, the Mid Vermont Christian School girls&#8217; basketball team forfeited their state tournament game against a team that allowed a boy who identified as a girl to play on the team, saying that playing against a male &#8220;jeopardizes the fairness of the game and the safety of our players.&#8221;
Following the forfeiture, the Vermont Principals’ Association retaliated against the Christian school by banning it from athletic tournaments, CBS News affiliate WCAX <a href="https://www.wcax.com/2026/04/29/vermont-principals-association-pay-566000-christian-school-transgender-athlete-dispute/">reported</a>.
Chris Goodwin, the team&#8217;s coach, said he will &#8220;always&#8221; fight for his players to compete in &#8220;fair and safe competitions.&#8221;
“I never thought I would be in court for simply adhering to my Christian and commonsense belief that boys and girls are different,” Goodwin said. “At Mid Vermont Christian School, we strive to exemplify biblical truth in and through everything we do.&#8221;
Attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom continue to litigate the case, which also seeks to hold Vermont officials accountable for denying students at Christian schools access to the state&#8217;s tuition programs.
Multiple transgender-identifying male high school athletes have injured opposing female players in recent years. In 2022, North Carolina high schooler Payton McNabb was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/i-was-injured-by-a-trans-athlete-state-legislatures-need-to-do-more-to-protect-womens-sports">injured</a> when a trans-identifying boy spiked a volleyball in her face. McNabb suffered a concussion and a neck injury, which she said left her partially paralyzed on the right side of her body.
In 2024, a boy who identified as a girl <a href="https://www.boston.com/news/high-school-sports/2024/03/01/injuries-involving-trans-basketball-player-at-mass-school-spark-controversy/">injured</a> two girls&#8217; basketball players on the Collegiate Charter School of Lowell&#8217;s team during a game in Massachusetts. <a href="https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-13105605/Trans-basketball-high-school-game-injury-forfeit-Massachusetts.html?ns_mchannel=rss&amp;ns_campaign=1490&amp;ito=social-twitter_mailonline">Video</a> of one of the injuries shows the boy hurling a girl to the floor as they fight for the ball. The Collegiate Charter School of Lowell forfeited the game after the injuries.

Basketball

Christian School Scores Big Legal Win After Forfeiting Game Over Trans-Identifying Boy

High School

Vermont

Mark Houck was still in his pajamas when the FBI surrounded his home. Armed agents. Seven children watching from inside. His crime? Praying outside an abortion clinic. He wasn&#8217;t alone.
The Biden DOJ was actively partnering with radical abortion activists to surveil and imprison pro-lifers. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-biden-partnered-with-abortion-activists-to-track-and-imprison-pro-lifers?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=7&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=BREAKING%3A+How+Biden+Partnered+With+Abortion+Activists+To+Track+And+Imprison+Pro-Lifers">Emails obtained by the Daily Wire</a> reveal a top Justice Department official, Sanjay Patel, cozying up to groups like the National Abortion Federation (NAF) and Planned Parenthood. Patel called an NAF security director his &#8220;MVP&#8221; for flagging pro-life protests in real time. Abortion groups fed the DOJ dossiers packed with personal details including home addresses, family photos, driver&#8217;s license numbers, social media activity, and planned travel routes of peaceful Christian activists who hadn&#8217;t been charged with a crime.
This wasn&#8217;t sloppy governance. It was purposeful. Vengeful. For four years, the Biden Department of Justice resurrected and weaponized the FACE Act, originally designed to protect both abortion clinics and crisis pregnancy centers, almost exclusively against pro-lifers. Dozens faced federal charges for the &#8220;crimes&#8221; of praying, singing hymns, or sitting in front of abortion facility doors. Sentencing requests averaged 26.8 months for pro-life defendants versus just 12.3 months for pro-abortion ones. The FBI raided homes like that of Mark Houck with swarms of armed agents. Families like the Zastrows, evangelical Christians, were monitored for years before charges materialized. An 89-year-old woman and a Catholic priest were among those facing prison time.
Crickets from the media.
Can you imagine the wall-to-wall hysteria if the tables were turned? &#8220;Trump imprisons pro-abortion advocates!&#8221; It would be front-page news from coast to coast. You&#8217;d be suffocated by screaming libs. But when Christians and pro-lifers are the targets? When a grandmother faces federal prosecution for singing a hymn? The press corps is too busy carrying water for the abortion industry to notice.
Take Clare Ath, a pro-life advocate and senior policy analyst at Human Coalition, just one voice in a vast network of everyday heroes working to make abortion not only illegal, but unthinkable and unnecessary. <a href="https://www.humancoalition.org/impact/blog/how-does-childcare-affect-a-womans-abortion-decision/">Human Coalition</a> has helped rescue tens of thousands of babies through compassionate, holistic care — connecting abortion-minded moms to resources like ultrasounds, counseling, childcare vouchers, GED programs, job assistance, and long-term mentoring. They don’t just protest; they walk with women for years after that first decision to choose life.
That isn&#8217;t extremism. That&#8217;s love with a plan.
Pregnancy resource centers now outnumber abortion facilities nationally, providing hundreds of millions in free support last year: diapers, formula, parenting classes, and adoption referrals. Human Coalition&#8217;s own data supports the theory that when women receive real, substantive support, 76% say they would parent given better circumstances. They choose life. The pro-life movement at its best isn&#8217;t just defensive. It&#8217;s transformative.
The urgency is real. Over 63% of abortions in recent years have been chemical — mifepristone pills mailed via telehealth, often without proper medical oversight. These are increasingly deployed in dangerous, coercive situations: women pressured by partners, traffickers, or circumstance, with little to no follow-up care. Pro-life<a href="https://adflegal.org/article/new-study-1-in-10-abortion-drug-users-suffer-serious-complications/"> researchers have documented complication rates</a> — hemorrhaging, infections, incomplete abortions requiring surgery — far higher than the abortion industry admits. The left cheers this as &#8220;empowerment.&#8221; The women left bleeding and alone would likely describe it differently.
This week, Christians were rightly upset with President Donald Trump for both mocking the pope and depicting himself as Jesus in an AI-generated Truth Social post. As a Catholic, I was irritated and exhausted, I felt similar to <a href="https://www.thecut.com/2016/08/ben-affleck-smoking-through-the-pain-of-existence.html">Ben Affleck</a> as he smoked through the “pain of existence.” The Left, predictably, tried to leverage the moment to fracture Christian support for Trump.
However, when you remove yourself from the vacuum, you remember that there is another political party. As exasperated as Trump&#8217;s social media antics can make me, the Left reliably enrages me more. The Biden administration imprisoned Christians for peaceful prayer. It ignored <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/new-ad-slams-biden-inaction-continued-assault-pro-life-centers-churches">hundreds of violent attacks on churches</a> and pregnancy centers in the aftermath of Dobbs — firebombings, vandalism, explicit Jane&#8217;s Revenge threats — while the FBI was planting informants to monitor &#8220;radical traditionalist Catholics&#8221; inside their own parishes. And Democrats have spent years pushing abortion extremism that directly conflicts with core Christian teaching: taxpayer-funded late-term procedures, mandated gender ideology that violates religious conscience at every level of public life.
Meanwhile, despite his personal flaws and crude rhetoric, Trump has been a staunch defender of the Christian faith. He appointed the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/27/politics/conservative-catholics-gop-supreme-court">three Supreme Court justices</a> who overturned Roe v. Wade, ending a half-century of judicial tyranny, and reinstated pro-life policies like the <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/01/27/2026-01519/protecting-life-in-foreign-assistance">Mexico City Policy,</a> protecting billions in foreign aid from funding abortion overseas. He issued executive orders safeguarding religious liberty, spoke at the March for Life, and in his second term moved swiftly to pardon persecuted pro-lifers and create a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/eradicating-anti-christian-bias/">task force against anti-Christian bias</a> in government. Across the globe, his administration has prioritized persecuted Christians and <a href="https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/white-house-press-release-president-trumps-top-100-victories-for-people-faith">defended biblical values</a> on the world stage.
Democrats make it easy to forgive our own side’s imperfections. Because over there, across the aisle, the grass isn’t greener. It’s scorched.
It would behoove us all to remember how bad we once had it under Biden and how quickly we could slide back into those dire, dangerous, and despicable times. The radical Left is always waiting, ready to shut you up, shut you down, and steal your freedoms. Christians cannot afford selective amnesia. We vote not for perfection, but for the side that doesn’t treat our faith as the enemy. The stakes — over a <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/news-release/2026/guttmacher-releases-full-year-2025-abortion-incidence-and-travel-data">million</a> innocent lives every year — demand nothing less.

