President Donald Trump on Sunday accused Pope Leo XIV of being “terrible” on foreign policy as the pontiff continues to criticize the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and call for peace.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said Leo is “weak on crime” and “terrible” for foreign policy over his anti-war comments in recent weeks following the start of the war in the Middle East.
“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,” Trump wrote. “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,” he continued. “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 criticizes 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.”
The president went on to say that the pope “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,” he wrote. “If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”
“Unfortunately, Leo’s Weak on Crime, Weak on Nuclear Weapons, does not sit well with me, nor does the fact that he meets with Obama Sympathizers like David Axelrod, a LOSER from the Left, who is one of those who wanted churchgoers and clerics to be arrested. Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician. It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church!” he added.
Trump also told reporters on Sunday that he is “not a big fan of Pope Leo.”
“He’s a very liberal person, and he’s a man that doesn’t believe in stopping crime,” Trump said. “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. I’m not. I’m not a fan of Pope Leo.“
“I don’t think he’s doing a very good job. He likes crime I guess. We don’t like a pope who says it’s OK to have a nuclear weapon. We don’t want a pope that says crime is OK,” he added.
Responding to Trump’s comments, the head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops released a statement taking issue with the president’s criticisms of the pontiff.
“I am disheartened that the President chose to write such disparaging words about the Holy Father,” Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Archbishop of Oklahoma City, said in a statement. “Pope Leo is not his rival; nor is the Pope a politician. He is the Vicar of Christ who speaks from the truth of the Gospel and for the care of souls.”
This comes after Leo has repeatedly spoken out against the conflict in the Middle East and government officials who attempt to use the Bible to justify it.
“God does not bless any conflict,” Leo wrote in a social media post on Friday. “Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs. Military action will not create space for freedom or times of #Peace, which comes only from the patient promotion of coexistence and dialogue among peoples.”
Leo also said last month that God rejects the prayers of world leaders who wage war, saying they have “hands full of blood” and that the conflict is “atrocious.”
“This is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” Leo said at the time.
“[Jesus] does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying: ‘Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood’,” the pope added, citing a Bible passage.
POPE LEO CALLS OUT TRUMP’S IRAN RHETORIC BEFORE LAST-MINUTE CEASEFIRE EMERGES
Some U.S. officials, including Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, have used scripture in an attempt to justify the military attacks against Iran.
“Let every round find its mark against the enemies of righteousness and our great nation. Give them wisdom in every decision, endurance for the trial ahead, unbreakable unity, and overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy,” Hegseth said as he led a prayer at the Pentagon last month.
Referencing a Bible passage in which Jesus was about to be arrested ahead of his crucifixion and rebuked one of his followers for striking the person arresting him with a sword, Leo said Jesus “did not arm himself, or defend himself, or fight any war.”
“He revealed the gentle face of God, who always rejects violence. Rather than saving himself, he allowed himself to be nailed to the cross,” Leo said at the time.
