At the 74th National Prayer Breakfast on February 5, 2026, President Trump falsely claimed he had gotten rid of the Johnson Amendment, the tax code provision that bans 501(c)(3) nonprofits, including churches, from endorsing or opposing political candidates. He then joked that he would revoke the tax-exempt status of religious leaders who criticize him. Per the official transcript: “Now, if you do say something bad about Trump, I will change my mind, and I will have—[laughter]—I will have your tax-exempt status immediately revoked. [Laughter]”
The Johnson Amendment remains in the tax code. During his first term in 2017, Trump signed an executive order directing the Treasury Department to give churches leeway on political speech, and in 2025 the IRS carved out a narrow exemption allowing a house of worship to endorse political candidates directly to its congregants.
The remark was delivered as a joke and drew laughter from the audience. Even in jest, it presents a neutral tax benefit as something the president could take away from religious leaders who criticize him personally.
Correction (October 2, 2026): This entry's title quoted Trump as saying “If You Say Something Bad About Trump, I Will Have Your Tax-Exempt Status Immediately Revoked,” which joins his words while dropping “I will change my mind” and the audience's laughter; the official transcript is now quoted in full, and the entry now says the remark was delivered as a joke. Characterizations of the remark as a flagrant First Amendment violation, a constitutional crisis and an authoritarian tactic were removed because the sources show a joke, not an enforcement action.