Amid rising tensions over US immigration enforcement, President Trump and the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Archbishop Paul Coakley, met at the White House on January 12.
The USCCB confirmed in a Facebook post that Archbishop Coakley met with the president and several other members of the Administration to discuss “areas of mutual concern.”
The last meeting between a US president and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops was back in 2017, when Trump briefly met with Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston.
Only two months ago, former USCCB president, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, stated in his exit interview that neither he nor his predecessor ever managed to schedule a meeting at the White House.
Trump's meeting with Coakley comes after increasing tensions over US immigration, which became more fraught last year and have spilled into the first weeks of 2026.
Within the first month of the second Trump administration, vice president J.D. Vance openly criticized the USCCB during disagreements between the two parties over federal funding for Catholic resettling of migrants.
This past November, following the increase in ICE raids across the United States, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops released a special video message to social media, speaking out against “indiscriminate mass deportation of people.”
When asked about this by the press at Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo responded by inviting “people of good will” to read and listen to the message from the USCCB.
While it is unknown how many details regarding the recent conversation between the archbishop and the US President will become public, the USCCB has emphasized their gratitude for the meeting and “looks forward to ongoing discussions.”
