US President Donald Trump has publicly criticised Pope Leo XIV, escalating tensions between the White House and the Vatican over the ongoing US-Israel war involving Iran.
Speaking to reporters after returning to Washington from Florida, Trump said he was “not a fan” of the US-born pontiff and accused him of taking a liberal stance on global security issues.
Trump’s remarks came after Pope Leo XIV suggested over the weekend that a “delusion of omnipotence” was fuelling the US-Israel war in Iran, and called for restraint and dialogue.
Responding in a lengthy social media post and later to reporters, Trump said the pope was “not doing a very good job” and described him as “a very liberal person,” urging him to “stop catering to the Radical Left.”
“Pope Leo is weak on crime and terrible for foreign policy,” Trump wrote, adding, “I don’t want a pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”
Trump repeated the claim while speaking to journalists, saying the US does not want a pope who appears to support Iran having nuclear weapons.
The exchange marks a rare and unusually direct public clash between a US president and the head of the Catholic Church, particularly as Pope Leo XIV is the first American-born pontiff. (Newswire)