Donald Trump launches extraordinary attack on Pope Leo calling him ‘weak’ and ‘terrible’ | Pope Leo XIV
President Donald Trump launched an extraordinary attack on Pope Leo XIV on Sunday night, saying he didn’t think the US-born leader of the Catholic church was “doing a very good job” and “a very liberal person” while also suggesting that the pope should “stop serving the Radical Left.”
Trump, who returned to Washington from Florida, used a lengthy social media post to harshly criticize Leo, then followed it up in comments to reporters on the tarmac.
“I’m not a fan of Pope Leo,” he said.
Trump’s comments came after Leo suggested over the weekend that the “illusion of omnipotence” was fueling the US-Israeli war in Iran. While it is not uncommon for popes and presidents to have cross-purposes, it is extremely rare for the pope to criticize a US leader, and Trump’s harsh response is equally rare.
“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime and Terrible on Foreign Policy,” the President said in his post, adding: “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s okay for Iran to have Nuclear Weapons.”
He repeated this thought in his comments to journalists, saying: “We do not like a pope who says it is okay to have nuclear weapons.”
Leo presided over an evening prayer in St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday; the same day, the United States and Iran began face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan amid a fragile ceasefire. The pope did not mention the United States or Trump by name, but his tone and message appeared to be directed at Trump and US officials, who boast about US military superiority and justify the war in religious terms.
The Pope, who is scheduled to depart for an 11-day trip to Africa on Monday, has previously said that God “does not listen to the prayers of those who make war, he rejects them.” He also references an Old Testament passage from Isaiah, saying: “Though you pray much, I will not listen to you; your hands are full of blood.”
When Trump, before the ceasefire, warned of mass attacks on Iran’s power plants and other infrastructure and that “an entire civilization will die tonight,” Leo called such sentiments “truly unacceptable.”
But in a social media post Sunday night, Trump went well beyond the war in Iran in criticizing Leo.
“I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America is attacking Venezuela, a country that sends large quantities of drugs to the United States,” the president wrote. This was a reference to the Trump administration’s ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January.
“I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected to do, in a landslide,” Trump said, referring to his 2024 election victory.
He also suggested in the post that Leo only got into this position “because he’s American and they thought it 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 act as Pope, use his Common Sense, stop serving the Radical Left, and focus on being the Great Pope, not the Politician. This hurts him badly and more importantly, it hurts the Catholic Church!”
In statements to reporters afterward, Trump remained highly critical, saying, “I don’t think he’s doing a very good job. I think he enjoys crime,” adding, “He’s a very liberal person.”
In the 2024 election, Trump won 55% of Catholic voters, according to AP VoteCast, a comprehensive survey of voters. But the Trump administration also has close ties to conservative evangelical Protestant leaders and has claimed to heavenly support war against Iran.
Defense secretary Pete Hegseth called on Americans to pray for victory “in the name of Jesus Christ.” And when Trump was asked if God approves of war, he replied: “I think so, because God is good; because God is good and God wants to see people taken care of.”
