Donald Trump Says He Is Not Fighting Pope Leo XIV Over War With Iran

A public dispute between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV has unfolded alongside escalating statements about the war with Iran, with Trump and the pope exchanging critical messages in statements to the press and on social media.

USA Today reports that Trump “ratcheted down his weeklong feud with Pope Leo XIV,” saying it was OK for the two of them to have different approaches to the world’s problems.

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Trump told reporters, “I’m not fighting with him,” adding, “The pope can say what he wants and I want him to say what he wants but I can disagree.”

The dispute is tied to the war with Iran, because USA Today says Leo had posted on April 10 that anyone who is a disciple of Christ “is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs.”

USA Today also links the escalation to Trump’s actions around Easter, saying Trump threatened Iran on Easter Sunday, April 5, and that Leo told reporters on April 7 that “there was this threat against the entire people of Iran, and this is truly unacceptable.”

The Daily Beast frames Trump’s comments as a new fissure, quoting Trump at the White House before heading to Las Vegas: “I’m not fighting with him. The pope made a statement. He says Iran can have a nuclear weapon. I’d say Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”

In the same reporting, the Daily Beast says Trump later added, “The pope has to understand, Iran has killed more than 42,000 people over the last few months.”

The feud’s sharpest turns came through Trump’s public messaging, including social media attacks that USA Today says he launched on April 12.

USA Today reports that Trump blasted the pope on social media April 12, writing, “Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” and adding, “I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do.”

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USA Today also says Trump argued that if he were not in the White House, “Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”

In the same account, Vice President JD Vance weighed in on April 14, telling the pope to be careful when he talks about theology, as USA Today quotes Vance saying the pope should “be careful when he talks about matters of theology.”

The Daily Beast describes Trump’s comments as escalating attacks and says Trump “falsely claimed Pope Leo wants Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” while also insisting he is not fighting with the pontiff.

The Daily Beast quotes Trump’s rationale for opposing any nuclear capability for Iran, saying Trump told reporters, “I also know that you cannot let a certain country, which is a very mean spirited country, have a nuclear weapon.”

USA Today adds that when reporters asked whether Trump felt Leo was being disrespectful, Trump replied, “I don’t think about it that way,” and said, “The Pope has to understand that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon.”

As Trump and Leo traded statements, USA Today reports that Bishop James Massa, who heads the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ doctrine committee, issued a response defending the pope’s message.

USA Today quotes Massa’s statement saying that when Pope Leo XIV speaks as supreme pastor, he is “not merely offering opinions on theology, he is preaching the Gospel and exercising his ministry as the Vicar of Christ.”

Asked about the bishops’ statement, USA Today says Trump responded that he has the right to disagree, telling reporters, “I want him to preach the gospel. I’m all about the gospel,” and then adding, “But I also know that you cannot let a certain country which is a mean-spirited country have a nuclear weapon.”

The Daily Beast also describes the backlash among Catholics and says Trump’s remarks sparked an immediate backlash online because political observers noted that the pope said no such thing.

The Daily Beast quotes Trump insisting on Thursday, “I’m not fighting with him. I can disagree with the pope. I have a right to disagree with the pope,” and it adds Trump’s framing that “This is the real world. It’s a nasty world.”

The Daily Beast further reports that Franklin Graham suggested a meeting so that Pope Leo could express gratitude to Trump for religious liberty, quoting Graham: “He is the most pro-Christian, pro-life president in my lifetime, and he doesn’t shy away from it.”

The New York Times reports that Pope Leo XIV delivered a speech in Cameroon on Thursday, expressing “woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.”

The same dispute is framed very differently across outlets, with the New York Times emphasizing the pope’s rhetoric and Stephen Colbert’s comedic take, USA Today focusing on Trump’s insistence that he is not fighting, and the Daily Beast centering on what it calls a false claim.

The New York Times describes Stephen Colbert recapping what he called “yet another day when the entire world is on edge over President Trump’s senseless and elective war — with the pope,” and it quotes Colbert saying the pope “came back swinging.”

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The New York Times also includes Colbert’s explanation of “a ‘just war’” doctrine and then quotes Colbert saying, “If you don’t know, and you may not, a ‘just war’ is a Catholic doctrine that goes all the way back to the church fathers, St. Ambrose and St. Augustine.”

USA Today, by contrast, foregrounds Trump’s downshift, quoting Trump saying, “I’m not fighting with him,” and presenting the feud as a disagreement over approaches to “the world’s problems.”

The Daily Beast, meanwhile, asserts that Trump “falsely claimed Pope Leo wants Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” and it highlights Trump’s quoted statement that “The pope made a statement. He says Iran can have a nuclear weapon. I’d say Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”

Even where the outlets overlap on the pope’s language, they diverge in emphasis: the New York Times quotes Leo’s “woe” line from Cameroon, while USA Today quotes Leo’s April 7 remark that “there was this threat against the entire people of Iran, and this is truly unacceptable.”

The Daily Beast also adds a specific claim about the pope’s stance being misrepresented, saying political observers noted that the pope said no such thing, even as it repeats Trump’s “I’d say Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon” framing.

The sources portray the feud as continuing to generate political and religious responses, with each side signaling that it will keep speaking.

USA Today says Trump’s comments came after Trump and Leo exchanged “a series of critical messages” in statements to the press and on social media about the war with Iran, and it places Trump’s April 12 social media blast alongside Leo’s April 10 and April 7 remarks.

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USA Today also records that Trump insisted, “I want him to preach the gospel. I’m all about the gospel,” while simultaneously arguing that “Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon.”

The Daily Beast reports that Trump’s remarks came as tensions “have sharply escalated,” and it quotes Trump insisting, “I’m not fighting with him. I can disagree with the pope. I have a right to disagree with the pope,” before adding, “This is the real world. It’s a nasty world.”

The Daily Beast also says Pope Leo appeared to double down on Thursday, quoting Leo’s line that the world is “being ravaged by a handful of tyrants” and decrying leaders who “manipulate” religion and the name of God for military gain.

The New York Times similarly reports that Pope Leo XIV delivered a speech in Cameroon on Thursday and quotes Leo’s “woe” warning about manipulating religion for “military, economic and political gain.”

OutKick adds that the feud is spilling into entertainment, quoting Jimmy Kimmel saying, “When I read this, I couldn't stop laughing. Seriously. I had to take a break six words into it to laugh because it's so nuts,” and “What does the pope have to do with crime? He’s not Batman, he’s the pope.”