By The Epoch Times | Created at 2026-09-09 09:18:34 | Updated at 2026-09-09 10:01:09
43 minutes ago
WASHINGTON—The White House Faith Office is continuing to advance the Trump administration’s religious freedom agenda, Faith Director Jennifer Korn told NTD.
Korn said the West Wing office, which was launched 18 months ago, is committed to protecting religious freedom within the federal government, including rooting out discrimination and elevating the voice of public servants of faith.
“We’re here to say that you’re allowed to talk about your religion freely, whether it’s at work or whether it’s in your home or in the public square,” Korn said in a recent interview on people of faith in government with NTD Television’s “Capitol Report.”
“The president has made it very clear that we are there 24/7 for people of all faiths,” she said.
President Donald Trump created the White House Faith Office by executive order in February 2025 to “empower faith-based entities, community organizations, and houses of worship.”
Led by Korn and senior adviser Pastor Paula White-Cain, the office reports directly to the president.
The idea to establish a faith office traces back to a pre-election meeting at Mar-a-Lago, Korn said. She and White-Cain presented then-candidate Trump with a four-page plan, which he immediately embraced. Trump told them he would establish the office in the West Wing if he were reelected.
The White House has maintained a faith-based initiative in various forms since President George W. Bush first established the dedicated office in 2001. Subsequent presidents maintained the office under different names and structures. The office was generally housed in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. When Trump was re-elected for a second term, he reconstituted the initiative as the White House Faith Office and moved it directly into the West Wing as part of the Domestic Policy Council.
In February, to mark its first anniversary, the office released a list of 150 actions the administration has taken to protect and support people of faith.
Key initiatives include establishing Centers for Faith in every federal agency, with faith directors or liaisons representing the faith community in relevant policymaking. The office also appointed interfaith leaders to a new Religious Liberty Commission, and set up a task force to eliminate anti-Christian bias. Trump also issued executive orders to combat anti-Semitism and pardoned several Christian and pro-life activists, the office said.
To identify past overreach, the Religious Liberty Commission hosted seven public hearings featuring testimonies from nearly 140 individuals who said they experienced discrimination from the federal government because of their faith. The White House later compiled the findings into a 90-minute documentary, “By Dawn’s Early Light.”
Korn noted that these efforts helped resolve past abuses, such as reinstating Navy SEALs discharged under the previous administration for refusing to take COVID-19 vaccines.
“We are surprised at how much there is to fix,” Korn said.
Trump also pardoned more than two dozen pro-life activists prosecuted after protesting outside abortion clinics. Trump described them as peaceful protesters, while the Biden administration’s Justice Department stated that they were convicted of blocking clinic entrances, intimidating staff, or preventing access to reproductive healthcare.
Through these hearings, the White House has learned that discrimination occurs not only at the federal level, but also in state and local governments.
“In the schools, I think it’s the most egregious,” Korn said, referencing a case where teachers forced a young girl to take off a mask that read, “Jesus loves me.”
“It was very eye-opening that at such a young age, teachers and people at the local level would bully their own students,” the director said.
In addition, the administration has taken measures to protect healthcare workers and public employees from being forced to perform duties that go against their personal or religious beliefs.
The Faith Office has faced opposition from those who argue that these initiatives may violate the separation of church and state. The initiatives, critics say, may also lead to religious discrimination in government-funded programs and risk politicizing faith communities.
Amid the wider debate, Korn said the administration is committed to promoting religious freedom and ensuring people of faith have a voice in government. She noted that the administration is working to address past instances where the government was weaponized against religious individuals and groups, such as the debanking of churches. She added that key issues have been resolved and measures are being put in place to prevent these from happening again.
International Efforts
The Faith Office is also working to address the persecution of Christians globally. In July, Christian leader Ezra Jin, founder and pastor of Zion Church of Beijing, was released following high-level diplomatic negotiations between China and the United States.
Chinese authorities detained Jin and several other pastors and congregants in October 2025 in what human rights groups described as an escalating campaign against religious freedom in China.
Other countries see the United States as the leader in advancing religious freedom, Korn said.
On Aug. 30, Trump shared a news report on Truth Social about claims of rising anti-Semitism in Canada.
The report referred to a letter the National Association of Christian Lawmakers and its partners sent to Trump, asking the administration to create expedited legal pathways for eligible Jewish Canadians to immigrate to the United States.
While Trump shared the report signaling his interest, his administration has not yet taken any formal action. The issue arose during an ongoing trade standoff between Washington and Ottawa.
“The president cares about protecting people of the Jewish faith, whether they’re here or in Canada,” Korn said. “I can see the president wanting to ensure that we protect them all over the world.”
The Faith Office has also collaborated directly with the Department of Homeland Security and White House border czar Tom Homan to protect houses of worship and help religious workers navigate the U.S. visa process. Korn said that no churches or schools have been targeted during immigration law enforcement operations.
In May, the administration also hosted an all-day prayer event on the National Mall called “Rededicate 250” as part of the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations.
“I’ve done more for religion than any other president,” Trump said at the annual National Prayer Breakfast on Feb. 5 in Washington.
“I’ve always said you just can’t have a great country if you don’t have religion.”