US-POLITICS-ABORTION-MARCH

Joe Biden Waged All Out War On The Pro-Life Movement

Biden Administration

DW Opinion

Pro-Life Movement

President Donald Trump said Monday afternoon that he <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-slammed-for-outrageous-post-depicting-himself-as-jesus-christ?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Trump+Removes+%E2%80%98OUTRAGEOUS%E2%80%99+Post+Depicting+Himself+As+Jesus+Christ+After+Backlash+From+Supporters">posted</a> the image widely perceived as depicting himself as Jesus Christ, but told reporters that he believed the image showed him as a doctor, not the Son of God.
Trump deleted the image from his Truth Social account on Monday morning after backlash from his Christian supporters, some of whom called the image &#8220;outrageous&#8221; and &#8220;blasphemous.&#8221;
&#8220;I did post it and thought it was me as a doctor and had to do with the Red Cross, as a Red Cross worker there, which we support,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;Only the fake news could come up with that one. I just heard about it and said, &#8216;How did they come up with that?&#8217; It&#8217;s supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better. And I do make people better.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &#8220;I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor, and had to do with Red Cross, as a Red Cross worker there, which we support&#8230; It’s supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/90wyeq1uaa">pic.twitter.com/90wyeq1uaa</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2043733034629836827?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 13, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The image showed Trump, dressed in a white tunic and red robe, appearing to heal a man in a hospital bed. It also showed a nurse looking up at Trump and another woman who appeared to be praying as she watched Trump heal the sick man. The image appears to have originated on social media in February when conservative social media personality Nick Adams shared it on X with the caption, “America has been sick for a long time. President Trump is healing this nation.”
<div id="attachment_1076721" style="width: 394px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1076721" class="wp-image-1076721 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Untitled-design-2026-04-13T075044.115-384x576.jpg" alt="" width="384" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Untitled-design-2026-04-13T075044.115-384x576.jpg 384w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Untitled-design-2026-04-13T075044.115-200x300.jpg 200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Untitled-design-2026-04-13T075044.115-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Untitled-design-2026-04-13T075044.115.jpg 800w" sizes=" (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px" />Screenshot: Truth Social</div>
Trump&#8217;s controversial post came shortly after the president&#8217;s spiritual adviser, Paula White, compared Trump&#8217;s civil and legal trials in recent years to what Jesus endured before dying on the cross.
&#8220;President, no one has paid the price like you have paid the price,&#8221; White said next to Trump during an Easter event at the White House. &#8220;It almost cost you your life. You were betrayed and arrested, and falsely accused. It&#8217;s a familiar pattern that our Lord and Savior showed us. But it didn&#8217;t end there for him, and it didn&#8217;t end there for you.&#8221;
Trump shared the image on Truth Social on Sunday night, less than one hour after he blasted Pope Leo XIV in another post, calling the pope “weak” and suggesting he didn’t deserve to be chosen for the position. The pope has been critical of Trump’s immigration policies and the military campaign against Iran.

