Trump Escalates Feud With Pope Leo XIV Over Iran War and Nuclear Weapons Stance

President Donald Trump’s dispute with Pope Leo XIV has escalated into a sustained public exchange spanning insults, calls for peace, and sharp counterattacks over the war in Iran and the Vatican’s stance on nuclear weapons.

“Pope Leo XIV has blasted the “handful of tyrants” who are ravaging Earth with war and exploitation, as he preached a message of peace in the epicentre of a separatist conflict considered one of the world’s most neglected crises”

Al Jazeera

CBS News described how Trump “has been lobbing insults” after Pope Leo criticized the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts and urged the warring parties to “stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss.”

Al Jazeera

The CBS account also tied the rupture to “Operation Epic Fury,” a U.S. and Israeli airstrike on Iran that began the day before the pontiff expressed “deep concern.”

In that same CBS reporting, Pope Leo condemned Trump’s threat to destroy Iranian civilization as “unacceptable” and urged citizens to “contact the authorities — political leaders, congressmen.”

NPR framed the exchange as “unparalleled in modern history,” emphasizing that Trump’s insults toward the pope are “without precedent.”

OSV News later reported that Trump told reporters at the White House on April 16 that he does not see a meeting with Pope Leo XIV as “necessary,” adding, “I have a right to disagree with the pope.”

The dispute’s escalation followed a sequence of public statements that CBS News and OSV News linked to Pope Leo’s criticism of the Iran war and Trump’s response across multiple days.

CBS News said the pontiff’s words grew sharper as the war continued, with Francis condemning Mr. Trump’s threat to destroy Iranian civilization as “unacceptable” and urging citizens to “contact the authorities — political leaders, congressmen.”

ArabAmericanNews

CBS also reported that Trump’s rhetoric escalated after a segment that highlighted the pontiff’s criticisms of “mass deportations and war with Iran,” and that “April 12: Trump calls pope ‘weak on crime’ and ‘very liberal’.”

In that CBS account, Trump posted on Truth Social that the pope was “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” and he added, “I don't want a Pope who thinks it's OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”

OSV News described Trump’s April 16 remarks as a direct rebuttal to the pope’s opposition to the Iran war, with Trump disputing the characterization that he is “fighting” with the pope and saying, “The pope made a statement. He says ‘Iran can have a nuclear weapon,'” while Trump said, “I say ‘Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,'” while speaking over a reporter.

NPR added that the “recent back and forth started with Leo's calling for peace in response to the war in Iran,” and continued with Leo warning of the “delusion of omnipotence” and writing that “God does not bless any conflict.”

The feud also drew in Vice President JD Vance and other Catholic figures, with multiple outlets quoting how they framed the pope’s role in politics and theology.

“President Trump has been lobbing insults at in response to his criticisms of the war in Iran and appeals for peace, marking an unusually pronounced rupture between the leaders of the world's most powerful country and the world's largest Christian denomination”

CBS News

CBS News reported that Vance entered the fray, telling Fox News that “in some cases, it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality, to stick to matters of what's going on in the Catholic Church, and let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy.”

CBS further said Vance told reporters that he liked it when the pope commented on issues including abortion, immigration and war because it invites conversation, and he challenged Leo on a statement the pope had made on X about God being “never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs.”

OSV News added that Trump responded to questions about just war theory by referencing Auxiliary Bishop James Massa of Brooklyn, New York, and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine, then saying, “I’m all about the Gospel, but I also know that you cannot let a certain country, which is a very mean-spirited country, have a nuclear weapon.”

NPR quoted Georgetown’s Christopher White describing the exchange as “unprecedented, unhinged attack by the president of the United States on the pope,” and said it was “clearly meant to intimidate the pope.”

The Black Chronicle, citing AURN News, quoted Vance saying, “I think it’s very, very important for the Pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology,” and added, “If you’re going to opine on matters of theology, you’ve got to be careful, you’ve got to make sure it’s anchored in the truth.”

While Trump and the Vatican traded barbs, Pope Leo XIV was on a four-country trip to Africa and delivered remarks that Al Jazeera and USA Today described as a direct moral rebuke of war-driven exploitation.

Al Jazeera reported that Leo traveled to the western Cameroon city of Bamenda, where crowds welcomed him on Thursday, and that he presided over a peace meeting involving a Mankon traditional chief, a Presbyterian moderator, an imam and a Catholic nun.

Modern Diplomacy

In the St Joseph Cathedral, on land donated by the Mankon, Al Jazeera said Leo praised the peace movement and warned against allowing religion to enter conflicts, quoting him: “Blessed are the peacemakers!” and “But 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.”

Al Jazeera also quoted Leo’s broader line that “The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants, yet it is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters!”

USA Today similarly quoted Leo saying the world is “being ravaged by a handful of tyrants” and decried leaders who “manipulate” religion and the name of God for military gain.

Al Jazeera reported that speaking to reporters on Thursday, Trump said, “I have a right to disagree with the pope,” and added, “I have no disagreement with the fact the pope can say what he wants, and I want him to say what he wants, but I can disagree.”

The sources portray the dispute as continuing to shape both U.S.-Vatican relations and the pope’s Africa mission, with multiple outlets describing how the conflict’s moral framing is now entangled with geopolitics.

“Popes have spoken out on politics before”

NPR

OSV News reported that Pope Leo told journalists aboard the papal plane to Algiers, Algeria, on April 13 that he is not a politician, but he 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.”

NPR

OSV News also said Trump repeatedly claimed Iran had killed “42,000 people over the last few months,” while Human Rights Activists in Iran reported in late January that 42,324 protesters had been arrested and confirmed 6,221 people have been killed, while investigating another 17,000 potential deaths.

NPR added that Trump’s attacks were met with pushback from Catholic voices, quoting Christopher White saying the pope “won't be distracted from his efforts to push for peace,” and it also noted that Vance said the pope should “be careful when he talks about matters of theology.”

USA Today reported that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, threw her support behind the pope on April 16, urging Anglicans to follow his lead, and it quoted Mullally saying, “I stand with my brother in Christ, His Holiness Pope XIV, in his courageous call for a kingdom of peace.”

Al Jazeera described how Leo’s comments came days after Trump attacked him again on social media, and it reported that the pope was set to celebrate a mass for the people of Bamenda later on Thursday before returning to the capital, Yaounde.