President Donald Trump is facing fresh backlash after a Sunday night rant targeting Pope Leo XIV, with critics calling the comments “unhinged” and inappropriate for the office.
The president delivered the attack in a lengthy Truth Social post that ran more than 300 words, saying the pope was “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” Trump added that he “doesn’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States,” arguing he was “elected, IN A LANDSLIDE,” and highlighting what he claimed were record low crime numbers and “the Greatest Stock Market in History.” He also took credit for the pope’s election, claiming the College of Cardinals selected the first-ever American pontiff last year because they “thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump.”
Late Sunday night, Trump repeated some of those themes when speaking with reporters at Joint Base Andrews as he returned to Washington from Miami. “I don’t think he’s doing a very good job,” Trump said. “He likes crime, I guess.” He described the pontiff as “a very liberal person” and a “man that doesn’t believe in stopping crime,” and he added, “I’m not a fan of Pope Leo.”
The pope’s comments appear to have come in the shadow of an ongoing war with Iran. Pope Leo repeatedly called for peace, including again on Saturday, urging people to reject what he called “the idolatry of self and money” and to say “Enough of the display of power! Enough of war!” The pope did not mention Trump by name in those remarks, as he warned about what he framed as a “delusion of omnipotence” that threatens global stability—but Trump’s critics say the president latched onto the message anyway.
On Monday, the pope told Reuters he wasn’t going to get into a debate with Trump, but said he would continue to “speak out loudly against war.” Meanwhile, critics on X came in hard, arguing Trump’s attack was not just rude but spiritually out of bounds. One response said it was “unhinged, uncharitable and unchristian,” while others questioned whether Republicans would push back.
A few comments also tied the dispute to broader tensions within American Christianity and politics, including debates over what makes someone “a bad Catholic” or “a liberal” on issues like abortion. There were also more pointed accusations that Trump’s approach could be politically damaging—though not everyone sounded like they were worried about elections. One person wrote about a “shitstorm” being unleashed by attacking the pope, while another said Catholics and Christians should condemn the remarks.
For Catholics watching the president and the Vatican clash in public, it landed like something you wouldn’t expect to hear from the White House—especially with a pilgrimage to Africa reportedly scheduled for later. After a long day of travel and talk, the sound of a newsroom turning to phones and alerts was probably familiar to staffers who followed the remarks as they came in. And as the debate spread online, the question for many seemed simple, even if no one answered it cleanly: whether political conflict should follow the pontiff at all, or whether this was just the newest chapter in a relationship already strained.
House Republican Lawler Hit With Boos at Chaotic Town Hall Over Iran War