President Donald Trump of the United States, US has lashed out at Pope Leo XIV for criticisng him over his attacks on Iran and Venezuela, saying the Catholic Pontiff is a rookie when it comes to foreign policy.
The US leader criticized Pope Leo in a post he shared on the Truth Social, a social media platform promoted by him. The Pope is from the US, the first from the country to have mounted that position in the Catholic church history.
Formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, the first American-born pope in the history of the Catholic Church, was elected on May 8, 2025. Born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1955, he is an Augustinian friar who previously served as a missionary and bishop in Peru, holding dual U.S. and Peruvian.
His relationship with President Trump has not been very rosy, as they share different political differences, particularly when it comes to global affairs.
The Pope had recently differed with President Trump on the ongoing war between US/ Israel and Iran, as the Catholic leader insist that the war is unnecessary, saying it has been trailed by human deaths.
But Trump differ with him, saying the Pope does not understand international politics, accusing him of being “weak’ and uninformed about “foreign policy”.
Trump said he disagreed with the Pope on the Iran nuclear programme as well as the US capture of President Maduro of Venezuela last year by US forces. The former Venezuelan leader is now standing trial in the US for multiple charges.
President Trump said he finds it unfathimable that the Pope is criticising him for performing his duty as US President, urging Leo to focus on his job as a pontiff instead of dabbling into politics, adding that Leo would not have been the leader of catholics globally if not for his help.
He said, “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 organisations, 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. I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA. He gets it, and Leo doesn’t.
“I don’t want a pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon. I don’t 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 and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers, into our country. And I don’t want a pope who criticises the president of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, in a landslide, to do, setting record low numbers in crime, and creating the greatest stock market in history.
“Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise. He wasn’t on any list to be pope and was only put there by the church because he was an American, and they thought that 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.”
Meanwhile, the magazine had earlier reported that the diplomatic talk brokered by Pakistan to end the war in the middle east, ended last week in Islamabad, the country’s capital without Washington and Tehran reaching an agreement, amidst fear globally that the two week ceasefire could end without any truce between the parties.
Amidt the deadlock, President Trump, on Sunday, ordered the US Navy to blockade the Strait of Hormuz as Iran tightens grip on the maritime passage way.
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