Donald Trump is set to speak Saturday to a group of politically influential evangelicals who fiercely support him but would like to see the presumptive Republican presidential nominee promise to do more to restrict abortion.

Trump鈥檚 stated opposition to signing a nationwide ban on abortion and his reluctance to detail some of his views on the issue are at odds with many members of the evangelical movement, a key part of Trump鈥檚 base that鈥檚 expected to help him turn out voters in his November rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden.

While Trump nominated three of the Supreme Court justices who overturned a federally guaranteed right to abortion, he has argued supporting a national ban would hurt Republicans politically. About two-thirds of Americans say abortion should generally be legal, according to polling last year by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Ralph Reed, the founder and chairman of the Faith & Freedom Coalition that Trump will address Saturday, said people in his movement would like to see a federal ban on abortion and want Republican elected officials to be 鈥減rofiles in courage鈥� who are 鈥渁rticulating their strongly held pro-life views.鈥�

But, Reed said, Trump鈥檚 positions do not put him at risk of losing any of the deep support of evangelical voters who give him 鈥渕ore slack in the rope than they would likely give another politician.鈥�

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 going to hurt him at all because he鈥檚 got enormous credibility on this issue,鈥� Reed said. 鈥淗e did more for the pro-life and pro-family cause than any president we鈥檝e ever had in the history of the movement.鈥�

According to AP VoteCast, a wide-ranging survey of the electorate, about 8 in 10 white evangelical Christian voters supported Trump in 2020, and nearly 4 in 10 Trump voters identified as white evangelical Christians. White evangelical Christians made up about 20% of the overall electorate that year.

Beyond just offering their own support in the general election, Reed鈥檚 group plans to help get out the vote for Trump and other Republicans, aiming to use volunteers and paid workers to knock on millions of doors in battleground states.

While he still takes credit for the reversal of Roe v. Wade, Trump has also warned abortion can be tricky politically for Republicans. For months he deferred questions about his position on a national ban.

Last year, when Trump addressed Reed鈥檚 group, he said there was 鈥渁 vital role for the federal government in protecting unborn life鈥� but didn鈥檛 offer any details beyond that.

In April of this year, Trump said he believed the issue should now be left to the states. He later stated in an interview that he would not sign a nationwide ban on abortion if it was passed by Congress. He has still declined to detail his position on women鈥檚 access to the abortion pill mifepristone.

In 2016, white evangelical Christians were initially reluctant to support Trump and suspicious of his image as a twice-divorced New York City tabloid celebrity who had at one point described himself as 鈥渧ery pro-choice.鈥�

But his promises to appoint justices to the court that would overturn Roe, along with his decision in 2016 to name Mike Pence, an evangelical Christian, as his running mate, helped him gain the movement鈥檚 backing.

Several Republicans seen as potential running mates for Trump are also speaking at the conference, including New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, former presidential candidate and Trump Housing Secretary Ben Carson and Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake. Stefanik and Carson are among the Republicans who received vetting paperwork from the Trump campaign in recent weeks.

Reed said members of his coalition are watching them closely and looking for Trump to pick someone who shares his views.

鈥淲e鈥檙e looking for somebody who will be a champion, a pro-family and pro-life and pro-Israel champion. And we鈥檙e looking for someone who has the ability to bring some new folks into the fold and act as an ambassador for our values,鈥� he said.

Reed wouldn鈥檛 name any of the field as strongest or weakest, calling it 鈥渁n embarrassment of riches.鈥�

Later Saturday, Trump plans to hold an evening rally in Philadelphia.

Michelle L. Price, The Associated Press