President Trump Nominates Franklin Graham’s Daughter for Key Religious Freedom Position

President Donald Trump has nominated the daughter of the Rev. Franklin Graham to lead his administration’s fight for religious freedom around the world.

“President Donald J. Trump has nominated my daughter Cissie Graham Lynch to serve as the United States Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom,” Graham announced on his Facebook page.

“Cissie is uniquely qualified for this — she has traveled the world and been a student of this issue for many years. She has a broad worldview and knowledge of the issues facing religious freedom today,” he wrote.

“If confirmed by the Senate, she will bring a passion for defending religious freedom to this office. I couldn’t be more proud of her, and I ask you to pray that God would give her wisdom and strength,” he wrote.

During Trump’s first term, Lynch was on his Executive Evangelical Advisory Board of Trump’s Faith Advisory Council, according to BillyGraham.org.

“If confirmed by the Senate, please pray that I would serve with excellence and make the most of every opportunity to protect our most precious and fundamental right—and one that far too many people around the world still live without—freedom of religion,” Lynch said in her official statement.

President Donald Trump has asked me to serve as the U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom.

I would consider it a great honor and privilege to do so.

If confirmed by the Senate, please pray that I would serve with excellence and make the most of every…

— Cissie Graham Lynch (@CissieGLynch) September 15, 2026

Lynch spoke at May’s Rededicate 250 prayer service, as noted by the Christian Post.

“I think people across the country — I can feel it, that there’s something deeply unsettled in our nation right now, and in the world,” she said then.

Cissie Graham Lynch joined us at #Rededicate250 with a powerful reminder: every generation before us has called on the Lord in their hour of need — and now it’s our turn.

As we mark 250 years of this nation, may we humble ourselves, return to Him, and find our strength where… pic.twitter.com/udPmvQ2gwk

— Freedom 250 (@Freedom250) May 17, 2026

“There’s anxiety, there’s division, confusion, anger. There’s just spiritual emptiness. We’re watching wars in the Middle East, war in Ukraine and just rising instability,” she said.

“I think our country is in trouble, and I think this is a great opportunity to come back to God and recognize that we need Him,” she said.

“I listen to my grandfather on SiriusXM — the Billy Graham channel — quite often, and he spoke of the problems that we face today. So many of these messages were 30 or 40 years ago, but you would think he was speaking to today’s politics and today’s culture, because there are no new problems,” she said.

“I think what my hope is for this event is that individuals be encouraged, that the churches would be encouraged to stand on God’s truth, to proclaim it with boldness and not to back down,” she said.

“But also to have a sense of urgency in the days that we’re living. People need to hear that God loves them, loves them so much that He sent His Son Jesus for them, and that there is hope in Him,” she said.

The nomination drew widespread praise.

“Congratulations to my fellow North Carolinian Cissie Jane Lynch on her nomination as Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom,” Republican Sen. Ted Budd of North Carolina posted on Facebook.

“She will do an incredible job combatting the war on faith around the world & championing our first & most fundamental right — freedom of religion,” he wrote.

“The right to live out our faith is God-given and fundamental to a free society. At a time when people around the world continue to face persecution for their beliefs, I am confident Cissie will be a strong defender of religious freedom,” Republican Rep. Mark Harris of North Carolina wrote on Facebook after praising Lynch’s nomination.

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