Trump Directs Establishment of White House Office for Faith Initiatives
The office will be led by Trump’s longtime spiritual adviser.
On February 7, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to create a White House Faith Office, which will be directed by Pastor Paula White-Cain.
This office, situated within the Domestic Policy Council, will have the primary responsibility for empowering faith-based organizations, community groups, and places of worship to support families and communities, as stated in the order.
The office plans to collaborate with faith and community leaders to formulate policy suggestions focused on safeguarding women and children, enhancing families and marriages, defending religious liberty, fighting faith-based discrimination, and other pertinent areas. Additionally, it will assist in identifying and promoting grant opportunities for faith-based and community organizations.
At 58 years old, White-Cain has been a trusted spiritual adviser to Trump. She offered the invocation during his inauguration in 2017 and subsequently led the Faith and Opportunity Initiative during his first term.
These initiatives are part of a wider range of executive actions Trump has introduced since taking office on January 20 to protect religious freedom. He granted pardons to 23 pro-life activists who he believed were unjustly targeted by the Biden administration on January 23. Furthermore, he took steps to address anti-Semitism on college campuses and to restrict federal funding for abortion both domestically and internationally.
The president has also expressed his plan to establish a Presidential Commission on Religious Liberty, though the White House has not provided further details on this initiative.
“It’s going to be a very significant deal,” Trump commented when announcing the commission at a National Prayer Breakfast on February 6.
The commission, he stated, “will work diligently to uphold this most essential right” of religious liberty.
“Regrettably, in recent years, we have seen this sacred liberty threatened like never before in American history,” he added.
“Paulette Harlow received a two-year prison sentence for peacefully praying outside a clinic, faced charges under an obscure law that had been dormant for years, selectively used against Christians by the prior administration,” Trump remarked.
A leaked FBI memo also ignited controversy in 2023 for portraying traditional Catholics as violent extremists.
Trump declared that his administration would protect Christians from such bias and discrimination.
“While I hold the office of President, we will safeguard Christians in our educational institutions, military, government, workplaces, hospitals, and in our public spaces, and we will strive to unite our country as one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all,” he affirmed.