It’s been 100 days since Donald Trump returned to the White House, and it’s been anything but quiet.
In that time, his administration has unleashed a flurry of activity — over 130 executive orders, more than 200 lawsuits, and some major shakeups in government policy.
Among the many groups watching closely are America’s Catholics, a key voting bloc that supported him by double digits last November.
While some of Trump’s actions have been warmly welcomed by Catholic leaders and pro-life groups, others have sparked concern, legal challenges, and even outright backlash.
Let’s unpack where things currently stand.
Pro-Life Efforts Applauded — But IVF Support Sparks Concern
One of the biggest areas of Catholic praise has come from Trump’s strong pro-life agenda.
Joseph Meaney, a senior fellow at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, says Trump has “done almost everything he could” to undo President Biden’s abortion-related policies.
That includes reinstating the Mexico City Policy, which blocks U.S. funding for international groups that promote abortion, and backing the Hyde Amendment, which prevents federal money from directly funding abortion services.
Trump also froze funds to Planned Parenthood and joined the Geneva Consensus Declaration — a coalition of countries standing for pro-life and pro-family policies.
But it’s not all applause. Many in the Catholic pro-life community were caught off guard when Trump signed an executive order to expand access to in vitro fertilization (IVF).
Meaney called it “highly objectionable” from a pro-life perspective, arguing that IVF often involves the destruction of embryos and lacks proper ethical safeguards.
Religious Freedom and Gender Policies Get a Conservative Reboot
On the religious liberty front, many Catholic leaders say Trump has delivered — and then some.
Peter Breen, from the Thomas More Society, called the administration’s work “lightning speed” compared to Trump’s first term.
The White House re-established a Faith Office and launched a task force to root out anti-Christian bias in federal policy.
This was in direct response to rules from the Biden era that threatened to strip contracts from Catholic hospitals and foster care providers unless they performed abortions or placed children with same-sex couples.
Trump also made a strong move against gender ideology. One executive order officially defined a “woman” as an “adult human female,” rolling back policies that allowed people to self-identify their gender for legal purposes.
He further clarified that Title IX should protect women’s sports and private spaces like locker rooms based on biological sex, not gender identity.
Education Reform Draws Praise from Catholic Thinkers
Another major shakeup came in the education sector. Trump signed an order to scale back — and eventually eliminate — the U.S. Department of Education.
To some Catholic scholars, this was a major win.
Susan Hanssen, a history professor at the University of Dallas, said Trump’s move empowers parents and brings education closer to the local level.
She believes it aligns with Catholic social teaching by putting families — not federal bureaucrats — in the driver’s seat when it comes to their children’s education.
Hanssen also pointed out how deeply the education system had been influenced by progressive ideologies, from critical race theory to LGBTQ advocacy.
For her, dismantling that system was urgent and necessary.
Immigration Policies Put Trump at Odds with Catholic Leaders
If there’s one area where Trump has butted heads with Catholic leadership, it’s immigration.
The president’s push for mass deportations and his decision to freeze funding for organizations that help resettle migrants have drawn strong criticism — and even lawsuits.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) sued the administration after Catholic NGOs lost federal contracts that supported their migration programs.
These cuts forced Catholic Charities agencies to downsize and lay off staff.
Julia Young, a historian at The Catholic University of America, called the move a serious blow to the Church’s century-old mission to support immigrants and refugees.
Still, she said Catholic organizations will continue that work, even with fewer resources.
International Aid Cuts Hit Catholic NGOs Hard
Trump also put a halt to much of the U.S. foreign aid budget, another move that rippled through Catholic relief efforts.
Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) spokeswoman Bridget Cusick said the funding freeze had “immediate negative consequences” for those fleeing violence and persecution.
JRS had to suspend operations in nine countries and drastically scale back support for more than 100,000 people, including unaccompanied children.
While two of the programs were later reinstated, the damage was done.
Cusick worries that the U.S. and other wealthy nations are turning their backs on a growing global refugee crisis, even as over 120 million people remain displaced worldwide.
Supporters Say Aid Cuts Targeted Problematic Programs
Not everyone sees the aid cuts as harmful. Hanssen noted that some of the foreign aid programs promoted ideologies that clashed with Catholic teaching — including population control, gender theory, and leftist political agendas.
She argued that agencies like USAID had become tools for “ideological colonization,” pressuring Catholic-majority nations in Africa and Latin America to conform to progressive values in exchange for aid.
To her, the freeze on such programs was a win for religious and cultural autonomy.
What’s Next for Trump’s Catholic Agenda?
As Trump’s second term unfolds, Catholic leaders will continue to watch closely.
Joseph Meaney, for one, hopes the administration will soon move to re-regulate the abortion pill mifepristone, which he calls “the No. 1 issue” in the pro-life space today.
Religious liberty groups are also focused on enforcement — making sure agencies stick to the president’s directives.
And Catholic NGOs are grappling with how to serve migrants and refugees without government funding.
Whether seen as a champion or a challenge, Trump’s second term is already leaving a lasting mark on how Catholic values intersect with American policy.