Donald Trump Jesus post

Trump Offers First Public Explanation Of Jesus Post

Jesus Christ

President Donald Trump deleted a post from his Truth Social account on Monday after he was condemned by some of his Christian supporters for depicting himself as Jesus Christ.
The image showed Trump, dressed in a white tunic and red robe, healing a man in a hospital bed as people around Trump looked on in adoration and prayer. The image appears to have originated on social media in February when conservative social media personality Nick Adams <a href="https://x.com/nickadamsinusa/status/2019100728078348415?s=46&amp;t=o-U3qwC25WnWaylJ0oeG7Q">shared</a> it on X with the caption, &#8220;America has been sick for a long time. President Trump is healing this nation.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1076721" style="width: 394px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1076721" class="wp-image-1076721 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Untitled-design-2026-04-13T075044.115-384x576.jpg" alt="" width="384" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Untitled-design-2026-04-13T075044.115-384x576.jpg 384w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Untitled-design-2026-04-13T075044.115-200x300.jpg 200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Untitled-design-2026-04-13T075044.115-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Untitled-design-2026-04-13T075044.115.jpg 800w" sizes=" (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px" />Screenshot: Truth Social</div>
The image was a step too far in the minds of many of his Christian supporters, who often defend the president&#8217;s unconventional social media tactics. Many of Trump&#8217;s Christian supporters urged the president to take it down, with some Christians calling the image &#8220;<a href="https://x.com/JonnyRoot_/status/2043545923192758693">blasphemous</a>.&#8221;
&#8220;I assume someone has already told him, but it behooves the President both spiritually and politically to delete the picture, no matter the intent,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/michaeljknowles/status/2043539668227039475">wrote</a> Daily Wire host Michael Knowles.
&#8220;I don’t know if the President thought he was being funny or if he is under the influence of some substance or what possible explanation he could have for this OUTRAGEOUS blasphemy,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/megbasham/status/2043532479194075630">said</a> Megan Basham, &#8220;But he needs to take this down immediately and ask for forgiveness from the American people and then from God.&#8221;
The Daily Wire reached out to the White House for comment.
Trump posted the image less than one hour after he blasted Pope Leo XIV in another social media post, calling the pope &#8220;weak&#8221; and suggesting he didn&#8217;t deserve to be chosen for the position. The pope has been critical of Trump&#8217;s immigration policies and the military campaign against Iran.
&#8220;God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs,&#8221; Pope Leo <a href="https://x.com/Pontifex/status/2042588417578668338">said</a> last week. &#8220;Military action will not create space for freedom or times of #Peace, which comes only from the patient promotion of coexistence and dialogue among peoples.&#8221;
In his Palm Sunday message last month, Pope Leo also said that Jesus &#8220;rejects war&#8221; and &#8220;does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war.&#8221;
Trump responded to the pope&#8217;s comments Sunday evening, writing, &#8220;I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do, setting Record Low Numbers in Crime, and creating the Greatest Stock Market in History.&#8221;
&#8220;Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise,&#8221; Trump added. &#8220;He wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump.&#8221;

Trump Removes ‘OUTRAGEOUS’ Post Depicting Himself As Jesus Christ After Backlash From Supporters

