Trump Admin Accomplishments You Might Have Missed
In the run-up to the 2024 presidential election, Southern Seminary president Dr. Al Mohler observed in an interview that Americans were “not just electing a president, you’re electing a government.”
He also opined:
Christian conservatives face big challenges ahead as we try to influence the course of government and the future of our society. There is so much ground that must be gained for the cause of unborn life and the right ordering of society. The election of Kamala Harris as president would almost surely lead to a colossal leftward shift in the laws, in appointments to office, in nominations to the Supreme Court, in LGBTQ activism, and in a flurry of executive orders. I am not sure that such a leftward shift can be undone or corrected in my lifetime, if ever. Both sides recognize how much is on the line in this election, and that’s the simple truth.
Keep in mind that the president will make more than 4,000 direct appointments to high government office, will serve as commander in chief, and will exercise the sole power of nominations to the federal courts, all the way to the Supreme Court.
Nearly two years out from that statement, Dr. Mohler’s premise is regularly affirmed as we read of various presidential appointments, executive orders, and court decisions.
Or maybe you haven’t read them. It can be a challenge to find such positive news in the press.
Since President Trump first took office in January 2017, numerous studies have found that the majority of stories involving the president have been negative. In fact, a recent Pew Research survey found that more than 60% of stories published from mainstream media carried a negative assessment compared with 5% that were positive.
Presidents have historically battled the bent of the media, but even objective observers have noted the current press corps has exhibited an unusual animus towards President Trump – and vice versa.
To help combat the media filter, the White House released on Friday a comprehensive list of “President Trump’s Top 250 Victories For People of Faith.” In introducing the list, administration officials stated, “Since the founding of our nation, nobody has fought harder or gained more for believers …”
Highlights include:
PROTECTED RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
• The Department of Justice issued guidance to all departments and agencies, directing them to protect religious liberty in all programs, policies, and practices.
• President Trump established a new Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias to investigate and dismantle the systematic discrimination against Christians that occurred under the previous Administration.
• The Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias released a report and documentary detailing the Biden Administration’s radical efforts to persecute Christians and highlighting how President Trump is ensuring Christians are free to live out their faith.
• The Department of Health and Human Services created a Conscience and Religious Freedom Division to defend religious liberty and enforce conscience protections in healthcare.
DEFENDED HOUSES OF WORSHIP
• The Department of Treasury announced it will issue guidance to protect the religious freedom and free speech of houses of worship in relation to the Johnson Amendment.
• The Department of Justice issued a historic opinion eliminating the “religious restriction” that required houses of worship and faith-based organizations to ban religious aspects of their programs to receive federal funds.
SECURED CONSCIENCE RIGHTS
• The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission agreed to allow Christian employers to conduct their businesses according to their faith, including on issues of pronouns, restrooms, and dress codes.
• The Trump Administration strengthened conscience protections for healthcare providers who object to abortion, sterilization, or assisted suicide.
• The Department of Health and Human Services launched investigations into states for allegedly coercing health care entities to pay for abortion coverage.
• The Department of Health and Human Services rescinded Biden-era guidance that could force pharmacists to stock and dispense abortion pills in pharmacies in violation of the pharmacists’ religious beliefs or conscience.
ENDED THE WEAPONIZATION OF GOVERNMENT
• President Trump issued an executive order ending the weaponization of the federal government against all Americans, including people of faith.
• President Trump pardoned Christians and pro-life activists who were unjustly persecuted for praying and peacefully living out their faith.
• The Department of Justice restricted the misuse of the FACE Act against pro-life advocates, dismissing several cases aimed at persecuting pro-life Americans.
PROMOTED FREE SPEECH
• President Trump issued an executive order combating the debanking of Americans based on their political and religious beliefs, which had been targeted at conservatives and people of faith.
PROTECTED FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS
• The Office of Management and Budget proposed a new rule protecting religious liberty in grantmaking, clarifying that the federal government may not discriminate against faith-based organizations because of their religious character, affiliation, or exercise.
• The Department of Housing and Urban Development rescinded guidance which required Christian colleges to violate their religious beliefs by opening co-ed dormitories.
• The Department of Justice filed briefs at the U.S. Supreme Court supporting tax exemptions for religious groups, religious charter schools, and a Catholic preschool’s right to be included in a benefit program available to secular preschools.
EXPANDED SCHOOL CHOICE & PROMOTED WHOLESOME EDUCATION
• President Trump issued an executive order on school choice, supporting parents’ rights to choose private, religious, or public charter schools for their children.
• President Trump signed the first-ever national school choice program, empowering parents to choose faith-based schools for their children and ending the monopoly of government-run education.
• President Trump issued an executive order ending radical indoctrination in schools.
• President Trump reinstated common sense school discipline policies.
