By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

Trump lashes out at Pope Leo over Iran war criticism, but the pontiff answers with a direct defense of peace.

Key Developments

• Trump launches an unusually personal attack on Pope Leo over his opposition to the Iran war.
• Leo responds that he has “no fear” of the Trump administration and will continue preaching peace.
• The clash reflects a deeper confrontation over war, religion, and moral authority.

Trump Opens Direct Clash with the Vatican

US President Donald Trump launched a direct and highly personal attack on Pope Leo XIV on Sunday, escalating a rare public confrontation between the White House and the Vatican over the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Speaking to reporters, Trump said: “I’m not a fan of Pope Leo.” He also declared: “We don’t like a pope that’s going to say that it’s OK to have a nuclear weapon.” According to CNN, Trump further accused the pontiff of weakness, saying: “Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.”

The attack did not stop there. Trump also made clear that what particularly angered him was the pope’s criticism of US policy itself, stating: “I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States.” 

According to NPR, Trump went even further by suggesting that Leo’s elevation to the papacy had been shaped by American domestic politics rather than the internal life of the Catholic Church. He claimed: “If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”

Reporter: Why did you attack Pope Leo?

Trump: I don’t think he’s doing a very good job. He likes crime I guess. We don’t like a pope who says it’s ok to have a nuclear weapon. We don’t want a pope that says crime is ok. I am not a fan of Pope Leo. pic.twitter.com/cj3oh1jSIL

— Acyn (@Acyn) April 13, 2026

Pope Leo: ‘I Have No Fear’

Pope Leo answered Trump’s attack without retreating from his position. Speaking to reporters aboard the papal plane at the start of his African trip, he made clear that neither political pressure nor personal attacks would cause him to soften his message.

“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 said, according to CNN.

“To put my message on the same plane as what the president has attempted to do here, I think is not understanding what the message of the Gospel is,” the pope also said, adding: “And I’m sorry to hear that but I will continue on what I believe is the mission of the church in the world today.” 

“I do believe in the message of the Gospel, as a peacemaker,” he reportedly concluded.

War in the Name of God

Both Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have repeatedly invoked God in public messaging around the war. Hegseth has framed the campaign in explicitly Christian terms, while Trump has spoken as though divine approval stands behind American force.

Leo has directly and repeatedly rejected that idea. CNN noted that he has become increasingly vocal against the war and against the religious language used to defend it. 

Donald Trump’s long post on Pope Leo. pic.twitter.com/gVDHDTdgXd

— NewsWire (@NewsWire_US) April 13, 2026

On Palm Sunday, he said: “Jesus is the king of peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war.” He added: “He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war but rejects them.” 

These remarks were already a rebuke of the administration’s effort to cast the war in sacred terms. But Leo went further still. 

The Atlantic quoted him as saying: “Some even go so far as to invoke God’s name in these choices of death. But God cannot be enlisted by darkness.”

(PC, CNN, NPR)