Pope Leo XIV waves to the crowd from the Popemobile after Easter Mass as part of Holy Week celebrations in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican on April 5, 2026.
Alberto Pizzoli | AFP | getty images
President Donald Trump on Sunday criticized Pope Leo XIV over the American-born Roman Catholic pontiff’s criticism of the US war in Iran.
The president said he “doesn’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing what I was elected to do, all of a sudden,”. true social Post.
Trump linked the Pope’s ascension to his return as president.
“Leo should be grateful because, as everyone knows, he was a wonderful surprise,” Trump said. “He was not on any list to be Pope, and the Church only put him there because he was an 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 said Leo “is weak on crime, weak on nuclear weapons, that doesn’t sit well with me, nor does the fact that he meets Obama supporters like David Axelrod, a loser on the left, who is one of the guys who wanted churchgoers and clerics arrested,” referring to a recent meeting Between the Pope and a former political ally of President Barack Obama.
The first US-born Pope Leo, who lives in Chicago, has condemned Trump’s war effort with Iran.
Leo said on Saturday, “Enough of the idolatry of self and wealth! Enough of displays of force! Enough of war! True strength is found in serving life.” CBS News.
The Pontiff also said that “really unacceptableTrump recently threatened to destroy “the entire civilization” in Iran.
Leo also used his Easter message to call for peace.
“Those who have weapons should give them up! Let those who have the power to wage war choose peace! Not a peace imposed by force, but through negotiation! Not out of a desire to dominate others, but out of a desire to confront them!” He said.
Leo and other church leaders have also at times been sharply critical of Trump’s domestic immigration policies.
The Pontiff endorsed a message of November United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Who said they are “troubled when we see a climate of fear and anxiety among our people regarding questions of profiling and immigration enforcement.”
“We the bishops advocate meaningful reform of our nation’s immigration laws and procedures,” the bishops wrote. “Human dignity and national security are not in conflict. Both are possible if people of good will work together.”