President Trump refused to apologize Monday to Pope Leo XIV amid their public fight over the US-Iran war, claiming the leader of the Roman Catholic Church “said things that are wrong.”
“He was very much against what I’m doing with regard to Iran, and you cannot have a nuclear Iran — Pope Leo would not be happy with the result,” Trump said.
“Iran wants to be a nuclear nation so they can exterminate the world. Not gonna happen.”
Trump also accused the pontiff of being “very weak on crime” during an impromptu press availability outside the Oval Office at the White House.
“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,” the pontiff said earlier Monday.
The president also addressed the since-deleted image he posted on Truth Social that appeared to depict him as Jesus Christ, saying: “I thought it was me as a doctor.”
“Only the fake news could come up with that,” added Trump of the holy connection.
