U.S. President Donald Trump blasts Pope Leo XIV for criticism of war

U.S. President Donald Trump has criticised Pope Leo XIV in an unprecedented tirade.

Last week, the head of the Catholic Church condemned the American politician over his recent threat to Iran in which he declared "a whole civilization will die tonight" unless leaders agreed to begin talks to reopen the blocked Strait of Hormuz.

Pope Leo called the comments "truly unacceptable" and urged people to "contact the authorities - political leaders, congressmen - to ask them, tell them to work for peace and to reject war always".

On Sunday night, Trump returned to his Truth Social platform to launch an extraordinary attack on the pontiff, who is the first Pope to have been born in the U.S.

"Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy," he fired. "He talks about 'fear' of the Trump Administration, but doesn't mention the FEAR that the Catholic Church, and all other Christian Organizations, had during COVID when they were arresting priests, ministers, and everybody else, for holding Church Services, even when going outside, and being ten and even twenty feet apart."

Trump went on to claim that Pope Leo, born Robert Prevost, should be "thankful" because it was a "shocking surprise" that he was elected.

The 70-year-old was selected as Pope in May 2025 following the death of Pope Francis at the age of 88.

"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," the 79-year-old continued. "If I wasn't in the White House, Leo wouldn't be in the Vatican. Unfortunately, Leo's Weak on Crime, Weak on Nuclear Weapons, does not sit well with me (sic)."

Elsewhere in the rant, Trump alleged Pope Leo had been "catering to the radical left".

"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!" he added.

A short time later, Trump also uploaded an AI image depicting himself in a Christ-like manner with the American flag in the backdrop.

Representatives for Pope Leo and the Vatican have not yet responded to the message.