Pope Leo XIV Responds as Trump Launches Blistering Attack on the Pontiff

As the Pope travels to Algeria, he tells reporters he has no fear of the Trump administration and will continue to preach the Gospel

“I am not afraid of the Trump administration,” Leo XIV has stated, after President Donald Trump issued a blistering media attack on the Pope, accusing him of being “weak” on crime, supporting Iran to have a nuclear weapon, and “catering to the radical left.”

“I have no fear of the Trump administration, nor speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel,” said Leo on the papal flight to Algeria this morning. “That’s what I am called to do and what the Church is called to do. We’re not politicians… But I do believe that the message of the Gospel ‘blessed are the peacemakers,’ is a message that the world needs to hear today.”

The Pope’s words were in response to a blistering attack made by President Trump against Leo just hours earlier – an event curious in itself given that Trump remained silent in the face of much more direct, personal, and frequent attacks against his policies by Pope Francis.

Late on Sunday night, Trump took to Truth Social to post a lengthy message attacking Leo XIV. The statement accused Leo of a wide range of issues, including supporting Iran, of opposing the MAGA movement, of criticizing America’s foreign intervention under Trump, while also being weak on “crime” and “nuclear weapons.”

The President attested that Leo was only elected last May “because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump.” According to Trump, if he were not president then “Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”

Trump’s full message is below:

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Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy. 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! 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, setting Record Low Numbers in Crime, and creating the Greatest Stock Market in History.

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.

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! President DONALD J. TRUMP

Continue Reading at Pelican Plus.

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Trump also posted an image to social media portraying himself as Christ healing a sick, bed-ridden man, while bald eagles and fighter jets fly through the sky, bedecked with a heavenly glow and an American flag.

Speaking to the press before boarding Air Force One last night, Trump defended his social media post, saying: “I don’t think he’s doing a very good job. He likes crime I guess. He’s worried about fear. What about fear when the ministers and priests and all of those great people were arrested during COVID, and in many cases they were outside 10 feet apart, and they were arrested – so we don’t like it.”

“We don’t like a pope that’s going to say that it’s okay to have a nuclear weapon,” continued Trump, “we don’t want a pope that says crimes is okay 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.”

With such references to Leo’s statements on the Iran war and US immigration policy, Trump added that Leo is “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 a fan of Pope Leo.”

The message comes against a backdrop of recent statements by Leo condemning the escalation of the Iran war, particularly in light of the warning Trump made during Easter Week of “civilization” wide destruction if Iran failed to open the Strait of Hormuz.

“This is truly not acceptable,” Leo said in response to a CNN media question about the threatened use of “civilization” destruction. “Here there are certainly questions of international law, but even more than this a question of morality for the good of people.”

The war, said Leo last Tuesday, “is only provoking more hatred throughout the world.”

Leo has consistently been opposed to the Iran war, urging national leaders to seek peace through dialogue. He has also robustly criticized the increasing destruction of areas of Lebanon: something which is crucially linked to the war given that Israel – a key instigator in getting America to strike Iran – launched numerous attacks into Lebanon killing hundreds of civilians. On April 12, Leo expressed his closeness to “martyred Lebanon” – yet another instance which appears to have angered Trump.

But another aspect is also to be considered, namely that on Sunday evening, just hours before Trump’s social media post, CBS 60 Minutes aired a program featuring a joint interview with three sitting U.S. cardinals: Joseph Tobin, Robert McElroy and Blase Cupich. The three cardinals are known to many Catholics for their not infrequent heterodoxy on doctrine, but Trump also would find himself at odds with them due to their position opposing his stance on immigration.

All three sided with Leo in describing the Iran war as unjust, before then moving on to criticize Trump’s immigration policy. Coming when it did, the interview will no doubt have served to further infuriate Trump and instigate his attack on the Pope.

While the three cardinals echo some of the more left-leaning talking points on the immigration issue – thus in juxtaposition to Trump – their condemnation of the war in Iran is by no means limited to the more liberal wing of the Church, but has been widely condemned across the board, especially in light of Trump’s threat of “civilization” wide destruction.

Unsurprisingly, Trump’s attack on the Pope has been widely condemned.

In a notably swift response, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley – president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops – responded to Trump via a media statement. “I am disheartened that the President chose to write such disparaging words about the Holy Father,” he said. “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.”

Montana State Rep. Lukas Schubert defended the Pope, writing that “Pope Leo is significantly further to the right than President Trump on abortion, gay marriage, and family values.”

Former close allies of Trump have also turned against him in recent days, due to his rhetoric on the Iran war. One such is Mexican actor and activist Eduardo Verastegui, who wrote that “attacking the Pope with personal disqualifications strengthens no one… and least of all the Catholic faith professed by millions.” In response to Trump’s picture, Verastegui echoed the thoughts of many others in labelling it as “blasphemy.”

Former White House speech writer Joshua Charles commented that “every Christian leader should demand the public repentance of President Donald Trump for his blasphemies before he presumes to rededicate our country to ‘God’ on May 17, 2026.”