Is Trump shutting down Christian ministries?
The hysteria over Donald Trump's presidential actions is reaching a fever pitch. On Wednesday, Trump was even accused of "shutting down Christian ministries." Tish Harrison Warren, an Anglican minister and former New York Times writer, claimed, "Trump is shutting down Christian ministries. Ministries I've supported may have to close their doors. I've never seen anything like this." — (@) But is Trump doing this? To support her claim, Warren linked to a press release from World Relief, a Christian humanitarian organization that, in part, helps resettle refugees in the United States. The press release explains that World Relief received "stop orders" from the U.S. government to cease work related to refugee resettlement programs. Those programs, World Relief said, are financed through a "grant agreement" with the U.S. government. According to World Relief, the stop orders cited the legal authority of Trump's Executive Order on Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid, which temporarily halted foreign aid. 'Pro-Tip: If it’s funded by tax dollars, it’s not a Christian charity.' That's it. The story here is that World Relief, temporarily, will not receive federal funds for programs that fall under Trump's EO. Trump did not shut down World Relief, and there is no evidence that he has shut down any Christian ministry. None of his executive orders, in fact, have targeted Christian ministries. The president does not have the legal authority to unilaterally shut down non-governmental organizations, including Christian ministries. But Warren's accusation raised an interesting question: What's the deal with World Relief's finances? "If it can’t survive without taxpayer dollars, it’s not ministry. It’s a government agency," Megan Basham of the Daily Wire observed. "An entity that cannot survive absent federal funding isn’t a 'ministry' at all. It’s a federal agency," agreed Eric Teetsel, CEO of the Center for Renewing America. It's not clear how much money World Relief raised in 2024 because its most recent publicly available finance report details the organization's 2023 finances. But in fiscal year 2023 alone, World Relief received $96,395,623 of taxpayer money from the federal government for its ministry programs, according to a publicly available audit. That amounted to an increase of more than 50% from fiscal year 2022, when World Relief received $62,202,400 from the federal government. In fact, the vast majority of World Relief's revenue appears to come from the government. In fiscal year 2023, for example, only $32,190,725 of World Relief's total revenue of $162,771,960 came from private contributions, documents show. What does this financial data say about World Relief as a Christian charity? "Pro-Tip: If it’s funded by tax dollars, it’s not a Christian charity. It’s an NGO government proxy *masquerading* as a Christian charity. Christian charities can’t be scuttled with an executive order, because they’d be funded by charitable Christians," one person said. Taxpayers — and Christians — are right to question why a Christian ministry is being significantly funded by taxpayer dollars. But in no way, shape, or form is Trump shutting down Christian ministries.
The hysteria over Donald Trump's presidential actions is reaching a fever pitch. On Wednesday, Trump was even accused of "shutting down Christian ministries."
Tish Harrison Warren, an Anglican minister and former New York Times writer, claimed, "Trump is shutting down Christian ministries. Ministries I've supported may have to close their doors. I've never seen anything like this."
— (@)
But is Trump doing this?
To support her claim, Warren linked to a press release from World Relief, a Christian humanitarian organization that, in part, helps resettle refugees in the United States. The press release explains that World Relief received "stop orders" from the U.S. government to cease work related to refugee resettlement programs. Those programs, World Relief said, are financed through a "grant agreement" with the U.S. government.
According to World Relief, the stop orders cited the legal authority of Trump's Executive Order on Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid, which temporarily halted foreign aid.
'Pro-Tip: If it’s funded by tax dollars, it’s not a Christian charity.'
That's it. The story here is that World Relief, temporarily, will not receive federal funds for programs that fall under Trump's EO.
Trump did not shut down World Relief, and there is no evidence that he has shut down any Christian ministry. None of his executive orders, in fact, have targeted Christian ministries. The president does not have the legal authority to unilaterally shut down non-governmental organizations, including Christian ministries.
But Warren's accusation raised an interesting question: What's the deal with World Relief's finances?
"If it can’t survive without taxpayer dollars, it’s not ministry. It’s a government agency," Megan Basham of the Daily Wire observed.
"An entity that cannot survive absent federal funding isn’t a 'ministry' at all. It’s a federal agency," agreed Eric Teetsel, CEO of the Center for Renewing America.
It's not clear how much money World Relief raised in 2024 because its most recent publicly available finance report details the organization's 2023 finances.
But in fiscal year 2023 alone, World Relief received $96,395,623 of taxpayer money from the federal government for its ministry programs, according to a publicly available audit. That amounted to an increase of more than 50% from fiscal year 2022, when World Relief received $62,202,400 from the federal government.
In fact, the vast majority of World Relief's revenue appears to come from the government. In fiscal year 2023, for example, only $32,190,725 of World Relief's total revenue of $162,771,960 came from private contributions, documents show.
What does this financial data say about World Relief as a Christian charity?
"Pro-Tip: If it’s funded by tax dollars, it’s not a Christian charity. It’s an NGO government proxy *masquerading* as a Christian charity. Christian charities can’t be scuttled with an executive order, because they’d be funded by charitable Christians," one person said.
Taxpayers — and Christians — are right to question why a Christian ministry is being significantly funded by taxpayer dollars. But in no way, shape, or form is Trump shutting down Christian ministries.
Originally Published at Daily Wire, World Net Daily, or The Blaze
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