Trump executive order blasts Biden's 'anti-Christian government'

President Donald Trump issued an executive order Thursday to create a task force on "eradicating anti-Christian bias," while also accusing the Biden administration of "persecution" for prosecuting anti-abortion advocates.

Speaking at a pair of events in Washington surrounding the National Prayer Breakfast, Trump said the task force would be directed to "immediately halt all forms of anti-Christian targeting and discrimination within the federal government, including at the DOJ, which was absolutely terrible, the IRS, the FBI — terrible — and other agencies."

What does Trump’s anti-Christian bias order say? 

What they're saying:

Trump’s executive order directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the "targeting" of Christians.

"The previous Administration engaged in an egregious pattern of targeting peaceful Christians, while ignoring violent, anti-Christian offenses," the order states. "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."

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An hour after calling for "unity" at the Prayer Breakfast on Capitol Hill, Trump announced that, in addition to the task force, he was forming a commission on religious liberty, criticizing the Biden administration for its "anti-Christian government."

Trump said Bondi would also work to "fully prosecute anti-Christian violence and vandalism in our society and to move heaven and earth to defend the rights of Christians and religious believers nationwide."

Kelly Shackelford, head of First Liberty Institute, a conservative Christian legal organization, praised Trump’s announcements. 

"All Americans should be free to exercise their faith without government intrusion in school, in the military, in the workplace, and in the public square. We are ready to stand with President Trump to ensure that the religious liberty of every American is safe and secure," Shackelford said in a statement.

What do critics say? 

US President Donald Trump speaks during the National Prayer Breakfast at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. Photographer: Aaron Schwartz/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The other side:

Trump’s announcement sparked immediate criticism from activists and even church leaders. 

"Rather than protecting religious beliefs, this task force will misuse religious freedom to justify bigotry, discrimination, and the subversion of our civil rights laws," Americans United for Separation of Church and State CEO Rachel Laser said. 

The Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, a Baptist minister and head of the progressive Interfaith Alliance, accused Trump of hypocrisy in claiming to champion religion by creating the task force.

"From allowing immigration raids in churches, to targeting faith-based charities, to suppressing religious diversity, the Trump Administration’s aggressive government overreach is infringing on religious freedom in a way we haven’t seen for generations," Raushenbush said in a statement.

What does Trump say about his own faith in God? 

Dig deeper:

Trump, who's a nondenominational Christian, called religious liberty "part of the bedrock of American life" and called for protecting it with "absolute devotion."

Trump reflected on having a bullet coming within a hair’s breadth of killing him at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last year, telling lawmakers and attendees, "It changed something in me, I feel."

"I feel even stronger," he continued. "I believed in God, but I feel, I feel much more strongly about it. Something happened …  it was God that saved me."

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But Trump and his administration have already clashed with religious leaders, including him disagreeing with the Rev. Mariann Budde’s sermon the day after his inauguration, when she called for mercy for members of the LGBTQ+ community and migrants who are in the country illegally.