--- title: Donald Trump to Prioritize Persecuted Christians Refugees description: President Donald Trump told the Christian Broadcasting Network that he will help persecuted Christians under his new refugee policy canonical: https://time.com/4652367/donald-trump-refugee-policy-christians/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-27T21:53:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T03:00:19.901Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Says He Will Prioritize Persecuted Christian Refugees og:description: "We are going to help them" og:url: https://time.com/4652367/donald-trump-refugee-policy-christians/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt054d0f5588eb318a/6988b7a9f887dc64e2e98dbe/donald-trump-persecuted-christians.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: President Trump Holds News Conference With UK Prime Minister Theresa May og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Says He Will Prioritize Persecuted Christian Refugees twitter:description: "We are going to help them" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt054d0f5588eb318a/6988b7a9f887dc64e2e98dbe/donald-trump-persecuted-christians.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Says He Will Prioritize Persecuted Christians in Refugee Policy > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jan 27, 2017 9:53 PM UTC  President Donald Trump speaks during a joint news conference with Theresa May, U.K. prime minister, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 27, 2017. President Donald Trump speaks during a joint news conference with Theresa May, U.K. prime minister, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 27, 2017. Andrew Harrer—Bloomberg/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jan 27, 2017 9:53 PM UTC President Trump [told the Christian Broadcasting Network](http://www1.cbn.com/thebrodyfile/archive/2017/01/27/brody-file-exclusive-president-trump-says-persecuted-christians-will-be-given-priority-as-refugees) on Friday that he will help persecuted Christians under his new refugee policy, although he did not say whether he would do so for other religious groups. In an interview with David Brody, a popular evangelical newscaster on Christian television, Trump was asked if he will make persecuted Christians a priority. He said he would. “They’ve been horribly treated,” Trump said. “Do you know if you were a Christian in Syria it was impossible—at least very, very tough to get into the United States? If you were a Muslim, you could come in, but if you were a Christian, it was almost impossible. And the reason that was so unfair is that—everybody was persecuted in all fairness, but they were chopping off the heads of everybody, but more so the Christians. And I thought it was very, very unfair, so we are going to help them.” There were 37,521 Christian refugees admitted to the U.S. during fiscal year 2016—almost the same as the number of Muslim refugees (38,901) admitted to the U.S. during that time, according to a [data analysis by the Pew Research Center](http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/10/05/u-s-admits-record-number-of-muslim-refugees-in-2016/). Overall, more Christian refugees than Muslim refugees have been admitted to the U.S. since fiscal year 2002, according to [Pew](http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/10/05/u-s-admits-record-number-of-muslim-refugees-in-2016/). But in 2016—in the midst of the Syrian refugee crisis—Muslims made up a slightly larger percentage of refugees entering the United States. A 2010 estimate by Pew determined that Syria’s religious composition was 93% Muslim and 5% Christian. Trump is expected to [sign executive actions](http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/27/politics/trump-plans-to-sign-executive-action-on-refugees-extreme-vetting/index.html) that will limit the flow of refugees into the country and institute a policy of “extreme vetting.” In the portion of Brody’s interview released Friday, Trump was not asked about how he will prioritize Muslim refugees under his new plan. 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