Trump announces new White House faith initiative

President Donald Trump marked the National Day of Prayer on Thursday with a Rose Garden ceremony announcing the creation of the new White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative. The office will focus on protecting religious freedom and guaranteeing “the faith-based and community organizations that form the bedrock of our society have strong advocates in the White House and throughout the federal government,” the president said. The White House later will appoint an adviser who will lead the office and make recommendations to the administration. With input from religious leaders across the country, the new adviser will highlight “any failures of the executive branch to comply with religious liberty protections under law” and guarantee faith-based groups equal access to government funding, according to the executive order Trump issued to create the office. “We take this step because we know that in solving the many, many problems and our great challenges, faith is more powerful than government and nothing is more powerful than God,” the president said. Members of First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, the Texas church targeted by a gunman who killed 26 congregants in November, attended the ceremony.