• The Department of Education ended the Biden book ban hoax, ensuring parents can protect their children from books espousing radical secular ideologies such as transgenderism and gender fluidity.
UPHELD PARENTAL RIGHTS
• The Department of Justice issued a memo pledging to uphold parental rights and supported parental rights at the U.S. Supreme Court.
• The Department of Health and Human Services warned states not to remove the children of parents who refuse to capitulate to radical transgender ideology.
• The Department of Education ordered schools to allow parents to inspect and review education records, including those related to their children’s “gender identity.”
• The Department of Education cracked down on school districts violating federal law by hiding students’ “gender transitions” from parents.
SAVED WOMEN’S SPORTS
• President Trump issued an executive order keeping men out of women’s sports.
• The Department of Health and Human Services upheld biological truth by announcing that references to “sex” in Title IX will no longer also refer to “gender identity.”
• The Department of Justice and Department of Education announced a Title IX Special Investigations Team to protect students, especially female athletes, from radical gender ideology in school programs and activities.
PROTECTED CHILDREN FROM HARMFUL PROCEDURES AND IDEOLOGY
• President Trump banned federal funding for the chemical and surgical mutilation of minors, protecting children from irreversible harm, followed by a final rule implementing his order.
• The Department of Justice supported the right of states to ban sex-rejecting drugs for minors at the U.S. Supreme Court.
• The Department of Health and Human Services issued a report highlighting the “significant harms” of gender transition drugs and procedures for minors.
RESTORED BIOLOGICAL TRUTH
• President Trump issued an executive order restoring biological truth to the federal government and affirming the reality that there are only two sexes, male and female.
• President Trump called on Congress to pass the SAVE America Act to affirm biological reality, protect women’s sports, and prohibit sex-rejecting surgeries on children.
• President Trump issued a new counterterrorism strategy to protect America from the threats of “radically pro-transgender” ideology.
• The Department of Housing and Urban Development took action to ensure homeless shelters are not required to house men in facilities intended for women only.
• The Trump Administration axed billions of dollars in grants that had been used by states to perpetuate radical gender ideology and related propaganda.
STRENGTHENED FAMILIES AND SAFEGUARDED CHILDREN
• President Trump issued an executive order on foster care – a key initiative of First Lady Melania Trump – maximizing partnerships with Americans of faith and seeking to remedy state policies that prohibit qualified people or organizations from serving in foster care due to their religious beliefs.
• The Department of Health and Human Services formally rescinded a Biden-era rule that forced foster parents to choose between their religious beliefs and fostering children.
• The Administration for Children and Families defended religious foster parents by warning multiple states that gender ideology mandates that deny qualified families the ability to provide loving homes to foster children violate the First Amendment.
• As a result of the Trump Administration’s actions to protect religious foster parents, some states have immediately changed their policies to welcome faith-based families in foster care.
• President Trump signed the Take It Down Act – a key initiative of First Lady Melania Trump – protecting children and families from online extortion and exploitation through the non-consensual distribution of intimate images and deepfake abuse.
DEFENDED LIFE THROUGH YOUR TAX DOLLARS
• President Trump mandated enforcement of the Hyde Amendment, ending the use of federal taxpayer dollars to fund or promote elective abortion in America.
• President Trump reinstated the Mexico City Policy, ending the use of federal taxpayer dollars to fund nongovernmental organizations that perform or promote coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization internationally.
• The Department of Justice supported states’ rights to defund abortion clinics.
VALUED LIFE
• President Trump celebrated Down Syndrome Awareness Month, telling Down Syndrome children they are “amazing.”
• The White House issued a statement of support for the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.
• The Department of Health and Human Services announced that funds from new Title X grants may not be used to perform abortions and plans to issue new Title X regulations that align with the law and administration priorities.
• The Department of Health and Human Services restored Title X funding that the Biden Administration had stripped from states due to the states’ pro-life policies.
• The Trump Administration ended the barbaric use of fetal tissue from aborted babies in federally funded research at the National Institutes of Health.
EMPOWERED & SUPPORTED MOTHERS
• The Trump Administration provided $4 million to address root causes of infertility and expand access to testing and treatments that will help families have children.
• President Trump ensured the Working Families Tax Cuts Act included pro-family measures such as a Child Tax Credit expansion, strengthened adoption tax credits, permanent tax credits for paid family and medical leave, and Trump Investment Accounts for every American newborn.
And those are just 52 of the 250 things detailed on the list.
At Focus on the Family, we care about policies because policies impact people — husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, children and grandchildren. Bad policies have dire consequences. Good policies have the potential to improve life and allow families to thrive.
The prophet Jeremiah urged, “But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you … and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (29:7).
As Christians who seek the welfare of our neighbors, we care deeply about the policies that shape their lives — and must be willing to speak up when we believe those policies will help families flourish.
