UPDATE: The Trump administration is under fire for using official government social media accounts to promote overtly religious messages during Christmas week, raising concerns over the separation of church and state. Top officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, shared explicit declarations praising Jesus, with critics warning of a significant breach of constitutional boundaries.
On December 25, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security posted videos on X, formerly Twitter, featuring captions like “Christ is Born!” and “we are blessed to share a nation and a Savior.” These posts included rapid sequences of American holiday imagery, sparking immediate backlash from First Amendment advocates who argue such actions threaten the constitutional principle of church-state separation.
In a video, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins claimed, “the very best of the American spirit… flows from the very first Christmas,” while Education Secretary Linda McMahon expressed hopes for “lasting memories” as families celebrate the birth of Jesus. The Department of Labor echoed these sentiments with a post stating, “Let Earth Receive Her King,” deviating sharply from traditional neutral holiday greetings.
Critics, including religious freedom advocates, quickly condemned these statements. Rachel Laser, president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, described the posts as “one more example of the Christian Nationalist rhetoric the Trump administration has disseminated since Day One in office.”
The First Amendment’s establishment clause prohibits the government from favoring one religion over another, a principle emphasized by Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, who advocated for a “wall of separation between church and state.”
Former Homeland Security spokesperson Alex Howard called the messages an “inappropriate use of official government channels,” while Alex Nowrasteh from the Cato Institute stressed, “Americans don’t share a religion. Our state is secular.”
Despite the criticism, administration officials responded with a simple “Merry Christmas,” reinforcing their stance. Recent data from the Pew Research Center shows that nearly two-thirds of Americans identify as Christian, a decline from two decades ago. This demographic, which includes a substantial number of evangelical Christians, has played a critical role in Trump’s political base, particularly with around 80 percent of white evangelical voters supporting him in 2024.
In February 2023, Trump directed the Department of Justice to prosecute anti-Christian violence and vandalism, reinforcing his commitment to defending religious rights. He also established the Religious Liberty Commission and appointed televangelist Paula White-Cain as a senior adviser in the White House Faith Office, further aligning his administration with evangelical interests.
The administration’s stance on religious matters aligns with a broader trend among right-wing groups pushing to allocate public funds to religious organizations and education. Earlier this year, the IRS signaled a potential shift in policy, suggesting that churches could endorse political candidates without risking their tax-exempt status, a move that could reshape the relationship between politics and religion in America.
As the Supreme Court hears cases backed by Trump-aligned groups, liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor has warned the conservative-majority court is eroding the church-state separation, treating it as a “constitutional slogan, not a constitutional commitment.”
The backlash against the Trump administration’s holiday messaging underscores ongoing tensions between religious expression and government neutrality. Advocates for church-state separation argue that preserving this boundary is essential for maintaining religious diversity and freedom in America.
What remains to be seen is how this controversy will evolve and whether it will influence future government communication strategies as the administration navigates the intersection of faith and policy.
