Trump takes aim at Pope Leo again, days after calling him ‘weak on crime’
Pope Leo XIV answers questions about recent statements made by US President Donald Trump in Algeria during his flight to Algeria on April 13, 2026.
Matteo Pernaselci | Vatican Pool | Getty Images
US President Donald Trump once again directed his criticism of the Catholic priest to Pope Leo XIV, claiming that he was unaware of Iran’s oppressive actions against its own people.
“Can someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent, completely unarmed protesters in the last two months and that it is completely unacceptable for Iran to have a nuclear bomb?” Trump said. he said. Real Social post Just before midnight on Tuesday in America.
This comes after Trump attacked the Pope on Sunday and said he did not want a pope who criticized the US president.
Pope Leo called for a ceasefire and called for dialogue to resolve the Iran conflict, while Trump scolded him for criticizing US military actions against Iran and Venezuela.
“I have no fear of the Trump administration, I will continue to speak out against war, promote peace, promote dialogue and multilateral relations between states, and seek fair solutions to problems,” Leo told reporters on Monday.
Trump posted an AI-generated image of what appears to be Jesus Christ on Truth Social on Sunday; This drew swift condemnation from religious leaders and Democratic lawmakers and prompted a harsh response from the Vatican, which called the image “extremely disrespectful.”
“I don’t know if the president thought he was being funny, was under the influence, or what explanation he could come up with for this outrageous profanity,” wrote conservative Christian commentator Megan Basham. A post about the image in X.
Trump later deleted the image, claiming he intended to portray himself as a doctor. “I posted it and thought it was me as a doctor and it was about the Red Cross as a Red Cross worker that we support,” he told reporters at the White House.
Trump rejected reports that he introduced himself as Jesus and said, “Only ‘fake news’ can reveal this.” “As a doctor, I need to be the one to heal people,” he said. “And I make people better. I make people much better.”
— CNBC’s Dan Mangan contributed to this report.
