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U.S. President Donald Trump renewed his criticism of Pope Leo XIV in a Truth Social post, urging someone to tell the pontiff that Iran having a nuclear bomb is “absolutely unacceptable” and claiming that Iran has killed at least 42,000 unarmed protesters in the past two months.
In the post, Trump wrote: “Will someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent, completely unarmed, protesters in the last two months, and that for Iran to have a Nuclear Bomb is absolutely unacceptable. Thank you for your attention to this matter. AMERICA IS BACK!!! President DONALD J. TRUMP”
The new post marked Trump’s latest public attack on the pope after a wider clash over Iran, war and the pope’s calls for peace.
Earlier, Trump accused Pope Leo of being “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” and wrote that “if I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”
Speaking to reporters before the pope’s departure for Africa, Trump also said he was “not a fan of Pope Leo.”
“We don’t like a pope that’s going to say that it’s OK to have a nuclear weapon. … He’s a man that doesn’t think that we should be toying with a country that wants a nuclear weapon so they can blow up the world,” Trump said.
At Joint Base Andrews, Trump repeated his criticism, saying, “I’m not a big fan of Pope Leo,” and describing him as “a very liberal person” who “doesn’t believe in stopping crime.”
Pope Leo responded to Trump’s criticism by saying he had “no fear of the Trump administration” and would continue speaking out against war.
“I will not enter into debate. The things I say are not meant as attacks on anyone,” Pope Leo told reporters on the papal plane, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). “I am inviting all people to look for ways of building bridges of peace and reconciliation, of looking for ways to avoid war any time that’s possible.”
The pope said he would continue what he described as the mission of the Church in the world today.
“I have no fear of the Trump administration or speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do, what the church is here to do. We are not politicians; we don’t deal with foreign policy with the same perspective (as) he might understand it. But I do believe in the message of the Gospel, as a peacemaker,” he said.
Leo also said he did not want to directly engage in a debate with Trump.
“I don’t think that the message of the Gospel is meant to be abused in the way that some people are doing,” he said.
He added: “I will continue to speak out loudly against war, looking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateral relationships among the states to look for just solutions to problems.”
Trump’s attacks came after Pope Leo, the first American pope, became increasingly vocal about the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran.
Last week, the pontiff condemned Trump’s rhetoric and threats against the people of Iran as “truly unacceptable.”
The dispute has since widened across social media, public remarks and responses from both sides.
Trump also shared an AI-generated image of himself as Jesus Christ, later deleting it and saying it was meant to depict him “as a doctor making people better.”
In the Vatican’s first response to Trump’s criticism, Fr Antonio Spadaro said the U.S. president was targeting “a moral voice” as Leo prepared to begin a 10-day trip to four African countries.
Writing on X, Spadaro said Trump was attacking the pope because he “cannot contain it.”
“Trump doesn’t debate Leo; he begs him to retreat into a language that he can dominate. But the Pope speaks another language, one that refuses to be reduced to the grammar of force, of security, of national interest,” Spadaro said.
The Vatican response came as the clash between the pope and the U.S. president intensified over war, peace and Iran.
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