Egypt

A few years ago at a college event in San Jose, an Egyptian Muslim student nervously approached me after a talk. His voice was quiet, his eyes scanning the room.

“I’ve become a Christian,” he whispered. “But I’m afraid.”

He was scheduled to return to Egypt soon. He feared his uncles would find out and kill him in an honor attack. He asked if I could connect him with Christians back home—somewhere to hide, someone to protect him. He wasn’t asking for a church service or a theological debate. He was asking if I knew a safe house.

I reached out to a few Egyptian pastors I knew. They were kind, they were faithful—but they were terrified.

They told me plainly: “If our churches in Egypt take him in and someone finds out, his relatives will burn those churches down. Maybe kill our people. There will be no protection, and after it’s done, there will be no justice. We’ve seen it before. It’s just very, very difficult. Worse, we’ve had people pretend to be converts to identify those churches and have the pastor killed.”

And that was it.

I had no power to help him. No diplomatic leverage. No government behind me to say, “If you kill this young man, you will answer to the world’s leading superpower.”

I never heard what happened to him. He told me he was in Egypt then I never heard from him again.

Nigeria

When I visited Nigeria to speak with EBLM a few years ago, a local pastor shared something that still haunts me.

His brother had been kidnapped by Muslim extremists.

But what shocked me was this: before he even got a call from the kidnappers, the local Police Chief called him on a cell phone. The chief told him that his brother had been kidnapped and even told him the ransom amount.

Moments later, the kidnappers themselves called with the location for the drop-off.

Who called the police?
How did the chief know the amount?

The implication was chilling.

The pastor was forced to walk into the forest alone, carrying an enormous ransom payment—completely unprotected. No escort. No security. No investigation. Just silence. No follow up once the brother was safe.

Christian Blood Is Spilling—and No President Has Truly Cared

Let’s be blunt. Christians are being beaten, imprisoned, and murdered across the globe. They are the most persecuted religion in the world.

• In India, Hindu mobs burn down churches and crush pastors under police silence.
• In Nigeria, Fulani Islamists hack Christians to death with machetes—night after night—while the government shrugs. Christians are kidnapped and ransomed with full knowledge of the police who probably collect a commission.
• In Pakistan, Christian girls are kidnapped, raped, and “converted” by force, and the courts protect the rapists.
• In China, crosses are torn down, pastors vanish, and the state rewrites the Bible.

Right now, over 380 million Christians—one in every seven believers on earth—are living under violent persecution and relentless discrimination.

In just the year 2023, 4,998 Christians were murdered simply for following Jesus—many butchered in villages across Nigeria. That same year, 14,766 churches and Christian schools were attacked, burned, or destroyed. (Source: persecution.org)

This isn’t ancient history. It’s happening now. Every. Single. Day.

And if we do nothing it will only grow like it has been.

1. No Other President Has Defended Christians Globally

• Barack Obama: Downplayed Christian genocide in the Middle East. His administration refused to call ISIS’s targeting of Christians “genocide” for months, even after public pressure.
• Joe Biden: Prioritizes LGBTQ rights and climate change in foreign aid—not Christian persecution. India and Nigeria have seen increased violence during his administration, with no meaningful consequences imposed.
• George W. Bush: Launched faith-based initiatives at home but didn’t pressure nations like Pakistan or Egypt to stop persecuting Christians. His foreign policy was focused on counterterrorism, not religious liberty.
• Bill Clinton: Signed the International Religious Freedom Act in 1998 but rarely enforced it. Gave China permanent trade relations despite horrific Christian and Falun Gong persecution.

The so-called “Christian” presidents of the past gave speeches. They made declarations. They expressed concern. But every two hours, a Christian was being killed somewhere in the world simply for following Jesus—and these presidents did nothing.

And none—none—used the full weight of American power to say:

“If you want American money, American weapons, or access to American markets—you will protect Christians. Or you get nothing.”

What If Trump Did It?

What if Donald J. Trump, the president so many elite evangelicals love to mock, became the first to tie real consequences to Christian persecution?

What if Trump stood in front of the UN and said:

“India, if you let mobs burn a single church or beat a single convert while the police stand by, you don’t get access to our tech markets. And no more H1 Visas.”
“Nigeria, if your army refuses to protect Christian villages from Fulani raiders, and if a single Christian gets kidnapped or one Christian is slaughtered, we cut your military aid. Immediately.”
“Pakistan, if your courts and police continue to even a single Christian girl to be kidnapped and raped with impunity, we cut off all military aid and block your next bailout and say goodbye to any visa to the US. And if you imprison one more believer over your blasphemy laws we will freeze every dollar of cooperation.”
“China, if one more pastor disappears, if one more cross is torn down, or if you dare forbid access to any Christian of the original unedited Bible, we sanction your tech companies, block your exports, and every Chinese Communist Party official is banned from setting foot in the United States.”
“And finally if any regime including the above dares kill or allow a single Christian to be killed for converting, your trade deals are dead on arrival.”

What would that do?

If would make those governments responsible for protecting Christians.

It would be something no American president in history has done. Not Reagan. Not Bush. Not Obama. Certainly not Biden.

The Critics Talk. Trump Acts.

Let’s be honest. The “Never Trump” crowd in Christian circles talks a lot about tone, civility, and witness.

But when it comes to standing up for actual Christians facing real persecution, their hands are empty. Their pulpits are safe. They have courage when it comes to bold statements in safe places—but not when it comes to saving actual lives.

Imagine the contrast.

While woke bishops in the West debate pronouns, Trump is the one holding Hindu nationalists and Islamic tyrants accountable for burning churches.

