Donald Trump Slams Pope Leo XIV as 'Weak' on Crime and Foreign Policy

United States President Donald Trump launched an extraordinary public attack on Pope Leo XIV, accusing the first American-born pontiff of being "weak" on crime and "terrible" on foreign policy, in a series of posts on his Truth Social platform and in comments to journalists at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington on Sunday. Trump stated plainly that he is "not a fan of Pope Leo" and accused the head of the Catholic Church of "caving to the Radical Left," defending immigrants, and opposing American military actions in Iran and Venezuela. The remarks represent one of the sharpest public confrontations between a sitting United States president and a reigning pope in modern times. Trump's broadside came after Pope Leo XIV, speaking at the Vatican on Saturday, described the kingdom of God as a "bastion against the illusion of omnipotence that surrounds us and becomes increasingly unpredictable and aggressive" — a phrase widely interpreted as a rebuke of Washington's military posture. The pope had also earlier called for peace in Iran and an end to the "madness of war," and asked "all people of good will to always seek peace and not violence, to reject war, especially a war that many have said is unjust."

Trump claims credit for Leo XIV's election to the papacy In his Truth Social post, Trump went beyond policy disagreements and made the personal claim that Pope Leo XIV owed his election to the fact that Trump occupied the White House. "They felt it was the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump," Trump wrote, suggesting that without his presence in the White House, Leo XIV would not be in the Vatican. Trump also expressed a clear preference for the pope's brother, Louis Prevost, over the pontiff himself, writing that Louis "is fully MAGA" and "gets it." Trump concluded the post with a direct instruction to the head of the Catholic Church. „Leo should get his act together as Pope, use common sense, stop caving to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, rather than a politician. It is hurting him very badly, and more importantly, it is hurting the Catholic Church!” — Donald Trump via polsatnews.pl When journalists at Andrews Air Force Base pressed Trump on the reasons for the post, he replied that he believes Leo "is not doing a good job" and "apparently likes crime," pointing specifically to the pope's defense of immigrants and calling him "very liberal."

Pope criticized US military framing and Secretary of Defense Hegseth The Vatican's friction with the Trump administration had been building for weeks before Sunday's outburst. Pope Leo XIV had previously criticized the US-Israeli war on Iran and called on world leaders to "sit at tables of dialogue and mediation." According to La Vanguardia, the pope also specifically criticized Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth for framing the Iran war in Christian terms. Leo XIV had also urged world leaders to "guarantee the sovereignty" of Venezuela after the capture of Nicolás Maduro, a stance Trump directly attacked in his post, writing that he does not want a pope who thinks "it's terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a country that was sending massive amounts of drugs into the United States." Trump also accused the pope of believing it is acceptable for Iran to possess nuclear weapons, a characterization the Vatican has not confirmed. The CBS television network aired a segment on Sunday featuring three American cardinals who assessed that the war with Iran does not meet the criteria of a just war under Catholic doctrine.

Cardinals call ICE "lawless" as Vatican-Washington rift deepens The public clash between Trump and Leo XIV reflects a broader deterioration in relations between Washington and the Holy See since the start of Trump's second term. Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the Archbishop of Newark, described the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency as a "lawless organization" in comments aired by CBS, adding to a chorus of American Catholic voices critical of the administration's immigration policies. Trump, in his post, also raised the COVID-19 pandemic, accusing the Catholic Church of failing to speak out when "priests, clergy, and everyone else were arrested for holding services" — though he did not specify where or when such arrests occurred, according to reporting by La Vanguardia. The attack on the pope also followed what sources described as an unprecedented call by the Pentagon, though reporting on that episode was incomplete in available sources. According to Wprost, Trump additionally posted on Truth Social an artificial intelligence-generated image depicting himself in a white robe as Jesus, an act that drew widespread attention. Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost on September 14, 1955, is the first pope born in the United States and the first to hold either US or Peruvian citizenship. He is also the first pope from the Order of Saint Augustine to lead the Catholic Church. Leo XIV was elected in May 2025, succeeding Pope Francis, who died on April 21, 2025. The US-Israeli military offensive against Iran, known as Operation Epic Fury, began on February 28, 2026, and resulted in the death of then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in its initial strikes.