Donald Trump delivered an extraordinary attack against Pope Leo XIV on April 12 on Orthodox Easter, saying he didn’t think the U.S.-born global leader of the Catholic Church is “doing a very good job.”
The convicted felon and occupant of The White House added that, “he’s a very liberal person,” after suggesting that the pontiff should “stop catering to the Radical Left.”
Flying back to Washington from Florida, Trump used a lengthy social media post to sharply criticize Leo, then kept it up after deplaning, in comments on the tarmac to reporters.
“I’m not a fan of Pope Leo,” he said.
Trump’s comments came after Leo suggested over the weekend that a “delusion of omnipotence” is fueling the U.S.-Israel war in Iran.
The remarks drew sharp rebukes from Catholic leaders and theologians, who said the language reflects Trump’s pattern of attacking institutions and figures that challenge him, including religious authorities.
Critics also point to a broader contradiction between Trump’s repeated alignment with Christianity and his public rhetoric and conduct. His statements toward Leo — including dismissing the pope’s views and framing them as partisan opposition — have been described by church officials as misrepresenting Catholic teaching and reducing matters of faith to political grievance.
Trump’s rant also adds ongoing scrutiny to his use of religious language to justify policy and conflict. Religious scholars have warned that invoking divine approval for war or political action departs from longstanding Christian doctrine on humility, moral accountability, and the limits of earthly power. Such weaponization of Christianity risks recasting faith as a tool of political authority rather than a check on it.
While it is not unusual for popes and presidents to be at cross purposes, directly disparaging a pope in personal terms crosses a moral and spiritual line for a U.S. president. It is widely viewed within the Church as a breach of basic expectations of respect for the papacy.
“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” the president wrote in his post, adding, “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”
He repeated that sentiment in comments to reporters, saying, “We don’t like a pope who says it’s OK to have a nuclear weapon.”
Leo presided over an evening prayer service on April 11 in St. Peter’s Basilica on the same day the United States and Iran began face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan during a fragile ceasefire.
The pope didn’t mention the United States or Trump by name, but his tone and message appeared directed at Trump and U.S. officials, who have boasted of U.S. military superiority and justified the war in religious terms.
Leo, who left for an 11-day trip to Africa, has previously said that God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.” He’s also referenced an Old Testament passage from Isaiah, saying that “even though you make many prayers, I will not listen — your hands are full of blood.”
Before the ceasefire, when Trump warned of mass strikes against Iranian power plants and other infrastructure and warned that “an entire civilization will die tonight,” Leo described such sentiments as “truly unacceptable.”
In his social media post on April 12, however, Trump went far beyond the war in Iran in criticizing Leo.
The president wrote, “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.”
“I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do,” Trump added, referencing his 2024 election victory.
He also suggested in the post that Leo only got his position “because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump.”
“If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican,” Trump wrote, adding, “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 his comments to reporters, Trump remained highly critical, saying of Leo, “I don’t think he’s doing a very good job. He likes crime I guess” and adding of the pontiff, “He’s a very liberal person.”
Trump’s administration, meanwhile, has close ties to conservative evangelical Protestant leaders and has claimed heavenly endorsement for the war on Iran.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth urged Americans to pray for victory “in the name of Jesus Christ.” And, when Trump was asked whether he thought God approved of the war, he said, “I do, because God is good — because God is good and God wants to see people taken care of.”
About 45 minutes after attacking the Pope on Orthodox Easter, Trump posted an image of himself in the place of Jesus, showing him apparently healing a sick man in a bed, surrounded by a soldier, a nurse, a woman praying, and an older man. Behind him was the Statue of Liberty, the Lincoln Memorial, and a giant American flag. In the sky were two eagles, three fighter jets, soldiers, and what appeared to be a monster.
Amid popular revulsion at what people are calling heresy and blasphemy, former U.S. representative Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote: “It’s more than blasphemy. It’s an Antichrist spirit.”
A minute after posting the image of himself as Jesus, Trump posted an image of a Trump tower on the moon.
