WASHINGTON >> President Donald Trump said Thursday that he wants to root out “anti-Christian bias” in the U.S., announcing that he was forming a task force led by Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the “targeting” of Christians.

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.”

Hours after the two events, Trump signed an executive order directing the new task force to identify unlawful policies, practices, or conduct by all executive departments and agencies, and recommend any additional presidential or legislative action.

‘Bring God back’

Early in the day, the president joined the National Prayer Breakfast at the Capitol. He told lawmakers there that his relationship with religion had “changed” after a pair of failed assassination attempts last year and urged Americans to “bring God back” into their lives.

An hour after calling for “unity” on Capitol Hill, though, Trump struck a more partisan tone at the second event across town, announcing that, in addition to the task force, he was forming a commission on religious liberty.

And Trump took a victory lap over his administration’s early efforts to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion programs and to limit transgender participation in women’s sports.

“I don’t know if you’ve been watching, but we got rid of woke over the last two weeks,” he said. “Woke is gone-zo.”

Pushback and praise

Trump’s new task force drew criticism from Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

“Rather than protecting religious beliefs, this task force will misuse religious freedom to justify bigotry, discrimination, and the subversion of our civil rights laws,” said Rachel Laser, the group’s president and CEO.

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.

Kelly Shackelford, head of First Liberty Institute, a conservative Christian legal organization, disagreed, praising the creation of the task force and religious liberty commission.

“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.

Trump also announced the creation of a White House faith office led by Paula White-Cain, a longtime pastor in the independent charismatic world.

She’s the religious adviser “that he appears to trust the most,” said Matthew Taylor, a Protestant scholar and author of “The Violent Take It By Force: The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy,” a 2024 book about the roles of White-Cain and other charismatic leaders who have been among Trump’s most fervent supporters.

He said the faith-based office — depending on its mandate — may not raise major concerns. Past presidents have had similar ones.

“I’m actually much more concerned about this anti-Christian bias task force,” he said.

In a majority Christian country, “it’s a bit absurd to claim that there is widespread anti-Christian bias. ... When a majority begins to claim persecution, that is often a license for attacks on minorities.”