WASHINGTON — Vice President J.D. Vance promised that the Trump administration would promote “moral clarity” on religious liberty issues abroad Wednesday at the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit.
Vance said U.S. engagement on international religious liberty issues has been “corrupted and distorted to the point of absurdity” in recent years.
“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?” he questioned. “That is not what leadership on protecting the rights of the faithful looks like. And it ends with this administration.”
President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) promised a shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on Monday. USAID grants have gone toward issues like supporting LGBT activism worldwide and sending condoms abroad. (RELATED: USAID Wasted Billions Of Tax Dollars On Programs That Actively Harmed Americans. Here Are The Receipts)
Vice President JD Vance speaks at the @IRFSummit
“We know that religious freedom flows from concepts central to the Christian faith, in particular, the free will of human beings and the essential dignity of all peoples.” pic.twitter.com/VmJqOQll8D
— Katelynn Richardson (@katesrichardson) February 5, 2025
Vance said the U.S. must recognize regimes that “respect religious freedom and those that do not.”
“The United States must be able to make that distinction,” he said. “We must be able to look at catastrophes, like the plight of Iraq’s Christians over the past three decades and possess the moral clarity to act when something has gone wrong.”
Under the Biden administration, Nigeria was removed as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) on the annual religious freedom watchlist, a decision the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom called “unexplainable.”
Vice President JD Vance speaks at International Religious Liberty Summit at the Washington Hilton. (Credit: Katelynn Richardson/Daily Caller News Foundation)
Vance pointed to Trump’s successes during his first administration, including rescuing pastors and bringing relief to Yazidis, Christians and others facing “genocidal terror from ISIS.” He highlighted steps the administration has already taken to promote religious liberty within the U.S., highlighting orders Trump issued to end the weaponization of the federal government against religious Americans and pardon pro-life activists.
Vance’s first speech as vice president was at the March for Life on Jan. 24. During his remarks, Vance also highlighted how Christianity laid the foundation for religious freedom, pointing to church fathers as the origins of the idea.
“We find its foundational tenets in the gospels themselves, with Christ’s famous instruction to render unto Caesar, that which is Caesar’s and unto God, that which is God’s” he said. “Early Christians of course suffered greatly and unfortunately, many Christians still suffer today at the hands of oppressive state power. It weighed heavily on the church’s first theologians and apologists.”
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