Politics

Religion

Social Media

A historic Catholic church and monastery complex in western Ukraine, part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, was damaged in a Russian strike this week, underscoring the continued toll of the war on religious and cultural landmarks.
Russian forces launched <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/24/russia-strikes-civilian-areas-ukraine">a large-scale aerial assault</a> on Tuesday, striking the 16th-century Bernardine monastery complex in the city of Lviv, including St. Andrew’s Church, a cornerstone of Ukraine’s Greek Catholic community. The site, located in what has been described as the heart of Ukraine’s Catholic region, dates back roughly 400 years.
The attack comes just days before Holy Week, the most sacred period in the Christian calendar. Local officials confirmed that nearby residential buildings were also hit, with fires breaking out and parts of the monastery, including its tower, sustaining damage. 
The nearby Church of Saint Mary Magdalene was also impacted, with shattered windows and debris strewn across its interior. “Thank God it happened in the afternoon,” <a href="https://catholicreview.org/russian-drone-strikes-damage-historic-church-monastery-in-lviv-ahead-of-holy-week/">said</a> Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki of Lviv, noting that the timing likely prevented fatalities. “People were still at work, children had not yet returned from school.”
Even so, the broader assault was deadly. Ukrainian officials reported that Russia launched nearly 400 drones in a single night, one of the largest aerial attacks since the war began in 2022, killing at least six people and injuring dozens more. In another strike, a maternity hospital in the Ivano-Frankivsk region was also hit.
UNESCO <a href="https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/unesco-alarmed-strikes-lviv-world-heritage-site">said</a> it was “deeply alarmed” by the damage to protected cultural sites, emphasizing that such landmarks are safeguarded under international law. For those on the ground, however, the destruction of churches is nothing new.
“This happens a lot,” said Steven Moore, executive producer of the documentary A Faith Under Siege, speaking from Kyiv to <a href="https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/europe/ukraine-monastery-hit-in-russian-missile-strike-most-historic-church-targeted-so-far">EWTN</a>. He noted that Russia has repeatedly targeted religious buildings throughout the conflict, including Orthodox churches, despite claiming to defend traditional Christian values. 
St. Andrew’s Church, he said, may be “the most historic church they have targeted so far.” The strike also comes at a moment of renewed intensity across the front lines, as both sides escalate operations ahead of the spring campaign season.
In eastern Ukraine, Russian forces have <a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-offensive-civilian-attacks-48a46d2503513c903bc3e4de31b96e00">continued grinding advances</a> in the Donetsk region, particularly around the heavily contested areas near Avdiivka and Chasiv Yar, where months of attritional fighting have yielded incremental gains at high cost. Ukrainian defenses, while still holding key lines, have been strained by manpower shortages and the constant pressure of artillery and drone assaults.
At the same time, Ukraine has expanded its use of long-range drone strikes deep into Russian territory, targeting oil depots, airfields, and logistical hubs in an effort to disrupt Moscow’s war machine beyond the front. These strikes, often carried out hundreds of miles from the battlefield, represent a strategic shift toward asymmetric pressure as Ukraine seeks to offset Russia’s numerical advantages.
Drone warfare, in particular, has become the defining feature of this phase of the conflict. Both sides are deploying thousands of unmanned systems monthly, from inexpensive first-person-view (FPV) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/drones">drones</a> used in trench warfare to long-range Iranian-designed Shahed drones that can strike cities far from the front. The scale and speed of this technological adaptation have transformed the battlefield into a constant, low-altitude threat environment where traditional lines of safety once assumed in Western cities such as Lviv no longer hold.
The war’s international dimensions are also becoming more pronounced. Iran continues to supply drone technology to Russia, while intelligence assessments have pointed to growing cooperation between Moscow and Beijing. Reports of North Korean personnel supporting Russian operations have further underscored concerns that the conflict is increasingly drawing in actors beyond Europe.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, <a href="https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/masshtab-ciyeyi-ataki-svidchit-duzhe-chitko-sho-nemaye-v-ros-103497">addressing</a> the latest strikes, said their scale demonstrates that “Russia has no intention of really ending this war.” Now in its fifth year, the conflict continues to reshape daily life across Ukraine. Air raid sirens, damaged infrastructure, and the constant threat of attack have become routine, even in cities like Lviv, once considered relatively safe.
For Ukraine’s religious communities, the war has taken on an added layer of meaning. Churches that once stood for centuries as symbols of faith and continuity are now being drawn into the front lines, damaged, shattered, and, in some cases, destroyed. As Holy Week approaches, the strike on one of Ukraine’s most historic Catholic sites stands as a stark reminder: the war is not only being fought on battlefields, but in the cultural and spiritual heart of the nation itself.

1c09c4b99505fd9954fc0fe360424c20.jpg

Russia Bombs Iconic Centuries-Old Christian Landmark

Church

Holy Week

Russia

Ukraine-Russia War

A University of Notre Dame professor, with a long public record of supporting abortion, has stepped down from a senior leadership role at the Catholic university following weeks of pressure from students, faculty, and Catholic leaders nationwide.
Susan Ostermann, an associate professor in Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs, will no longer assume the role of director of the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, <a href="https://www.ndsmcobserver.com/article/2026/02/breaking-ostermann-declines-liu-institute-directorship-following-backlash-over-abortion-advocacy">according</a> to a February 26 email from Keough Dean Mary Gallagher. Ostermann had been slated to take the position on July 1.
Gallagher said Ostermann “decided not to move forward” with the appointment and thanked her for her “willingness to serve.” Ostermann will remain on the faculty in her prior role as associate professor.
The decision follows widespread backlash after Notre Dame announced Ostermann’s appointment in January. Critics pointed to her extensive public advocacy for abortion, including multiple articles in which she described restrictions on abortion as “violence” and rejected the claim that abortion ends human life.
The controversy quickly escalated beyond campus. Two faculty members resigned from their roles at the Liu Institute in protest, and students organized prayer events and demonstrations calling on the university to uphold its Catholic identity.
Notre Dame <a href="https://meca.nd.edu/our-catholic-mission/">describes</a> itself as an institution where “Catholic character” informs all it does, a claim critics said was incompatible with elevating an outspoken abortion advocate to a leadership role.
The news of Ostermann’s withdrawal from the leadership role was met with positive reactions from pro-life advocates, though some said it did not go far enough. Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, called the move “a good start,” but argued that Ostermann’s continued presence on the faculty remains incompatible with Notre Dame’s Catholic mission.
“It’s clear from her aggressively pro-abortion body of work, including her association with the Population Council, that she needs to be terminated,” Hawkins said in a statement obtained by The Daily Wire. “The premier Catholic school in America should not allow professors to blatantly oppose central teachings on the value of all human life, including babies in the womb. Her elevation was extremely troubling, but stepping down is not enough. She needs to go.”
Pressure intensified earlier this month when Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades, whose diocese includes Notre Dame, <a href="https://diocesefwsb.org/statement-of-most-reverend-kevin-c-rhoades-on-appointment-of-new-director-of-the-liu-institute-at-the-university-of-notre-dame/">issued</a> a public statement condemning the appointment. Rhoades said he had “strong opposition” to the decision and warned it was “causing scandal to the faithful of our diocese and beyond.”
Ostermann’s “extensive public advocacy of abortion” and her “disparaging and inflammatory remarks about those who uphold the dignity of human life from the moment of conception to natural death,” Rhoades said, directly conflicted with a core principle of Notre Dame’s mission.
Catholic lay-leaders framed Ostermann’s withdrawal as a necessary step to preserve the university’s identity and credibility. Mary FioRito, a senior fellow at The Catholic Association, said the decision was a “win for consistency, clarity, and common sense” at the University of Notre Dame.
“As an explicitly Catholic university, Notre Dame owes its students and faculty truth in advertising,” FioRito said in a statement obtained by The Daily Wire, arguing that “Ostermann’s public advocacy of legal abortion would have overshadowed the good work of the Liu Center and significantly hampered its ability to form students.” FioRito also credited alumni, students, faculty, and staff who raised concerns through prayer and public advocacy, as well as Bishop Rhoades and other bishops who issued statements opposing the appointment.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I want to express my strong support for the statement that Bishop Kevin Rhoades made this morning concerning a controversial appointment at the University of Notre Dame. Please read his communication in full, for he makes the case more completely and eloquently than I could.…
— Bishop Robert Barron (@BishopBarron) <a href="https://twitter.com/BishopBarron/status/2021613562842489042?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
On Tuesday, Rhoades <a href="https://www.ncregister.com/cna/bishop-rhoades-leads-rosary-for-notre-dame-s-catholic-identity">joined</a> students, faculty, and staff at the university’s Marian grotto for a public rosary “for the cause of life.”
In a statement included with Gallagher’s email, Ostermann said her acceptance of the directorship was motivated solely by a desire to serve the institute’s faculty and students. She added that the ongoing controversy risked overshadowing the institute’s work and said there was “work to do at Notre Dame to build a community where a variety of voices can flourish.”
The Catholic Church teaches that human life is sacred from conception to natural death and that direct abortion is a grave moral evil. In recent remarks honoring Mother Teresa, Pope Leo XIV <a href="https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2026-01/pope-leo-political-innovation-hackathon-one-humanity-one-planet.html">described</a> abortion as “the greatest destroyer of peace.”
Church teaching on Catholic higher education is laid out in St. John Paul II’s apostolic constitution Ex Corde Ecclesiae, which calls on Catholic universities to safeguard their identity while exercising academic freedom within the bounds of faith and reason.
Student organizers say demonstrations and prayer events will continue, framing Ostermann’s withdrawal not as an endpoint, but as evidence that sustained, faithful pressure can produce results.

