President Donald Trump criticized Pope Leo XIV, accusing the pontiff of being “OK” with Iran having a nuclear weapon, following his public condemnation of the conflict in Iran.
“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy. He talks about 'fear' of the Trump Administration, but doesn’t mention the FEAR that the Catholic Church, and all other Christian Organizations, had during COVID when they were arresting priests, ministers, and everybody else, for holding Church Services, even when going outside, and being ten and even twenty feet apart,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Pope Leo responded to President Trump’s criticism, telling reporters that the Vatican’s calls for peace and reconciliation are derived from the Gospel.
“To put my message on the same plane as what the president has attempted to do here, I think is not understanding what the message of the Gospel is,” Pope Leo told The Associated Press (AP) aboard the papal plane while on his 11-day trip to Africa. “And I’m sorry to hear that but I will continue on what I believe is the mission of the church in the world today.”
“I’m not afraid of the Trump administration or of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel, which is what the Church works for,” Pope Leo additionally told reporters.
Pope Leo Condemns Iran War Over the Weekend
President Trump’s comments come after Pope Leo expressed that a “delusion of omnipotence” is what’s fueling the war in Iran.
“Enough of the idolatry of self and money!” Pope Leo remarked during an evening prayer in St. Peter’s Basilica. “Enough of the display of power! Enough of war!”
The pontiff’s statements were delivered on the same day the U.S. and the Islamic Republic began face-to-face negotiations in Islamabad, Pakistan.
President Trump's AI Generated Response
President Trump reportedly made a subsequent post in what appeared to be an Artificial Intelligence-generated image of himself wearing a biblical-style robe with his hand on the forehead of a man lying in a hospital bed, a picture that the AP wrote, “suggesting he had saint-like powers akin to those of Jesus Christ.”
