Trump Sucker Punches Catholic Conservatives – Twice.

Posted on | June 2, 2025 | 2 Comments

Mike Magee

If there is one thing we Catholic kids learned in what we used to call “Parochial School” was the look and feel of “schoolyard bullies.” They were recognizable from a distance and you gave them plenty of space because they were unpredictable. You could be standing there doing nothing, and the next thing you know they could haul off and sucker-punch you right in the face.

Trump grew up as a member of “the other team” – a mainline Protestant. In the 1959 photo above, the 13 year old in the top row, second from the left is Donald J. Trump, at his own First Presbyterian Church Confirmation Day picture in Jamaica, NY, 11 miles away from Trump Tower on the East River.

His mother was a devout Scot who gifted him a Bible on completion of Sunday School in the 9th grade. But deep dives by investigative journalists into his formal ties to religion found a “seeming lack of deep religious orientation. He doesn’t have a hometown church…” But not for lack of trying. Claims that he later suggested an affiliation with Norman Vincent Peale’s famous midtown Manhattan based Marble Collegiate Church were denied by the church and drew condemnation from Peale’s son.

Rev. Scott Black Johnston, pastor of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church (whose history dates back to 1808 and had a hand in the founding of the Princeton Theological Seminary, the American Bible Society, and New York Presbyterian Hospital), was a bit more diplomatic. Following a 2017 prayer session with the President at the White House, he remarked, “He is a Christian who’s what I would call a young Christian. He is early on this journey. He has not spent a lot of time exploring the faith.”

Trump’s current journey has carried him back to the school yard where he has sucker-punched the Catholic establishment not once, but twice in 2025.

Punch 1: Defunding USAID

On January 20, 2025, Trump by Executive Order issued a 90-day freeze on all foreign aid. In the process, he effectively gutted USAID, “the main international humanitarian arm of the U.S. government” which, in 2023, included $40 billion in combined appropriations (0.4% of the 2024 U.S. federal budget).

Approximately 2/3 of that funding goes to the Catholic Relief Services (CRS), an organization begun “during World War II to answer the call to serve migrants and refugees.” Since it’s beginning, CRS has been governed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Prior to Trump and Musk led defunding, it has supported 200 million people in 121 countries through thousands of projects “from emergency assistance to long-term transformational development.”

When you attack USAID and CRS, you are hitting especially close to Catholics hearts. USAID was created in 1961 by the first Catholic President, John F. Kennedy. Around 1000 parishes, dioceses and schools join the USAID in fund raising that contribute to CRS programs. When Trump and Musk attacked USAID and the CRS, the response from the Catholic top brass was immediate. On February 10th, the Vatican labeled the action as “reckless and could kill millions.”

This was in part a response to the USAID website being taken down, and the USAID building in DC shuttered by Secretary of State and Catholic Marco Rubio who was now declared the Acting Administrator of USAID. It took only four days for a U.S. district court judge to issue a temporary restraining order in American Foreign Service Association v. Trump, with seven more organizations joining in on February 11, 2025, in Global Health Council v. Trump. The USCCB also took the unusual step of suing Trump directly, asking the court to declare the “suspension of aid to refugees unlawful.”

Punch 2: Attacking Conservative Catholic Mega-Donor – as a “Sleazebag.”

Conservative Catholic leaders on May 30, 2025, woke to the news that the President had decided to label their most prominent and beloved financial and policy patron, lawyer Leonard Leo, a “sleazebag”, elaborating on social media that he is “a bad person who, in his own way, probably hates America, and obviously has his own separate ambitions.” As if that wasn’t enough, he included the veiled threat “This is something that cannot be forgotten!”

This was in response to the U.S. Court of International Trade’s federal judge panel ruling that the President’s tariffs were unlawful. A Trump spokesperson took a scorched earth approach, declaring on the day of the decision, “It is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency. (The President will) use every lever of executive power to address this crisis.” Then things got really personal.

Leonard Leo is not used to being punched in the face. He co-chairs the Federalist Society and is the chairman of the uber-conservative PR firm, CRC Advisors, where he is credited with having a hand in the appointment of Catholic friendly Supreme Court Justices Roberts, Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch, Coney Barrett, and Kavanaugh.

In addition to traditional corporate clients like GM, Chevron, and the Walt Disney Company, CRC Advisors has a litany of Catholic clients beginning with the USCCB, but extending deeply into a wide range of religious freedom advocacy organizations.

Leo himself is a member of the Knights of Malta, described as “a lay religious order of the Catholic Church dating back to the 12th century, and he and his wife, Sally, were named Stewards of St. Peter, an honor given by the Papal Foundation to those who donate $1 million or more to the Vatican.” Add to that board positions at the Catholic University of America, the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, the Catholic Association and its affiliated Catholic Association Foundation,The Becket Law Fund, the Napa Legal Institute, and the Ethics and Public Policy Center.

Trump is likely believing that a professional like Leo can take a hit in stride, and that delivering a message to Supreme Court patrons, most especially Roberts and Coney Barrett, is worth the risk. But angering a person like Leo, and those who adore him, and humiliating Supreme Court Justices could carry a hefty price.

Like the rest of us, all these power players grew up in the same rough and tumble school yards that we did. And beyond being able to recognize a bully from a distance, we also learned to hold a grudge when bruised, and orchestrate pay-back that had been well-earned. We Catholics made a sacrament out of forgiving, but the Sacrament of Penance never required that we forget.

______________________________________________

By the way, when it comes to cutting Medicaid, in many Catholic hospital systems, 1/4 of revenues come from Medicaid reimbursement.

Comments

2 Responses to “Trump Sucker Punches Catholic Conservatives – Twice.”

Denise Giannascoli Link
June 3rd, 2025 @ 9:38 am

As a practicing Catholic, I would welcome change if US Catholics (who should be for ALL the social issues the Catholic Church stands for) would unite against Trump, his administration, and the sycophants in SCOTUS and Congress who profess to be “christian”. They are enablers in the war that is being waged against the poor, marginalized, and innocent people in our country and worldwide.

I am not holding my breath.
Mike Magee
June 3rd, 2025 @ 9:59 am

Thanks for your thoughtful comment, Denise. I remain hopeful that there lies ahead a reawakening of basic foundational values that were (and are) the anchors of so many American families. The challenge is connecting these common instincts in a severely fragmented and distracted world addicted to entertainers and distracters like Trump. Best, Mike