Trump lambasts Pope Leo XIV : NPR
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, April 12, 2026, after returning from Miami.
Julia Démarée Nikhinson/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Julia Démarée Nikhinson/AP
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump launched an extraordinary offensive against Pope Leo
Returning to Washington from Florida, Trump used a lengthy social media post to sharply criticize Leo, then continued after disembarkation, in comments on the tarmac to reporters.
“I’m not a fan of Pope Leo,” he said.
Trump’s comments come after Leo suggested over the weekend that an “illusion of omnipotence” was fueling the US-Israeli war in Iran. While it’s not unusual for popes and presidents to be contrarians, it’s extremely rare for the pope to directly criticize an American leader — and Trump’s scathing response is just as rare, if not more so.
“Pope Leo is WEAK on crime and terrible on foreign policy,” the president wrote in his message, adding: “I do not want a pope who thinks it is acceptable for Iran to have nuclear weapons.”
He repeated that sentiment in comments to reporters, saying: “We don’t like a pope who says it’s OK to have a nuclear weapon. »
Trump later posted a photo suggesting he had holy powers similar to those of Jesus Christ. Wearing a biblical-style robe, Trump places his hands on a bedridden man as light emanates from his fingers, while a soldier, a nurse, a praying woman and a bearded man in a baseball cap look on in awe. The sky above is filled with eagles, an American flag and wispy images.
All this happened after Leo led an evening prayer service in St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday, the same day the United States and Iran began face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan in a fragile ceasefire. The pope did not mention the United States or Trump by name, but his tone and message appeared to be aimed at Trump and U.S. officials, who boast of American military superiority and justify the war in religious terms.
Leo – who is due to leave on Monday for an 11-day trip to Africa – has previously said that God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them”. It also references a passage from Isaiah from the Old Testament, saying that “even if you pray many prayers, I will not listen – your hands are full of blood.”
Before the ceasefire, when Trump warned of massive strikes against Iranian power plants and other infrastructure and that “an entire civilization was going to die tonight,” Leo called those sentiments “truly unacceptable.”
However, in his social media post Sunday evening, Trump went well beyond the Iran war in criticizing Leo.
The president wrote: “I don’t want a pope who finds it terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a country that was sending massive amounts of drugs to the United States. » This was a reference to the fact that the Trump administration ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January.
“I don’t want a pope criticizing the president of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected to do, IN A LANDSLIDE,” Trump added, referring to his 2024 election victory.
He also suggested in his post that Leo got his job “because he was American and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump.”
“If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican,” Trump wrote, adding, “Leo should get his act together as pope, use some common sense, stop pandering to the radical left, and focus on being a great pope, not a politician. This hurts him greatly, and more importantly, it hurts the Catholic Church!”
In subsequent comments to reporters, Trump remained highly critical, saying of Leo, “I don’t think he’s doing a very good job. He likes crime, I guess,” and adding, “He’s a very liberal person.”
Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued a statement saying he was “disheartened” by Trump’s comments.
“Pope Leo is not his rival; the pope is not a politician either. He is the Vicar of Christ who speaks from the truth of the Gospel and for the care of souls,” Coakley said.
In the 2024 election, Trump won 55% of Catholic voters, according to AP VoteCast, an extensive survey of the electorate. But the Trump administration also has close ties to conservative evangelical Protestant leaders and has claimed heavenly support for the war against Iran.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth urged Americans to pray for victory “in the name of Jesus Christ.” And when Trump was asked if he thought God approved of war, he replied: “Yes, because God is good – because God is good and he wants people to be taken care of.” »
