US3 min(s) read
Published 08:49 13 Apr 2026 GMT
Trump's scathing response to Pope Leo after pontiff's criticism over Iran war
President Donald Trump has criticized Pope Leo XIV in a recent social media post, branding him as "weak" while disagreeing with his political stance.
This comes after a report emerged, which claimed that a meeting between a Catholic official and the Pentagon had not ended well, having a detrimental effect on the relationship between Trump and the Pope.
There were then claims that Pope Leo, real name Robert Francis Prevost, would not be visiting the US while the Trump Administration was in office, despite being born in Chicago.
Now, the President has taken to Truth Social to call the Pope out on his views on the Iran war, immigration, and other topics, as he admitted that he likes his brother Louis "much better than I like him," due to his support of MAGA.
This latest turn of events means that there is some truth to claims that the US president and the head of the Catholic Church now have a fractured relationship.
Trump's scathing post about the Pope
Speaking on the social media platform, Trump said: "Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy. 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.
"I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA. He gets it, and Leo doesn’t!"
The President went on, claiming that he didn't want a Pope who advocated for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, or one "who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela".
He then described the nation as one which was sending "massive amounts of Drugs into the United States and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers," into the US.
“And I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do, setting Record Low Numbers in Crime, and creating the Greatest Stock Market in History," Trump further claimed.
Pope Leo's condemnation of the Iran war
Speaking during his Palm Sunday address in Rome, the pontiff did not mention Trump by name, but criticized the “idolatry of self” and “delusion of omnipotence” involved in the US-Israel war on Iran.
He called for government officials on both sides to stand down, preaching that God doesn't hear prayers from world leaders with “hands full of blood” or those “who wage war.”
“Even the holy Name of God, the God of life, is being dragged into discourses of death,” Leo said of those who may use God's name in vain in the context of war.
The Pope has opposed Trump's views on immigration and war since the conflict in the Middle East started in February, with it being reported that the former turned down an invitation to join the President for the US' 250-year celebrations in July.