Which major Protestant denominations publicly opposed Trump policies and when?
Executive summary
Several major Protestant bodies — notably the Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church (USA), African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, the United Methodist Church (in parts), and other mainline and historically Black Protestant groups — publicly opposed multiple Trump administration policies in 2025, often by joining lawsuits and public statements challenging refugee freezes and immigration actions; these protests intensified in the first months of Trump’s second term and continued through 2025 as denominational leaders and coalitions mobilized [1] [2]. That pushback existed alongside continued, robust institutional and grassroots support for Trump from large swaths of white evangelicalism and allied movements like the New Apostolic Reformation, producing a clear denominational split in public religion-and-politics conflict [3] [4].
1. Which denominations took visible public action, and when
Beginning in January–March 2025 a coalition of faith groups and entire denominations — explicitly including the Episcopal Church and Presbyterian Church (USA), along with the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, several Baptist bodies, Mennonite Church USA, and others — filed or joined litigation and public demands challenging Trump administration actions such as the refugee resettlement freeze and other executive moves; reporting on March 20, 2025 documents at least 27 religious groups and entire denominations as plaintiffs in ongoing cases and injunction requests [1]. Independent faith-driven organizing tracks with Jim Wallis’s February 2025 account that more than a dozen Christian denominations and ecumenical bodies had united in lawsuits and public protest against what they called executive overreach, framing those actions as driven by people of faith across Christian and Jewish traditions [2].
2. How those denominations opposed specific policies
The forms of opposition were legal and political: denominations and faith-based agencies sought preliminary injunctions and joined lawsuits to recoup frozen refugee-resettlement funds and to challenge administration orders that curtailed refugee programs — actions recorded in March 2025 coverage of federal litigation and ongoing legal battles involving multiple faith plaintiffs [1]. Parallel to courtwork were public statements and organizing campaigns: clergy and denominational leaders issued condemnations, mobilized congregations, and joined ecumenical coalitions to contest immigration and refugee policy in early 2025 and afterward, as chronicled by substack and denominational outlets [2].
3. Which Protestant constituencies resisted or stayed aligned with Trump
While mainline and Black Protestant bodies largely opposed particular Trump policies and were active in litigation in 2025, white evangelical Protestants remained a core base of support for Trump: polling in April–May 2025 found 72% of white evangelical Protestants approved of his job performance and backed many administration actions, with contrastive majorities of Black Protestants disapproving [3]. Moreover, influential movement networks such as the New Apostolic Reformation provided theological and organizational support to Trump-era aims and were implicated in the movement’s political mobilization around 2020–2021 events, underscoring why institutional pushback from mainline denominations confronted a powerful pro-Trump religious infrastructure [4].
4. Why denominations diverged: theology, demography, and institutional missions
Mainline Protestant opposition often tied to denominational commitments to refugee resettlement, social-justice ministries, and institutional social teaching — explaining why agencies and whole denominations joined lawsuits to protect refugee programs in early 2025 [1] [2]. By contrast, the cohesion of white evangelical support for Trump reflects long-standing political alignment around issues such as judicial appointments and religious liberty, reinforced by movement leaders and networks that have become central to MAGA-era coalitions [3] [4]. Analysts and commentators also note demographic shifts — declines in mainline membership and divergent racial makeups of congregations — as factors shaping how different Protestant traditions relate to Trump-era policies [5] [6].
5. Arguments, agendas, and the political landscape ahead
Denominational opposition in 2025 was both principled (policy-based objections to refugee freezes and immigration enforcement) and strategic (using courts and public witness to defend institutional missions), but it encountered entrenched support for Trump within evangelicalism and allied movements, creating a religious fracture rather than a unified churchwide rebuke [1] [3] [4]. Some analysts see these fissures as opening the possibility of a broader faith-based coalition against parts of the MAGA agenda, particularly if Catholics and mainline Protestants cohere — a development observers flagged in late 2025 commentary as fragile but potentially consequential [7] [8].