University of Notre Dame Golden Dome

Pro-Abortion Professor Finally Caves To Pressure At Historic Catholic Institution

Student And Clergy Protest Leads Pro-Abortion Professor To Bow Out Of Notre Dame Director Role

Abortion

Catholicism

Christianity

Notre Dame University

A new CNN documentary traces the &#8220;activation&#8221; of Christian nationalists in the United States back to the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, suggesting that Kirk&#8217;s message — and his subsequent murder — had &#8220;radicalized&#8221; American Christians into believing that they are being &#8220;persecuted.&#8221;
CNN anchor Pamela Brown announced the project exposing &#8220;Christian Nationalism,&#8221; which she said she&#8217;d been working on for several months, and framed the documentary as an investigation into a perceived threat against the United States.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
CNN&#8217;s Pamela Brown announces she&#8217;s been working on a &#8220;special project&#8221; warn against &#8220;Christian nationalism&#8221; and portrays them as a radicalized threat to the country.
She then launches into a report where she fears the assassination of Charlie Kirk uniting Christians and scoffs… <a href="https://t.co/1J63ta6EIO">pic.twitter.com/1J63ta6EIO</a>
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) <a href="https://twitter.com/NickFondacaro/status/2023785142230122696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 17, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;For the past several months, I&#8217;ve been working on a special project, examining the growing influence of Christian Nationalism in America,&#8221; Brown explained. She went on to describe Christian Nationalism as an ideology unto itself that was rooted in the &#8220;belief&#8221; that the United States was founded to be a &#8220;Christian nation&#8221; and as such, should reflect &#8220;Christian values&#8221; in its laws and institutions.
Brown then said that her documentary started with Kirk&#8217;s assassination: &#8220;Experts say it was a pivotal moment for the movement, and an occasion where the tragedy of his loss unified Christian nationalists and the Trump administration as they honored him.&#8221;
After a brief clip of President Donald Trump&#8217;s remarks at Kirk&#8217;s memorial service, Brown added, &#8220;Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and prominent Christian nationalist, was assassinated. It became a rallying call for those who believed in his message &#8230; and it was a call to action.&#8221;
Brown then cut to comments from Matthew Taylor, of the Georgetown University Center of Faith and Justice, who said, &#8220;[The] memorial service was one of the most potent examples of this shift in our culture that we&#8217;re experiencing right now, where a large segment of American Christians are being activated by these ideas, radicalized by these ideas that say that they are the persecuted ones and that they need to stand up for Christians rights.&#8221;
In a second clip, Taylor suggested that there was something insidious in President Trump&#8217;s promise to &#8220;protect Christians.&#8221;
&#8220;Trump has never explicitly said he believes the country should be a Christian nation,&#8221; Brown added. &#8220;But he is aligned with Christian nationalists and wants their support, and after an assassination attempt during his campaign, Trump said he believes God saved his life so he can lead the country.&#8221;
TPUSA&#8217;s Andrew Kolvet responded to the coming documentary on Tuesday, saying, &#8220;Consider this: so CNN does a piece — talking about the radicalization of people at Charlie&#8217;s memorial. Charlie was assassinated by a radical, by somebody that was animated, at least in part, by his love affair with somebody that was trans. And instead of burning down the country, like the real radicals did, we held vigils and memorials, and people bought Bibles, and they got baptized.&#8221;
&#8220;How is that a bad thing? What are we even talking about here?&#8221; he asked.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
CNN BACKLASH IS MOUNTING: They just announced a documentary covering the &#8220;rise of Christian Nationalism&#8221; in America, and it&#8217;s not going how they expected it to go.<a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewKolvet?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AndrewKolvet</a> let the TRUTH about America&#8217;s spiritual revival and the role Charlie Kirk has in it:
&#8220;Consider this:… <a href="https://t.co/moi2PwF17c">https://t.co/moi2PwF17c</a> <a href="https://t.co/isO2nt4bHi">pic.twitter.com/isO2nt4bHi</a>
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) <a href="https://twitter.com/GuntherEagleman/status/2023828795958964451?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 17, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Presidential Candidate Donald Trump Addresses Turning Point USA Summit

