Trump and Rubio Should Come Out Swinging on International Religious Freedom

In the first week of February, Washington, D.C., will play host to the International Religious Freedom Summit, the largest annual non-profit-led gathering of religious freedom advocates globally. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio should take the opportunity to quickly reorient religious freedom policy so that it is once again an American foreign policy priority.

Trump, in his first term, elevated international religious freedom in a way not done since the passage of the seminal International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. His State Department held two International Religious Freedom Ministerials in 2018 and 2019, the largest ever human rights gatherings held in the Washington D.C. neighborhood of Foggy Bottom, and he met directly with survivors of persecution.

He established the International Religious Freedom Alliance, bringing together dozens of countries to work together outside of dysfunctional international organizations to advance religious freedom worldwide. And Trump signed the first ever executive order on Advancing International Religious Freedom, to ensure this fundamental right was fully integrated within U.S. foreign policy structures.

Rubio, throughout his career, has been one of the strongest advocates in the Senate for international religious freedom. He spearheaded and advanced multiple pieces of legislation that placed real consequences, through sanctions, on China for its genocide of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. And he has stood up to dictatorial regimes across the world, from Nicaragua to Iran, and fought strongly for prisoners of conscience, including those imprisoned for their faith.

Rubio did this all with a strong sense of the foundational principles of freedom that America stands on, and has already carried that viewpoint to the State Department, where he has stated that he will ensure all State Department actions stay true to advancing American interests. Protecting religious freedom is surely amongst those interests, not just because it represents our highest ideals against tyrannical regimes, but because authoritarian regimes and terrorist groups attack religious freedom in order to spread their own influence.

China and Vietnam, for example, have both focused on engaging in transnational repression in Thailand to force fleeing Uyghur Muslims and ethnic Christians to be sent back to their countries, where they would likely face imprisonment and torture. Terrorists of all stripes have found a new base throughout sub-Saharan Africa, where they destabilize their struggling countries, and murder Christians by the thousands annually, as in Nigeria.

Trump and Rubio have especially emphasized a renewed vision of the importance of free speech and opposition to any attempts to censor Americans. But at institutions like the U.N., nefarious regimes have renewed their attacks on free speech under the guise of opposing “religious hatred” or “blasphemy.” The Western world has weakened its ability to defend against these regimes by themselves promoting censorship of so-called “hate-speech,” “misinformation,” and “disinformation.” These global censorship regimes will inevitably have an impact on Americans—and much religious speech—if they aren’t reversed, as social media and other platforms operate globally.

Trump and Rubio have already made good use of their first few weeks in office to begin righting the ship against policies that place faddish and dangerous trends like diversity, equity, and inclusion and aggressive censorship above the importance of advancing core American interests and foundational values. They can continue the necessary course correction in a number of ways.

First, putting religious freedom at the top of the State Department’s priority list will correct the Joe Biden administration’s repeat deprioritization of international religious freedom in favor of dubious faux “human rights.” In its final year in office, the Biden administration failed to release its designations of the worst countries for religious freedom, even though required by longstanding statute to do so. This failure was unprecedented, following years of problematic decisions, such as keeping Nigeria off the Country of Particular Concern list. Trump and Rubio should immediately fix this problem and make these vital designations.

Second, Trump and Rubio can bring real accountability back to foreign aid, having paused foreign assistance programs while they review their effectiveness and alignment with American interests and values. Dozens of U.S. Agency for International Development officials have been placed on administrative leave, after years of complaints that religious freedom issues were being ignored to promote special interests. The House Foreign Affairs Committee has uncovered disturbing evidence of State Department-led grant programming that was designed to promote atheism in Nepal, of all places.

In his 2020 International Religious Freedom executive order, Trump called for a minimum of $50 million a year in programming for international religious freedom purposes, but Biden admitted shortly before he left office that his administration had only spent half of what the executive order called for, even though he kept it in place. When the foreign aid pause and review ends, Rubio should ensure that spending is directed back to core international religious freedom priorities and that the wasteful special interest spending is ended.

Last, Trump should swiftly name a nominee for ambassador at large for International Religious Freedom. His first appointee, Sam Brownback, the former Kansas governor and senator, transformed and elevated the role. The earlier this appointment is made, the faster and more thoroughly can the refocus of foreign policy on core American values be fully realized.

A great part of American strength lies in our foundational values, and religious freedom is at the heart of those values. The protection and promotion of international religious freedom demonstrates to the world what sets America apart from tyrants, dictators, and terrorists, and helps combat the efforts of authoritarians to make our world, and America, less free. It is in the best interest of America and the entire world if Trump and Rubio once again assert international religious freedom as a top foreign policy priority for the United States.

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