While progressive evangelicals scold Americans for “Christian privilege,” Trump is rescuing girls in Pakistan and stopping machetes in Nigeria.

It’s Not Just Policy—It’s Legacy

This is Reagan-level legacy. Bigger than tax cuts or trade deals.

• Reagan brought down communism.
• Trump could bring a shield over the global church.

He’d be remembered in house churches in Iran, hillsides in Nigeria, and underground congregations in China as the first American president who actually defended the cross.

For all the talk about “Christian values,” no one could deny this:

Trump didn’t just talk. He protected.

So Here’s the Question

If Trump does what no other president has dared—if he ties trade, aid, and diplomacy to the protection of Christians around the world—what excuse will the critics have left?

Will they still hide behind tone critiques and seminary credentials?
Will they still whisper about decorum while believers are butchered in silence?

Of course they will.

But one thing will be undeniable:
For all his flaws, Donald J. Trump will have done more to defend the global church than any American leader in living memory.

That young Egyptian convert deserved more than silence.
The persecuted Church deserves more than hashtags and prayer breakfasts.

It’s time someone in the White House made sure that silence never happens again.

And if Trump championed a bill in the House and Senate to tie all U.S. foreign aid and trade to the protection of Christians:

• No conservative senator could refuse to sign it without exposing themselves.
• Every coward who refused could be revealed as someone willing to abandon Christians to their deaths.
• It would be a no-lose situation—a moral spotlight no enemy of the Church could escape.
• At the next election, their opponents can run ads that say, “Democrat Senator X refused to sign a bill protecting persecuted Christians. Senator X was willing to let Christians die.”

Let them try to explain that to their voters. Let them squirm under the weight of moral clarity for once.

And no one could complain that the bill needs to include other religions—because Christians are by far the most persecuted religious group in the world. According to the best global data, they are imprisoned, tortured, raped, and killed in greater numbers than any other faith community. A focused bill would not exclude others from future protection, but it would finally address the one group most consistently ignored by politicians, the media, and even the Church.

Take Action Now

Send this article to everyone you know (see below)
Send it to your Republican Senators and Representatives.
Send it to your state legislators.
Send it to Charlie Kirk. Send it to Eric Metaxas. Send it to every conservative show host.

Let this be the start of a movement that no politician, pastor, or president can ignore.

It’s time to act.
It’s time to speak.
It’s time to defend the persecuted Church.

Before another Christian vanishes into silence.

Links

This article is at: https://open.substack.com/pub/mammen/p/what-if-trump-did-what-no-other-president

Find your reps email:
To your state rep: myreps.datamade.us
To your federal reps: myreps.datamade.us

Email it:
To Donald Trump: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
To Eric Metaxas: ericmetaxas.com/contact
To Charlie Kirk: https://www.tpusa.com/contactus/

Social Media:
Donald Trump: truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump
Eric Metaxas: Twitter/X: @ericmetaxas Instagram: @ericmetaxas Facebook: facebook.com/ericmetaxas
Charlie Kirk: Twitter/X: @charliekirk11 Instagram: @charliekirk1776 Truth Social: @charliekirk

Appendix: Objections

Objection 1: “You can’t interfere in other nations’ sovereignty.”
Response: Sovereignty is not a license for slaughter. If a nation takes U.S. money or wants access to U.S. markets, it must meet minimum moral standards. We already condition aid on labor, LGBT, and climate policies—why not on protecting human life?

Objection 2: “This singles out Christians. What about other persecuted groups?”
Response: Christians are the most persecuted group globally—by numbers, geography, and brutality. Defending them doesn’t exclude others; it prioritizes the most urgent and widespread need. We already defend Uyghurs and Yazidis. This finally balances the scale.

Objection 3: “This is Islamophobic or anti-Hindu.”
Response: No—it’s anti-persecution. This policy targets actions, not religions. If Christian mobs were raping and killing Muslims with state protection, we’d take action too. This isn’t about religion—it’s about protecting innocent lives from violence.

Objection 4: “This will hurt our economic or strategic interests.”
Response: Long-term economic and strategic interests depend on stability and justice. Nations that allow religious terrorism are not reliable partners. Moral clarity strengthens alliances and deters chaos.

Objection 5: “Foreign aid helps the poor. Cutting it will hurt civilians.”
Response: We don’t have to send aid through corrupt regimes. We can redirect it to trusted NGOs, churches, and on-the-ground partners who protect people directly—without enabling the tyrants.

Objection 6: “This is just political theater. It won’t change anything.”
Response: Sanctions and trade leverage do work. They brought down apartheid. They forced action in Hong Kong. Trump’s tariffs reshaped global trade. Using America’s economic power for justice isn’t theater—it’s overdue.

Objection 7: “Trump isn’t morally qualified to lead on religious liberty.”
Response: You don’t need to be perfect to do the right thing. Cyrus wasn’t a Jew. Constantine wasn’t a pastor. God uses flawed people to defend His people. What matters is results, not reputation.

Objection 8: “This could backfire and make persecution worse.”
Response: The silence of the West is what’s made persecution worse. Bold action doesn’t provoke—it deters. When the U.S. speaks with strength, tyrants pause. When we whisper or do nothing, Christians die.

Objection 9: “Religion has no place in foreign policy.”
Response: Every administration already moralizes foreign policy. Biden conditions aid on LGBT rights. Obama did it for climate. This isn’t new—it’s just the first time someone’s doing it for Christians.

Objection 10: “We already have religious freedom laws. This is redundant.”
Response: Those laws are meaningless without enforcement. This policy puts teeth behind what Congress already passed. We’ve had the talking points. What we’ve lacked is action.