US president shatters diplomatic norms with a direct attack on the first American pontiff for his anti-war messages
1-MIN READ1-MIN ListenAssociated PressPublished: 10:02am, 13 Apr 2026Updated: 10:04am, 13 Apr 2026US President Donald Trump attacked Pope Leo on social media on Sunday, saying the first American pope should “stop catering to the Radical Left”.
It was an extraordinary broadside against the global leader of the Catholic Church, exacerbating a feud that began over the war in Iran.
“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” the president wrote on social media. He also wrote that “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon”.
A short time later, speaking to reporters after Air Force One landed outside Washington from Florida, Trump said: “We don’t like a pope who says it’s OK to have a nuclear weapon”.
“He’s a very liberal person,” Trump said of Leo, before adding: “I’m not a fan of Pope Leo”.