CNN Doc Suggests Charlie Kirk Assassination ‘Activated’ Christian Nationalists

assassination

Charlie Kirk

Christian Persecution

Judeo-Christian Values

Media

About 100 U.S. military personnel have arrived in Nigeria as Washington scales up an operation to target Islamist insurgents, a Nigerian defence spokesperson said.
U.S. President Donald Trump has accused Nigeria of failing to protect Christians from Islamist militants in the northwest.
Nigeria denies discriminating against any religion, saying its security forces target armed groups that attack both Christians and Muslims.
The U.S. carried out strikes targeting Islamic State-linked militants in December, and a small U.S. military team has been operating on the ground to boost Nigeria&#8217;s intelligence capabilities.
In recent days, several planes carrying U.S. troops and equipment have headed to Nigeria&#8217;s northern states, according to flight tracking data reviewed by Reuters.
Major General Samaila Uba, spokesperson for Nigeria&#8217;s Defense Headquarters, said the troops would train and advise local forces, but not take part in combat.
Earlier this month, Nigeria&#8217;s military said it expected around 200 more U.S. troops.
Presidential spokesperson Sunday Dare said Nigeria needed &#8220;massive support from the U.S. government&#8221; in terms of fighter jets and munitions, but declined to give numbers or a timeframe.
Nigeria&#8217;s 240 million people are evenly split between Christians mainly in the south and Muslims mainly in the north.
It acknowledges serious security problems, including from Islamist fighters, but denies that Christians face widespread or systematic persecution.
(Reporting by Jessica Donati, and MacDonald Dzirutwe in Lagos; Editing by Timothy Heritage and Kevin Liffey)

U.S. Troops

Nigeria Says 100 More U.S. Military Personnel Have Arrived To Tackle Islamists

Global Politics

Islamists

Nigeria

U.S. Military

World

President Donald Trump announced at the 74th annual National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday morning that the United States would be &#8220;rededicated as one nation under God&#8221; as he touted his administration&#8217;s defense of religious values.
Trump discussed religious freedom and Christianity and announced that Americans are invited to &#8220;come together on our National Mall to pray, to give thanks,&#8221; on May 17.
&#8220;We are going to do something that everyone said, &#8216;That&#8217;s tough.&#8217; We&#8217;re going to rededicate America as one nation under God,&#8221; Trump said, adding, &#8220;I&#8217;ve always said, you just can&#8217;t have a great country if you don&#8217;t have religion. You have to believe in something. You have to believe that what we&#8217;re doing, there&#8217;s a reason for it.&#8221;
Throughout his speech, the president also sprinkled in criticism of his political opponents, specifically calling former President Joe Biden &#8220;the worst president we&#8217;ve ever had&#8221; and former President Barack Obama &#8220;a terrible divider of our country.&#8221;
&#8220;He was a divider, and believe it or not, we&#8217;re bringing the country together. You know what&#8217;s bringing it together, tremendous success. We&#8217;re having tremendous success,&#8221; Trump said.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t know how a person of faith can vote for a Democrat,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I really don&#8217;t, and I know we have some here today, and I don&#8217;t know why they&#8217;re here. They certainly don&#8217;t give us their vote.&#8221;
As he often does, Trump drifted from his prepared remarks for most of the speech and even commented on how he had been ignoring the teleprompter.
&#8220;At some point, I&#8217;m going to get right back onto the teleprompter and you&#8217;re going to say that was a wonderful speech,&#8221; he said before looking back into his prepared remarks.
&#8220;On that momentous day in 1776, history changed forever when our founders proclaimed the immortal truths that echoed around the world and down all the way through time. They declared that all of us are made free and equal by the hand of our creator. A lot of presidents refuse to say that,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;Some major politicians refuse to say the word &#8216;God.&#8217; They don&#8217;t want to say it. I say it.&#8221;
&#8220;We are endowed with our sacred rights to life and liberty, not by government but by God Almighty himself,&#8221; he added.
Throughout his second term, Trump has focused on addressing &#8220;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/eradicating-anti-christian-bias/">anti-Christian bias</a>&#8221; in the United States as well as the persecution of Christians in Africa and the Middle East. Last February, Trump established a task force to look into attacks on Christians, condemning the Biden administration for &#8220;targeting peaceful Christians, while ignoring violent, anti-Christian offenses.&#8221;
&#8220;My Administration will not tolerate anti-Christian weaponization of government or unlawful conduct targeting Christians,&#8221; Trump stated in his order on February 6, 2025.
In the past year, Trump has also called out attacks on Christians in foreign countries, such as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-next-peace-push-focuses-on-nigeria-and-sudan-where-christians-are-killed-by-the-thousands?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump%E2%80%99s+Next+Peace+Push+Focuses+On+Nigeria+And+Sudan%2C+Where+Christians+Are+Killed+By+The+Thousands">Nigeria</a>. The president designated Nigeria as a &#8220;Country of Particular Concern&#8221; in October, saying that “Christianity is facing an existential threat.”
During his speech on Thursday, the president spent a considerable amount of time talking about how he targeted ISIS terrorists in the Middle East during his first term and then slammed the Biden administration&#8217;s failure to keep the region stable after he left office.
&#8220;The election was rigged and I wasn&#8217;t there, and for four years, ISIS rebuilt, rebuilt, rebuilt, and they have a little bit of ISIS now again,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And we knocked the hell out of them the other day in Nigeria because they were killing Christians. I said, &#8216;You can&#8217;t do that.'&#8221;

