President Donald Trump dropped a heavy, late-night post on Truth Social this past Sunday that felt like a bridge-burner. He went after Pope Leo XIV, calling the first American pope “weak on crime” and, frankly, “terrible for foreign policy.” It’s the kind of personal, high-stakes escalation you don’t really see between world leaders—or maybe you do, but it feels different when it’s the Vatican.
There is a weird, stale smell of damp carpet in the newsroom tonight, probably from the AC unit, but the atmosphere is all noise. This feud isn’t just Twitter-level posturing; it’s touching 70 million American Catholics. The core of the tension seems to be Pope Leo’s recent comments about the “delusion of omnipotence” regarding the U.S.-Israel war in Iran. He didn’t name Trump, but in Washington, nobody misses that kind of subtext. Or maybe they pretend to.
Things were already cold. Misryoum reported that a January meeting between Vatican envoy Cardinal Christophe Pierre and the Pentagon was—well, it was described as “unpleasant.” There were even rumors that a U.S. official brought up the Avignon Papacy, which is a hell of a historical flex. The Defense Department says that’s an exaggeration, though. They called the whole thing “cordial,” which is usually diplomatic speak for “we almost shouted.”
Trump’s post was sprawling, covering everything from COVID-era church closures to his feelings about the Pope’s brother, Louis. He also threw in a jab about David Axelrod, calling him a “loser from the Left.” It feels like he’s trying to connect the Vatican’s diplomatic choices directly to his own domestic grievances—actually, he’s definitely doing that. He even suggested that if he hadn’t been elected, Leo wouldn’t be Pope at all.
It’s messy. The President finished his diatribe by telling the pontiff to “get his act together.”
Pope Leo is set to leave for an 11-day trip to Africa on Monday. It remains to be seen if he’ll address the comments directly, or if he’ll just keep doing what he’s doing. Trump, meanwhile, seems to have made his stance perfectly clear—or at least as clear as it’s going to get for now.