U.S. President Donald Trump has said he will create a new White House faith office aimed at eradicating what he called "anti-Christian bias" within the federal government.
“You never heard about that one before, but it’s about time,” Trump told attendees of the National Prayer Breakfast, vowing to sign an executive order making Attorney General Pam Bondi head of the task force.
Trump did not give any examples of anti-Christian bias in the US, and experts say the actions could pose constitutional questions about the separation of church and state.
Trump added that he would create a new commission on religious liberty.
"If we don't have religious liberty, then we don't have a free country," he said.
“Religion is a very good thing. We have to have religion. It suffered greatly over the last few years, but it’s coming back. It’s coming back strong.”
Referencing an assassination attempt on his life in July, the president said: “None of us knows exactly when our time on earth will be over. You never know. A truth I confronted a few short months ago when there was an incident that was not fun. It was not a good thing. But God was watching me.
He continued: “I really believe you can’t be happy without religion, without that belief.
“So, let’s begin religion back, let’s bring God back into our lives.”
He joked that his son's faith had also grown since the assassination attempt. “My sons are really good shooters, Don and Eric. They said the chance of missing from that range with that gun - Don equated it to a one foot put. That’s pretty bad. Two feet I can see missing but one foot you can’t miss," he joked. “He gained some religion. He went up 25 per cent. If you know him, that’s a lot.”
Attending the prayer breakfast were families of Israeli hostages. The president said that those still in captivity were in his thoughts, and that he would see every hostage returned.
It comes as an anonymous member of Trump's team expressed shock at his plans for the US to take over the Gaza strip. The source told the New York Times he had not heard of the plans until Tuesday, when Trump announced them.
