The confrontation between the church and the White House escalated dramatically on Sunday night when US President Donald Trump launched a scathing attack on Pope Leo XIV, calling him "weak" on crime and "terrible" for foreign policy.
Trump’s tirade came after Leo emerged as one of the most vocal critics of the US-Israeli war on Iran, which began on February 28. The Pope had referred to Trump’s threat of eliminating Iranian civilization as “unacceptable.”
“Pope Leo is WEAK on crime and terrible for foreign policy,” Trump said in a lengthy post on Truth Social.
“He talks about ‘fear’ of the Trump Administration, but doesn’t mention the FEAR that the Catholic Church, and all other Christian Organizations, had during COVID when they were arresting priests, ministers, and everybody else, for holding Church Services, even when going outside, and being ten and even twenty feet apart,” the post read.
Trump ramped up his attack on the Chicago-born pope, saying: “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon. I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a country that was sending massive amounts of drugs into the United States and, even worse, emptying their prisons—including murderers, drug dealers, and killers—into our country.”
Leo had condemned the US operation to capture Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and had made a forceful plea for a more peaceful world order. This prompted a sharp response from Washington, with Elbridge Colby, a senior Pentagon official, summoning Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the Vatican’s ambassador to the United States.
Trump’s rambling post came a day after Leo denounced the “delusion of omnipotence” and the “idolatry of self” that he believed was fueling the US-Israel war, apparently referring to the US president.
In his sharp response, Trump said: “I don’t want a Pope who criticises the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected to do—in a landslide—setting record-low crime numbers and creating the greatest stock market in history.”
What provoked the Trump administration, it is believed, was the Pope’s decision to appeal directly to American Catholics. He called on them to contact their congressional representatives and press for an end to the war. Through this unusual step, Leo effectively bypassed the White House and engaged directly with the domestic political process of another country.
Trump, meanwhile, lauded Leo's brother Louis Prevost, an outspoken supporter of the president. “I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA. He gets it, and Leo doesn’t!” he said.
“Leo should get his act together as Pope, use common sense, stop catering to the radical left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician,” the president ranted. He also shared an AI-generated image of himself as a Jesus-like figure.
