Vice President JD Vance told an assembly of faith groups on Wednesday that the administration is committed to supporting religious freedom, even as the administration guts funding for efforts meant to promote it worldwide.
He defended many of the cuts, saying that foreign aid often supports atheism.
“How did America get to the point where we’re sending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars abroad to NGOs that are dedicated to spreading atheism all over the globe? That is not what leadership on protecting the rights of the faithful looks like, and it ends with this administration,” Vance said at the International Religious Freedom Summit.
The vice president’s appearance before advocates came amid a week of unfolding drama at the U.S. Agency for International Development. The Trump administration said its aim is to cut “waste” from the government. But the cuts directly hit the work of religious freedom organizations at the summit, many of which rely on some federal funding or coordination from the State Department.
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Vance told the summit that freedom of religion is a priority for the administration, quoting early Christian writers and John Adams on the foundations of religion and civic society. He also mentioned Trump’s first-term actions to rescue persecuted pastors and relief to faith communities facing genocide and applauded Secretary of State Marco Rubio for being “one of the great living champions of religious liberty across the globe.”
Vance suggested religious freedom will play a role in the administration’s relationships with allies and adversaries, mentioning Iraq’s increasing pressure on Christians.
“I’d add that part of our protecting religious freedom initiatives means recognizing in our foreign policy the difference between regimes that respect religious freedom and those that do not. The United States must be able to make that distinction.
It’s unclear exactly how central religious freedom efforts will be to Trump’s second-term foreign policy, as many programs compete to survive his slash-and-burn approach to executive branch personnel and funding.
Vance did not address Trump’s proposal to take over Gaza.
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Helen Huiskes is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
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