President Donald Trump criticized Pope Leo XIV on Sunday night, responding to recent remarks the pontiff made about Trump and his political agenda, particularly the war in Iran. Trump commented on Leo twice on Sunday, first in a social media post on his Truth Social account and then at Joint Base Andrews after departing Air Force One.
“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” Trump said in his Truth Social post. “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 further explained his criticism of the pontiff, stating that he differed with the pope on Iran potentially having nuclear weapons. He also criticized Pope Leo XIV regarding criticism of the United States military operation to remove former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro.
“I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon,” Trump 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.”
Trump echoed these sentiments upon arriving at Joint Base Andrews on Sunday night after traveling back from Florida.
“We don’t like a pope that’s going to say that it’s OK to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said to a pool of reporters at the air base. “We don’t want a pope that says crime is OK in our cities. I don’t like it. 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. 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.”
During a Saturday prayer at the Vatican, Pope Leo spoke out against the war in Iran. In a post on X on Saturday, Leo hinted at the violence in the Iran war, condemning “the demonic cycle of evil” and envisioning the “Kingdom of God … in which there is no sword, no drone…” in a reference to the technology used in the military conflict.
“Prayer teaches us how to act,” read Leo’s X post. “In prayer, our limited human possibilities are joined to the infinite possibilities of God. Thoughts, words and deeds then break the demonic cycle of evil and are placed at the service of the Kingdom of God. A Kingdom in which there is no sword, no drone, no vengeance, no trivialization of evil, no unjust profit, but only dignity, understanding and forgiveness.”
Trump also defended his positions in criticizing Leo, stating that he is doing what he was elected to do, before listing a string of his accomplishments during his second term. He then made several unsubstantiated claims of why Leo, then Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, was elected pope, claiming that it only happened because he was “an American” which was the “best way to deal with” Trump.
POPE LEO SLAMS ‘DEMONIC CYCLE OF EVIL’ BEHIND IRAN WAR DURING SERMON
“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,” Trump said. “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 then continued his criticism of the pontiff on several other matters, including mentioning the recent meeting between the pope and former Obama adviser David Axelrod.
“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,” Trump said in his post. “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!”
