Good morning. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the U.S. might abandon efforts to end the Ukraine war. A Democratic senator met with a man wrongfully deported to El Salvador. Google broke the law to maintain an advertising monopoly, a judge ruled. More news is below. But first, our colleague Ruth Graham explains how conservative Christians have gained sway in the White House.
A growing influence
Today is Good Friday, part of the holiest week in the Christian calendar. President Trump is using this week to make a dramatic gesture to the conservative Christians who heard his campaign promise last year to “bring back Christianity.” This week, the White House issued an extraordinary statement — a presidential Easter greeting that was more directly evangelistic than those in the past. Trump and the first lady said they were celebrating “the living Son of God who conquered death, freed us from sin, and unlocked the gates of Heaven for all of humanity.” (By contrast, the White House’s much shorter Ramadan statement last month sent “warmest greetings.”) The White House spent much of this week celebrating, including at a live-streamed Easter prayer service and a dinner attended by the president. Trump told attendees he hoped it would be “one of the great Easters ever.” Trump has significantly expanded the power and influence of conservative Christians in government, as my colleague Elizabeth Dias and I have been reporting on for years. This week is a visible demonstration of just how powerful people advancing conservative Christian causes have become inside this administration. The language and rituals of the White House are changing. The first Cabinet meeting opened with prayer “in Jesus’ name.” Prayer sessions and even hymn-singing have broken out in the West Wing, in public and in private. In today’s newsletter, I’ll explain what this week’s events reveal about conservative Christians’ influence in the White House. An ambitious faith officePresident George W. Bush established the first White House faith office in the early 2000s, and versions carried on under later administrations, often working to direct some federal money to faith-based groups providing social services. This term, Trump has given the office a higher stature and a broader mandate. The new faith office is led by Trump’s longtime personal pastor, Paula White-Cain, and by Jennifer Korn, who worked in his first administration. They have promised a more ambitious agenda to end what they see as Christian persecution in America and to challenge the notion that church and state should be separate.
Elizabeth and I sat down with White-Cain and Korn this week in their office in the West Wing, a prime piece of real estate that symbolizes Trump’s blessing of their mission — even if it is on the basement level. White-Cain and Korn said they were focused on all forms of anti-religious bias, not just those affecting Christians. But if atheist groups and abortion rights groups have had a voice in government, “why shouldn’t pastors, priests and rabbis?” Korn told us. “We’re telling them the door’s open.” ‘Unprecedented access’In the new organizational structure, the faith office is now able to weigh in on any issue it deems appropriate. White-Cain said the office works closely not just with Trump and his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, but also with officials in intelligence, domestic policy and national security. White-Cain and Korn have also hosted multiple briefings, listening sessions and other events with faith leaders over the last few months. One regular attendee at events hosted by the office, the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, who has visited the White House in previous administrations, said the new structure meant “unprecedented access” for faith leaders. Evangelical Christians are by far the most prominent presence. These events are also communicating a clear message across the country. Many of the pastors have returned home to their large congregations in states like Colorado and Pennsylvania and shared photos of them with Trump. They’ve also recounted praying with him. Clips of faith leaders singing and praying in the White House have gone viral in conservative Christian circles. “Even the White House shall be called house of prayer,” a pastor from Alabama wrote online in February, sharing a video clip of Christian leaders singing an impromptu a cappella version of the hymn “How Great Thou Art” in the Roosevelt Room. He added, “Would you join me in praying for President Trump and our United States of America?” Influence without ‘rails’While the influence of conservative Christians is visible in the White House, it’s also emerging in federal policy. Trump has already taken several actions that have delighted his conservative Christian supporters. He has signed executive orders that establish a task force, spearheaded by the Justice Department, to “eradicate anti-Christian bias” and that declare there are “two sexes,” male and female. But the pastors with access to the White House these days have many other goals. Many who have been attending events hosted by the faith office told us they have been invited to share their own policy priorities, which have included adoption and foster care, the struggles of young men, human trafficking, urban poverty, antisemitism and beyond. Rodriguez and others see an opportunity to influence all sorts of policies. “I don’t see rails,” he said. “I’ve never even heard of the rails.” Read our story on the access conservative Christians have to Trump in the White House, and watch Elizabeth’s video on our reporting below.
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Proverbs 27:17
Friday, April 18, 2025
The Morning: Christianity in the White House
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