President Donald Trump attacked Pope Leo XIV on Sunday in a sprawling Truth Social post that began as a fight over Iran and quickly became something bigger: a sustained assault on the pope's legitimacy, his politics, and his right to speak at all.
Trump accused Leo of hypocrisy, questioned his political neutrality, and dismissed his selection outright: "He was a shocking surprise. He wasn't on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American." No sitting U.S. president had gone after the pope like this in modern memory.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 13, 2026
"Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy," Trump wrote. "He talks about 'fear' of the Trump Administration, but doesn't mention the FEAR that the Catholic Church … had during COVID…"
The post ranged well beyond Iran. Trump invoked pandemic-era restrictions on churches, U.S. policy toward Venezuela, and Leo's recent meeting with David Axelrod, the Democratic strategist and former senior adviser to President Obama. That meeting, Trump argued, proved Leo had crossed into partisan politics and disqualified him from weighing in on U.S. foreign policy.
"I don't want a Pope who thinks it's OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon," Trump wrote.
Hours later, back in Washington, he kept going. Leo was "a very liberal person," Trump told reporters. "I'm not a fan."
The confrontation had been building for days. Leo, the first American ever elected pope, had steadily sharpened his criticism of the conflict, calling the violence "absurd and inhuman," warning against escalation, and pushing back on what he described as the weaponization of religious language to justify war. He had already called Trump's threat to destroy Iranian civilization "truly unacceptable." He wasn't questioning tactics. He was rejecting the entire logic of retaliation.
God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs. Military action will not create space for freedom or times of #Peace, which comes only from the patient…
— Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex) April 10, 2026
Leo didn't blink. Speaking to reporters the next day, en route to Africa, he was direct.
"I have no fear of the Trump administration," he said. "I will speak loudly of the message of the Gospel."
The broader Catholic establishment lined up behind him. The Vatican rejected Trump's framing outright, calling for respectful dialogue and reaffirming that the pope is the Vicar of Christ, not a partisan figure. Archbishop Paul S. Coakley echoed that view, defending Leo's right to speak on war and human dignity as a matter of spiritual leadership. It was not the first time the Holy See had rebuffed the administration. Earlier this year, the Vatican declined to join Trump's proposed "Board of Peace."
In the end, Trump didn't just disagree with Leo. On Truth Social, he tried to own him. "If I wasn't in the White House, Leo wouldn't be in the Vatican," he wrote. Then came the closing lecture: "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."
Trump escalated it. Leo didn’t retreat. This isn’t over.
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