Trump announces two new task forces to "eradicate anti-Christian bias"

Paula White and Pam Bondi will lead the two agencies focused on preventing the growing persecution of Christians and safeguarding their values.

A banner over the church in Sun City, Ariz.AFP

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Juan Peña AFP

February 6, 2025

2 minutes read

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Donald Trump announced Thursday the creation of a "task force," led by Attorney General Pam Bondi, to "root out anti-Christian bias" within the federal government and U.S. society as a whole.

In addition to the special task force, a presidential commission with the same objective will be established, led by Paula White, the White House spiritual adviser.

"I'm going to sign an executive order to appoint (Attorney General Pam Bondi) head of a new task force to root out anti-Christian prejudice. It's about time, isn't it?" the president said during the annual "prayer breakfast" with congressmen.

"The mission of the task force will be to immediately stop all forms of targeting and discrimination against Christians within the government, including the Justice Department, (...) the Internal Revenue Service, the FBI," he added.

"As long as I am in the White House, we will protect Christians in our schools, in our military, in our government, in our workplaces, hospitals and in our public squares," he said. "And we will bring our country back together as one nation under God."

Christians, the most persecuted religious group

Being a Christian increasingly poses a risk, according to the World Persecution List 2025 published by the international organization Open Doors. The report, which analyzes the discrimination and persecution faced by Christians worldwide, reveals that 2024 saw a record 380 million believers living under high levels of risk, with 4,744 arrests for defending their faith. It also highlighted the highest number of threats (54,780), sexual assaults or forced marriages (3,231), and attacks on homes, stores, or businesses (28,368). However, the number of people killed for religious reasons dropped for the third consecutive year, to 4,476.

These figures indicate that 1 in 7 Christians worldwide is at high risk of persecution. The numbers are rising in Africa (1 in 5) and, especially, in Asia (2 in 5).

The task force will also "pursue anti-Christian violence and vandalism in our society" and defend "the rights of Christians and people of faith throughout the country."

In this announcement, as well as in his inaugural address, the president reiterated Thursday that "God saved him" last summer from an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania.

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