By Dr. Emanuel Adil Ghouri
When Donald Trump was elected president of the United States for a second term on November 5, 2024, I firmly believed that his election was ordained by God. I believe the Lord intends to make America the world’s most powerful nation under Trump’s leadership and, through this powerful president, to protect Christians around the globe who face insecurity. I regard him as a man of strong faith who understands his responsibility.
Christians in various Asian and African countries face persecution, abuse, and injustice. The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, known as Intersociety, has reported that thousands of Christians have been killed and many churches burned, destroyed, or forcibly closed in Nigeria. These reports underscore the insecurity facing Christian communities in the country.
President Trump has expressed deep concern over the killings of Christians in Nigeria. In October 2025, he announced that Nigeria would again be designated a country of particular concern for violations of religious freedom. He subsequently warned on social media that the United States would immediately cut off all aid if the Nigerian government failed to stop the killings. He also directed the Pentagon to prepare for possible military action and warned that force could be used if necessary.
Addressing the Faith & Freedom Coalition on June 26, 2026, Trump said that his administration’s military action against militants in Nigeria was helping protect Christians. He presented these operations as part of his effort to defend Christian communities worldwide and pledged to protect Christians and other Americans of faith.
During his address to the eighty-first session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2026, Trump criticized the international community’s response to persecution. He singled out the UN Human Rights Council, accusing it of giving too little attention to the persecution of Christians and abuses committed by repressive regimes.
His concern about religious persecution predates his second term. At a United Nations event on religious freedom on September 23, 2019, Trump stated that approximately 80 percent of the world’s population lived in countries where religious liberty was threatened, restricted, or banned. He also highlighted the persecution of Christians and called on nations to protect people of faith.
Trump has warned about threats to Christianity from militants in Nigeria and from communist regimes. In his June 2026 address, he argued that communist governments attack religion and warned that their ideology threatens churches and believers. His remarks reflect his stated commitment to confronting forces that endanger Christian communities.
The Trump administration has also taken measures to address religious freedom at home. On February 6, 2025, Trump established the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias within the Department of Justice. Its mandate focuses on identifying unlawful anti-Christian policies and practices in the federal government and recommending measures to protect religious liberty in the United States.
Trump has also heard directly from Christians persecuted in Iran. In July 2019, he met at the White House with survivors of religious persecution from several countries, including an Iranian Christian who asked him to raise the plight of Christians in Iran. Such meetings gave victims an opportunity to bring their concerns directly to the president.
During Trump’s first term, the US State Department designated Pakistan a country of particular concern in November 2018. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom had long recommended this designation because of severe violations of religious freedom, including the government’s failure to protect religious minorities. The commission also called for reforms to address the misuse of blasphemy laws and violence against minorities, including Christians and Hindus.
Separately, the administration suspended much of its security assistance to Pakistan in January 2018 to press the government to act against militant safe havens, particularly those used by the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network. That decision concerned counterterrorism cooperation rather than sanctions imposed for religious persecution.
Christians facing insecurity worldwide are looking to President Donald Trump for assistance.
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