Trump’s History Of Clashes With Popes As President’s Feud With Leo Escalates

President Trump has characterised Pope Leo XIV arsenic “WEAK” connected crime and “terrible” connected overseas policy, marking conscionable nan latest successful a drawstring of clashes betwixt nan president and nan pontiffs.

Last week, Pope Leo described Trump’s informing that an “entire civilization will dice tonight”, referring to Iran, arsenic “truly unacceptable.” The pope besides suggested location is simply a “delusion of omnipotence” driving warfare betwixt nan United States and Iran.

In his Truth Social blasts Sunday night, nan president claimed nan pope “thinks it’s OK for Iran to person a Nuclear Weapon” and was elected to nan position “because he was an American, and they thought that would beryllium nan champion measurement to woody pinch President Donald J. Trump.”

Leo addressed nan comments onboard a Monday greeting formation to Algiers, saying “I don’t want to get into a statement pinch him” and that he has nary fearfulness of nan Trump Administration.

Though Trump initially welcomed Leo’s predetermination to nan papacy arsenic a “great honour” for nan U.S., this speech is conscionable nan latest successful a bid of disputes betwixt nan American president and leader of nan Catholic Church.

Following nan U.S.’s seizure of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro successful January, nan bishop of Rome besides decried a “diplomacy based connected force” and warned of a “new Orwellian-style language” fuelling hyper-partisanship.

While not specifically criticising Trump, Leo has antecedently shared a bid of captious views connected policies pursued by nan president’s administration.

Last year, he questioned whether hardline migration policies were successful statement pinch nan Church's pro-life teachings, and called for a “deep reflection” astir nan measurement migrants are being treated successful nan United States.

“Someone who says, ‘I americium against abortion but I americium successful statement pinch nan inhuman curen of immigrants successful nan United States’, I don't cognize if that's ​pro-life,” nan pontiff said successful September.

Trump’s latest exchanges pinch nan papacy people a shape extending beyond Leo to his predecessor, Pope Francis. From nan opening to nan extremity of their relationship, their disputes centred astir nan authorities of migrants.

Referring to nan then-candidate Trump successful 2016, Francis said anyone who builds a wall to support retired migrants was “not Christian” – a remark Trump called “disgraceful.”

Trump, who had declared his desire to deport astir 11 cardinal undocumented immigrants from nan U.S., blamed Mexico for nan pope’s “disgraceful” remarks successful a Facebook post successful February 2016.

“If and erstwhile nan Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which arsenic everyone knows is ISIS’s eventual trophy, I tin committedness you that nan Pope would person only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would person been President because this would not person happened,” he wrote.

“ISIS would person been eradicated dissimilar what is happening now pinch our each talk, nary action politicians.

“For a belief leader to mobility a person’s religion is disgraceful. I americium proud to beryllium a Christian and arsenic President I will not let Christianity to beryllium consistently attacked and weakened, dissimilar what is happening now, pinch our existent President.

“No leader, particularly a belief leader, should person nan correct to mobility different man’s belief aliases faith. They are utilizing nan Pope arsenic a pawn and they should beryllium ashamed of themselves for doing so, particularly erstwhile truthful galore lives are progressive and erstwhile forbidden migration is truthful rampant.”

In February 2025, soon earlier his death, Francis wrote successful an unfastened missive to American bishops that deporting group trying to flight difficult situations violates nan “dignity of galore men and women, and of full families” and urged Catholics to cull anti-immigrant narratives.

Unlike Trump’s stormy relationships pinch different world leaders for illustration those of Britain aliases Spain – constituencies pinch small baring connected his guidelines – a full break pinch nan pontiff could airs consequences astatine nan polls.

As pinch astir Republican POTUSs, Trump’s guidelines is considerably reliant connected conservative, belief voters, including Catholics.

According to a Fox News nationalist canvass conducted 20-23 March, Trump’s support standing among Catholic voters is now underwater, pinch 48 percent of respondents saying they approved of nan occupation Trump is doing arsenic president, and 52 percent disapproving.

Effects of a fallout mightiness moreover resound among his executive branch, of whom Catholics see Vice President JD Vance, nan mostly of nan Supreme Court, and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who is known to regularly believe pinch her unit earlier briefings.