With each passing day it becomes more and more apparent that one of the biggest things concerning Donald Trump as president is the fact that people don’t like him. He demands loyalty and constant validation from those around him, even when the facts show he isn’t doing a very good job as the country’s leader. As long as people are playing along with his inflated ego nothing else matters.
The president made an appearance at the 74th National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C. where he falsely claimed that he had done away with the Johnson amendment, a provision of the U.S. tax code banning all 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations from speaking or taking sides on political matters or candidates.
Trump then went on to say that a lot of people liked him, claiming that the people “want to hear from priests. They want to hear from them. and you were restricted from talking about very important things like who to elect.”
Sounds like he’s trying to use religious leaders as tools for his propaganda. But as if that wasn’t bad enough, he then went on to say, “If you do say something bad about Trump, I will change my mind and I will have your tax exempt status immediately revoked.”
Those certainly sound like the words of a political leader who’s fixing to make himself a dictator. Citizens being willing and able to criticize a country’s leader is a large part of what makes said country a democracy, punishing political dissent is a slippery slope straight into authoritarianism.
Is Donald Trump threatening the church?
While his comment was viewed as a joke by those listening to his speech, it’s hard to believe he wouldn’t follow through on that threat if it came to it. We’ve seen the president attempt to silence his critics on countless occasions, the man has perhaps the most fragile ego in politics and he does not like to be criticized.
It’s been speculated that Trump had a hand in canceling talk show host Stephen Colbert’s show, and on Truth Social he’s even called for the deaths of political opponents. He’s also close buddies with Vladimir Putin, an authoritarian dictator who also doesn’t like letting people voice negative opinions about him.
On X people have expressed concern that Trump is pressing Christian leaders to push their congregations to vote for him which, again, wouldn’t be a surprise for him. Another person called it “Extortion right out in the open.”
Perhaps Trump is seeing the walls closing in as the midterms loom and this is a last-ditch effort to hold onto his power. Perhaps he’s hoping his thinly veiled threats will result in more votes for the GOP this year, but considering how badly Trump has torched his own reputation that seems far-fetched.
Published: Feb 6, 2026 01:32 pm