Trump Vows To Rededicate America As One Nation Under God

Executive

Freedom of Religion

Prayer

In a recent <a href="https://x.com/joelmowbray/status/1999584250774061488?s=46&amp;t=ghpHusspWPjTMisXwpsMaA">podcast episode</a>, Tucker Carlson <a href="https://x.com/joelmowbray/status/1999584250774061488?s=46&amp;t=ghpHusspWPjTMisXwpsMaA">asked</a>, “Where do Christians feel more comfortable in Qatar or Israel?” If his foolish comments weren’t so dangerous, they would almost be laughable.
Carlson said,
<blockquote>But if the deeper question is, “Where do Christians feel more comfortable in Qatar or Israel?”, I mean, it&#8217;s sort of hard to know what people actually think. So maybe the best way to measure that is by where they live. So there are twice as many Christians living in Qatar as there are in Israel. Twice as many. At least twice as many. Did you know that? Again, not promoting Qatar. I&#8217;m not moving there. But there are twice as many Christians living there. So if it&#8217;s like an ISIS state where people are beheaded for proclaiming the name of Jesus, why are there twice as many in Qatar as there are in Israel? And why are there so many Christian churches in Qatar? All, or at least most, on land granted to them by the government. Again, not promoting Qatar, just saying if you&#8217;re telling me that this is a country whose values are so far from mine that even to go there is a crime of some kind, you&#8217;re lying. Or we have very different values. Extremely different values. So why are they telling me that?</blockquote>
His words are lies in sheep’s clothing. He is defending a regime that has made its name not on religious freedom, but for its support of the Muslim Brotherhood — which the Trump administration is in the process of designating a terror group.
Carlson, who has spent two years attacking my home of Israel, based his argument on the fact that more Christians live in Qatar than in Israel.
Yes, there are roughly twice as many Christians in Qatar as in Israel — about 400,000 versus 188,000. But let’s get the facts straight. The Christians living in Qatar are almost entirely migrant workers, people who have no legal rights as citizens.
Carlson asks, “And why are there so many Christian churches in Qatar?”
There are exactly six government-sanctioned churches in Qatar. Six churches serving hundreds of thousands of people. And to make it even worse, they are all right next to each other under the close supervision of the government.
To be clear, it is illegal for Qatari citizens to convert from Islam to Christianity, and Qataris <a href="https://www.opendoors.org/en-US/persecution/countries/qatar/">are not allowed</a> to enter Christian churches. In fact, every person entering a church in Qatar must submit an ID.
The migrant workers who do attend often live and work under conditions that have been widely condemned as modern-day slavery.
Contrast that with Israel, a country where Christians are fully recognized citizens, including my community of indigenous Aramean Maronite Christians. We vote, we serve in the military, and we even hold elected office in the Knesset. Israel’s Christians are not confined to a single gated area or monitored by state authorities. We are free to worship openly, participate in society, and contribute to the nation’s cultural and political life.
There are more Baptist churches in Israel (17) than there are total churches in Qatar. In fact, Israel is the only country in the Middle East where the native Christian communities are growing. Carlson took the only possible data points to show anything positive about Christian existence in Qatar and still got it all wrong.
As a Christian Israeli working to inspire the next generation of believers in our homeland, I can say with confidence: Israel protects religious freedom in ways that Qatar can only dream of.
Qatari Christians live in fear, are under constant surveillance, and have no path to citizenship or full participation in society.
Christians must understand where true freedom exists and where it is merely an illusion sold by regimes with an agenda and their influencer mouthpieces.
For Israel’s Christians, faith and citizenship go hand in hand. For Christians in Qatar, faith comes at the price of subjugation, invisibility, and in many cases, abuse.
We must call out lies like this, not just for Israel’s sake, but for the safety and understanding of Christians worldwide. Truth matters, and it will set you free.
* * *
Shadi Khalloul, founder and chairman of the Israeli Christian Aramean Association, is one of Israel’s most compelling voices for coexistence, minority rights, and Christian identity in the Middle East.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Aerial view of the West Bank cornice business center in Doha, Qatar

I’m A Christian Living In Israel. Tucker Carlson Is Wrong About Qatar.

I'm A Christian Living In Israel. Tucker Carlson Is Wrong About Qatar.

