President Donald Trump once again hit out at Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday night, as he defended taking military action in Iran.
‘Will someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent, completely unarmed, protesters in the last two months, and that for Iran to have a Nuclear Bomb is absolutely unacceptable,’ the president wrote on his Truth Social page.
It comes amid a growing row between Trump and the head of the Catholic Church, who has in recent weeks condemned rhetoric coming out of the White House and called for peace in the Middle East.
On Saturday, the Pope told worshippers at St Peter’s Basilica: ‘Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war!’
And last week he criticized the President over his threats against the country, when he warned that ‘a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again’.
The Pope called it a ‘truly unacceptable’ statement.
In a fiery rant on Truth Social on Sunday night, Trump branded the pontiff ‘WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy’.
He then sparked further controversy after posting an AI-generated image seemingly depicting himself as Jesus Christ, triggering backlash among his usual supporters and Catholics on social media.
He later deleted the image, claiming he viewed the picture as him being a Red Cross doctor.
‘Normally I don’t like doing that, but I didn’t want to have anybody be confused. People were confused,’ he added of his removal of the image.
The President claimed in his lengthy post on Sunday that Leo, 70, was only made Pope ‘because he was an American’, adding: ‘If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.’
He added: ‘Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician. It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church!’
In the AI-generated image posted on Truth Social, Trump appears dressed in red and white robes as he cures a man with his healing hand while the American flag waves in the background.
He had earlier told reporters on Sunday at the Joint Base Andrews in Maryland: ‘I’m not a big fan of Pope Leo. He’s a very liberal person, and he’s a man that doesn’t believe in stopping crime.’
Trump also accused the leader of the Catholic Church, which has 1.4billion members, of ‘toying with a country that wants a nuclear weapon’.
He continued his tirade towards the pontiff on Sunday night, writing on Truth Social: ‘I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.
‘I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Country that was sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers, into our Country.’
Trump told CBS News on Monday that he decided to unload on the American-born Pope after seeing a 60 Minutes segment that showcased the pontiff’s disapproval of the Iran war and Trump’s immigration agenda.
‘He’s wrong on the issues,’ Trump said. ‘I don’t think he should be getting into politics. I think he probably learned that from this.’
The Pope said on Monday that he plans to continue speaking out against war, telling Reuters: ‘I don’t want to get into a debate with him.’
Speaking aboard the papal flight to Algiers, where Leo is starting a 10-day tour to four African countries, he added: ‘I don’t think that the message of the Gospel is meant to be abused in the way that some people are doing.
‘I will continue to speak out loudly against war, looking to promote peace, promoting dialog and multilateral relationships among the states to look for just solutions to problems.
‘Too many people are suffering in the world today. Too many innocent people are being killed. And I think someone has to stand up and say there’s a better way.’
Trump’s public row with the leader of the Catholic church has prompted widespread condemnation from public figures and politicians – including some of the president’s allies.
Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian took to X in the Pope’s defense, saying that he condemned ‘the insult to [Pope Leo] on behalf of the great nation of Iran, and declare that the desecration of Jesus, the prophet of peace and brotherhood, is not acceptable to any free person. I wish you glory by Allah.’
Meanwhile, Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez said that ‘while some fill the war with war, Leo XIV sows peace with courage. It will be an honor to receive him in Spain in a few weeks.
Former Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote on X: ‘On Orthodox Easter, President Trump attacked the Pope because the Pope is rightly against Trump’s war in Iran and then he posted this picture of himself as if he is replacing Jesus.’
And Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a Trump ally, called the US president’s remarks ‘unacceptable’ and said on Tuesday: ‘The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and it is right and normal for him to call for peace and to condemn every form of war.’
Trump’s repudiation of the Pope last night came as the US military announced that a military blockade of the vital Strait of Hormuz waterway has been ‘fully implemented’ leaving trade coming into and out of Iran ‘completely halted,’ officials said on Tuesday.
Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command, made the announcement on X amid reports that a Chinese tanker and another vessel were forced to make U-turns after passing through the Strait, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes.
Oil tanker Rich Starry is owned by Shanghai Xuanrun Shipping Co Ltd. and became a target for US sanctions because it was used to transport Iranian crude.
After circling the area late on Monday and initially turning back, the 600ft long vessel passed through the waterway on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Iran-linked Christianna carried out a similar route, passing through the Strait of Hormuz before turning around just before 4pm in the UK.
US officials are now said to be gearing up for a second round of peace talks with their Iranian counterparts in Pakistan, with Vice President JD Vance reportedly set to lead the negotiations once again after talks ended without an agreement over the weekend.
And Europe is speeding up a fallback plan for Nato in case Washington pulls out of the alliance, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Officials working on the plans, dubbed ‘European Nato’, are reportedly attempting to supplement US military assets with European ones.
They are also seeking to place Europeans in Nato’s command-and-control roles as anxiety grows over America’s reliability.
