Trump slams Pope Leo XIV as “terrible for foreign policy” in sharp rebuke

US President Donald Trump strongly criticised Pope Leo XIV on the evening of April 12, attacking his position on the Iran war and describing him as “terrible for foreign policy.”

“We don’t like a pope that’s going to say that it’s OK to have a nuclear weapon … He’s a man that doesn’t think that we should be toying with a country that wants a nuclear weapon so they can blow up the world,” Trump told reporters, adding, “I’m not a fan of Pope Leo.”

Leo, the first American-born pontiff, has in recent days taken a more outspoken stance regarding the war involving the United States and Israel against Iran, having condemned Trump’s rhetoric and threats toward the Iranian people last week as “truly unacceptable.”

Trump’s remarks, delivered to reporters at Joint Base Andrews, came shortly after he shared an extended criticism of the pope on his Truth Social platform.

“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” Trump wrote, adding that he does not want a pope who believes it is acceptable for Iran to possess nuclear weapons or who considers it “terrible that America attacked Venezuela.”

“And I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States,” he added.

The president further claimed that Leo “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.”

By Jeyhun Aghazada