Israel

Middle East

Opinion

Qatar

Trump Administration

Tucker Carlson

Turning Point USA President Erika Kirk brought the house down on Sunday when she introduced rapper Nicki Minaj on the stage at AmericaFest in Phoenix, Arizona.
Erika Kirk sat down with Minaj on the stage, saying that she wanted to honor Charlie&#8217;s tradition of always having a surprise for the AmFest crowd. She started off with Minaj reading out loud some of her &#8220;mean tweets&#8221; directed at Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) to thunderous applause.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Nicki Minaj makes a surprise appearance at AmFest 2025!!
She’s speaking her mind, defending President Trump and JD Vance, she’s proud to be American, and advocating for persecuted Christians in Nigeria.
Let’s go!!
🇺🇸🇺🇸 <a href="https://t.co/EVEdqFK3OY">pic.twitter.com/EVEdqFK3OY</a>
— Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) <a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewKolvet/status/2002813169669173492?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 21, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Some 24 hours earlier, the organization had teased a huge guest who would have people talking into next year, and many believed at first that President Donald Trump would be making an appearance. But when Donald Trump Jr. took a call from his father during his speech just prior to Erika&#8217;s big reveal, that appeared not to be the case.
Minaj, for her part, has been throwing her support behind a number of conservative causes — from protecting Christians from persecution worldwide to ending gender transition surgeries and hormones for minors — and has made it her particular mission to go after Governor Newsom.
&#8220;Dear Newscum, we don&#8217;t have a problem cleaning up the scum if we have to. Please tread lightly,&#8221; Minaj said her current message to &#8220;Gavvy-Pooh&#8221; would be.
When asked what her opinion of the current administration was, she said, &#8220;I have the utmost respect and admiration for our president. I don&#8217;t know if he even knows this, but he&#8217;s given so many people hope that there&#8217;s a chance to beat the bad guys and to win and to do it with your head held high and your integrity intact.&#8221;
Minaj went on to explain that for her, the &#8220;turning point&#8221; was that she&#8217;d realized she was tired of being pushed around: &#8220;I&#8217;m not going to back down any more. I&#8217;m not going to back down ever again.&#8221;
Kirk asked why it was such an extraordinary thing to see people speaking their minds in today&#8217;s world, and Minaj&#8217;s message was clear: &#8220;People are no longer using their minds, their brains. So right now just imagine, we&#8217;re not allowed to have a different opinion anymore. We&#8217;re not allowed to think out loud anymore. This is not what the world used to feel like.&#8221;
When Kirk pressed Minaj on the backlash she was seeing from within her own industry, Minaj responded with just three words: &#8220;I didn&#8217;t notice.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/MrsErikaKirk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MrsErikaKirk</a> &#8220;I know that you are getting a lot of backlash from your own industry. What is your reaction to that?&#8221;<a href="https://twitter.com/NICKIMINAJ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NICKIMINAJ</a>: &#8220;I didn&#8217;t notice.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/7Ikn7KXkvj">pic.twitter.com/7Ikn7KXkvj</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/2002813815780721013?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 21, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;You can&#8217;t wake up and think about people who are just determined to stay mad,&#8221; she said. &#8220;In a world that doesn&#8217;t want us to think, we will continue to think!&#8221;
&#8220;What inspired you to speak up about the Christians who are being slaughtered in Nigeria?&#8221; Kirk asked.
&#8220;We take for granted that — there are people in this world who cannot worship God as they please, where they please, and we take it for granted because we have it,&#8221; Minaj said, reminding the audience that there were people all over the world who had to hide while they prayed and had fellowship together.
Kirk asked Minaj to talk a bit about her faith, and she laid out a lot of her personal history — including a recent return to her spiritual roots.
&#8220;When I was a toddler in Trinidad, my grandmother, if things got spicy in the house &#8230; she would make all the little kids go in her room and say a prayer,&#8221; Minaj said, adding that she started attending church in New York when she was a bit older. &#8220;I learned how to pray very early. I always had this faith — you know the kind of faith that makes people say oh, that person is crazy, but I had that kind of faith instinctively.&#8221;
Minaj went on to say that she tried to apply things to her life, and the point was not that Christians were perfect but that they tried. &#8220;Sometimes you can be in an industry as well that pulls you away even more.&#8221;
She then said that going back to God recently had felt like going back to a long-lost best friend. &#8220;He said, &#8216;Where were you? I&#8217;ve been waiting on you.&#8217; &#8230; As soon as you call on Him, He&#8217;s going to answer. On the first ring.&#8221;
When asked how she would address issues facing little boys and little girls — particularly as a parent — she said that she had to bring race into the mix: &#8220;Why have we gotten to a point where certain colors or certain kinds of people have to be afraid of loving themselves or loving how they look &#8230; I don&#8217;t want what was done to little black girls to be done to little white girls, to any girls!&#8221;
And for the boys: &#8220;Be boys, it&#8217;s okay. There&#8217;s nothing wrong with being a boy &#8230; Boys will be boys, and there&#8217;s nothing wrong with that.&#8221;
Her conclusion: &#8220;When the Truth comes out, the lies hide.&#8221;
After she first spoke out in support of persecuted Christians in places like Nigeria, the popular rapper accepted an invitation from U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz, where she addressed the body and spoke about the importance of defending religious freedom wherever it may be threatened.
She has since been spotted online leaning in to some of the memes featuring Vice President JD Vance — and making it clear that she&#8217;s amused by how much fun he&#8217;s having with the liberals who are attempting to mock him.
In more recent weeks, she has taken to using her social media presence to target Newsom — who is likely to be a top tier candidate for the Democratic Party going into the 2028 presidential primary. In addition to attacking his positions on transgender issues — namely that he wants to see &#8220;more transgender kids&#8221; and will continue to allow men to have access to female-only spaces.

Nicki Minaj

Erika Kirk Brings House Down, Interviews Rapper Nicki Minaj Onstage At AmFest

AMFEST

Menu