President Donald Trump joked that his administration could end the separation of church and state on Thursday, saying they are “bringing religion back to our country.”
Trump made the statement during a speech at the White House celebrating the National Day of Prayer. He touted the White House’s faith office and its leader, Paula White.
Trump began by thanking White for serving in her role as senior advisor to the faith office, remarking that his other advisors had questioned the move. “They said separation of church and state, they told me. I said let’s forget about that for one time. We said, really? Separation? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I’m not sure,” Trump said.
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“But whether there’s separation or not, you guys are in the White House where you should be, and you’re representing our country,” he continued. “We’re bringing religion back to our country.”
Trump signed an executive order establishing a White House Faith Office in early February.
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The new office is meant to “empower faith-based entities, community organizations, and houses of worship to better serve families and communities,” according to a White House statement.
The office plans to coordinate with other agencies on training for religious liberty and on elevating grant opportunities for non-profit faith-based entities, community organizations and houses of worship. It will also collaborate with the Department of Justice on identifying constitutional religious liberty protections.
The order came just one day after Trump signed another aimed at creating a task force to identify “anti-Christian bias.”
The White House said this “Task Force to End the War on Christians” will comprise members of the president’s Cabinet and key government agencies, and the order seeks to “end the anti-Christian weaponization of government.”
