President Trump has branded Pope Leo XIV as “WEAK” on crime and “terrible” on foreign policy, in a late-night Truth Social blitz which also saw him uploading an AI-generated image of himself dressed as Jesus.
Last week, Pope Leo said Trump’s warning that an “entire civilization will die tonight,” in reference to Iran, was “unacceptable.” The pope has also suggested that a “delusion of omnipotence” is fueling the war between the United States and Iran.
Leo subsequently responded to Trump’s outburst on Monday.
In his lengthy Truth Social post, the president claimed that the Catholic Church’s leadership had been “arresting priests, ministers, and everybody else” in the midst of the Covid pandemic and suggested that he preferred the pope’s brother.
“I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA,” the president blasted. “He gets it, and Leo doesn’t!
“I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”
Pope Leo responded to Donald Trump on Monday and said he would always speak out in favour of peace. “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. “I don’t want to get into a debate with Trump.”
“I will continue to speak out loudly against war, looking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateral relationships among the states to look for just solutions to problems,” Leo continued aboard a papal flight to Algiers, where he is embarking on a 10-day tour to four African countries.
“Too many people are suffering in the world today,” he said. “Too many innocent people are being killed. And I think someone has to stand up and say there’s a better way.”
The US president went on to suggest that his own election played a role in the Catholic Church’s choice of pope in May 2025.
“Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise,” the president wrote. “He wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church 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 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.”
Around 40 minutes after his tirade was posted, Trump uploaded an AI-generated image of himself dressed as Jesus.
In the picture, the president is bathed in golden light as he places a shining hand on a sleeping man’s forehead.
A nurse and a praying woman are both kneeling around the patient in the image, while a man in a camouflage uniform looks on. A fourth individual, dressed in a green uniform, is also by the patient’s bedside.
In the background, a huge U.S. flag, a pair of bald eagles and a trio of military planes can be seen flying through the air.
Former Trump loyalist Marjorie Taylor Greene shredded the president’s post, stating that she was “praying against it.”
“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,” Greene wrote on X. “This comes after last week’s post of his evil tirade on Easter and then threatening to kill an entire civilization.
“I completely denounce this and I’m praying against it!!!”
Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, also issued a statement in response to Trump’s post.
“I am disheartened that the President chose to write such disparaging words about the Holy Father,” he wrote. “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.”
