‘If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican’
By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Monday, April 13, 2026Pope Leo XIV shakes the hands and greets people of the press after an audience with thousands of journalists and media workers on May 12, 2025, at Paul VI Hall in Vatican City, Vatican. The audience with journalists has become a tradition among newly elected popes. | Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Pope Leo XIV has responded to President Donald Trump, who targeted him in a social media post for opposing the Iran War.
In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump described the pontiff as “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” According to Trump, “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.”
“I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA. He gets it, and Leo doesn’t!” Trump added. The president’s comments referred to the American-born pope’s brother, Louis Prevost, an outspoken supporter of the president who has criticized Democrats on social media and who visited the White House last year.
Trump’s comments did not go unnoticed by the pontiff. Speaking to NBC News on a flight to Algeria Monday, Leo addressed Trump’s criticism directly: “I have no fear of either the Trump administration or of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel. And that’s what I believe I am called to do and what the Church is called to do. We’re not politicians. We’re not looking to make foreign policy, as he calls it, with the same perspective that he might understand it.”
“I do believe that the message of the Gospel, blessed are the peacemakers, is a message that the world needs to hear today,” he proclaimed. In additional remarks aboard the papal plane, Leo told reporters, “I do not look at my role as being political. I don’t want to get into a debate with him.”
After expressing admiration for Prevost, Trump resumed his criticisms of the pontiff: “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 criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do.”
“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,” Trump insisted. “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.”
Trump concluded his post by calling on Leo to “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.” He maintained that “It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church!”
The president doubled down on his criticism of the pontiff when delivering remarks to reporters at Joint Base Andrews on Sunday. “I don’t think he’s doing a very good job,” Trump said. “I’m 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.”
During his remarks to the press on the papal plane, Leo also seemingly took issue with Trump’s insistence that God was blessing the war efforts in Iran: “I don’t think that the message of the Gospel is meant to be abused in the way that some people are doing.”
“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 of the problems,” he continued. “Too many people are suffering in the world today. Too many innocent people are being killed, and I think someone has to stand up and say ‘there’s a better way to do this.’”
Trump’s criticism of the pontiff comes after Leo disagreed with comments the president made at a press conference last week, where he said “I do” in response to a reporter’s question asking if he thought God supported the U.S. military actions in Iran.
The president shared his belief that “God is good and God wants to see people taken care of.”
“God doesn’t like what’s happening,” Trump added in response to the deal toll. “I don’t like what’s happening.”
In a post on X Friday, Leo wrote: “God does not bless any conflict. 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.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
