ALGIERS-AHEAD — Pope Leo XIV hit back Monday after President Donald Trump sharply criticized the first American leader of the Catholic Church as “WEAK on crime” and “terrible for Foreign Policy.”
The exchange landed awkwardly in the same week the pope has been pressing his case more loudly about the war on Iran. On the papal plane, headed to Algeria for the first stop of an 11-day tour across four African nations, Leo said he had “no fear of the Trump administration” and vowed to keep up his appeals for peace, which he described as rooted in the gospel. Actually, he didn’t phrase it like strategy — more like duty.
Trump delivered his criticism late Sunday at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, telling reporters, “I don’t think he’s doing a very good job. He likes crime, I guess,” before going after the pope’s comments linking faith, crime and foreign policy. “We don’t like a pope that’s going to say that it’s OK to have a nuclear weapon,” the president added, and said, “We don’t want a pope that says crime is OK in our cities.” He finished with, “I’m not a big fan of Pope Leo.”
The president also posted earlier on Truth Social that “Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” In a longer follow-up, Trump claimed Leo “should be thankful,” saying he was “a shocking surprise” and arguing that the Church put him in the role because he was American — “If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican,” Trump said.
Speaking aboard the plane, Leo struck a calmer note, but he didn’t back away. “I have no fear of the Trump administration, or speaking out loudly of the message of the gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do, what the church is here to do,” he told reporters. He added, “We are not politicians, we don’t deal with foreign policy with the same perspective he might understand it,” then returned to the point he seems to keep coming back to: “but I do believe in the message of the gospel, as a peacemaker.”
On the flight he said Algeria was ”a very special trip for me,” because it is the home of St. Augustine, which he described as part of the inspiration for Leo’s religious spirituality. “He was a bridge of inter-religious dialogue, so we must continue to build bridges and reconciliation for all people,” the pope said. The air up there—carpeted, quiet, paper rustling—felt a world away from the sharp language traded on social platforms.
Trump’s criticism hasn’t stopped the pontiff from speaking against the war. In Algiers, he stopped by the monument to independence from French rule, and said that as conflicts continue to multiply throughout the world, “we cannot add resentment upon resentment.” Last week, Leo criticized Trump’s public threats to “wipe out” Iranian civilization, saying “attacks on civilian infrastructure are against international law” and urging people to contact leaders and members of Congress to call for peace. He has urged Trump to end the war in Iran, and he lamented in his Easter message last week that the world is “becoming indifferent” to violence.
Separately, Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, rebuked Trump in a brief statement Sunday night, writing, “I am disheartened that the President chose to write such disparaging words about the Holy Father,” and adding that “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.”
Trump also posted a picture Sunday night portraying himself as having saint-like powers akin to those of Jesus Christ, with light emanating from his fingers and American landmarks in the background. At the time of Leo’s election in May, Trump had called it “an honor for our country” and said, “It’s such a great honor for our country to have an American pope.”
MISRYOUM newsroom reporting and editorial team stated the latest polling included a March NBC News poll showing U.S. voters viewed Pope Leo more favorably than Trump: 42% positive views of the pope versus 8% negative, while 41% viewed Trump positively and 53% negatively.
The pope is now moving through the first leg of his trip, and the conversation around him—crime, foreign policy, the Iran war—doesn’t seem to be cooling down. Not in the usual way. Not yet.