Trump criticizes Pope Leo XIV over Iran war stance
US President Donald Trump strongly criticized Pope Leo XIV on Sunday evening, condemning his position on the Iran war and calling him “terrible for foreign policy.”
“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 told journalists, adding, “I’m not a fan of Pope Leo,” News.Az reports, citing CNN.
Leo, the first American pope, has become increasingly vocal about the US and Israel’s war with Iran, last week condemning Trump’s rhetoric and threats against the people of Iran as “truly unacceptable.”
That comment was prompted by Trump’s threat that “a whole civilization will die tonight” in the hours before a two-week ceasefire with Iran was struck.
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Both Trump and his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, have invoked God in public messaging during the conflict, with Hegseth framing the war effort as divinely supported and even using scriptural justification.
Leo has pushed back against this idea.
“Jesus is the king of peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” he said on Palm Sunday. “He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war but rejects them.”
The president’s remarks about the pope on Sunday night came shortly after he posted a similar lengthy critique of the pontiff on Truth Social.
“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” Trump wrote, going on to say he doesn’t want a pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon or who thinks it’s “terrible that America attacked Venezuela.”
By Nijat Babayev
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