Trump Lobs Insults at Pope Leo XIV Over Mass Deportations and War in Iran

The dispute between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV has escalated into a highly personal exchange that multiple U.S. and international outlets tie to the war in Iran and to the Vatican’s criticism of U.S. immigration policy.

CBS News describes how Trump “has been lobbing insults” in response to Leo’s criticisms of the Trump administration’s “mass deportation efforts,” and it frames the verbal rupture as “an unusually pronounced rupture between the leaders of the world's most powerful country and the world's largest Christian denomination.”

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CBS News says Leo’s criticism included treatment of immigrants that he called “extremely disrespectful,” and it links the exchange to “Operation Epic Fury,” which CBS News says involved “joint U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran.”

CBS News reports that the day after the military operation began, the pontiff expressed “deep concern” and urged the warring parties to “stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss.”

As the war continued, CBS News says Francis condemned Trump’s threat to destroy Iranian civilization as “unacceptable” and urged citizens to “contact the authorities — political leaders, congressmen.”

The same CBS News account says Trump’s rhetoric escalated after a segment that highlighted the pontiff’s criticisms of “mass deportations and war with Iran,” and it notes that during the segment “a group of U.S.-based Catholic cardinals skewered the war.”

In a separate thread, USA Today describes the timing as “Two days after Easter Sunday,” when Trump threatened Iran with annihilation, followed by Trump dissing Leo as “WEAK on Crime” and posting an image depicting himself as Jesus on social media.

CBS News reports that after watching a segment involving the pontiff’s criticisms of U.S. deportations and the Iran war, Trump took to social media and attacked Pope Leo XIV in a Truth Social post.

CBS News says Trump lambasted the pope as “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” adding, “I don't want a Pope who thinks it's OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”

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CBS News further quotes Trump saying, “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, setting Record Low Numbers in Crime, and creating the Greatest Stock Market in History.”

In the same CBS News account, Trump claimed that his return to the White House played a role in Leo’s election, calling it a “shocking surprise,” and he wrote, “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.”

CBS News also quotes Trump saying, “If I wasn't in the White House, Leo wouldn't be in the Vatican,” and it reports that Trump praised Leo’s brother, Louis Prevost, who CBS News says met with the president in the Oval Office last year.

CBS News says Trump urged Leo to “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.”

When Trump later faced additional criticism over an AI-generated image posted to social media, CBS News says he insisted the image showed him not as Jesus, but as a “doctor,” and that he deleted the post hours later, telling CBS News he “didn't want to have anybody be confused.”

USA Today adds that the clash included Trump posting “an inflammatory image depicting himself as Jesus on social media,” and it frames the episode as part of a broader rupture that “divides Catholics.”

The escalation also pulled in Vice President JD Vance, who CBS News says entered the fray after converting to Catholicism and advised the Vatican to “stick to matters of morality.”

“Pope Leo XIV has downplayed his recent back-and-forth with United States President Donald Trump over the Middle East as he travels to Angola on the third leg of a landmark African tour”

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

CNN’s framing goes further by portraying the dispute as part of a broader battle over competing Christian identities, describing Pope Leo XIV as rebuking “the ‘MAGA Jesus’” and arguing that the pope’s target is “bigger than Trump.”

CNN says Pope Leo is “critiquing MAGA Jesus,” and it describes that version of Jesus as a “warrior Christ” depicted in the Book of Revelation with “eyes like ‘flames of fire’ and ‘a robe dipped in blood.’”

CNN also quotes a Catholic social teaching contrast, saying Pope Leo recently called Jesus the “King of Peace, who rejects war,” and it says he quoted Isaiah to argue that God rejects the prayers of leaders who start wars and “have hands full of blood.”

Al Jazeera adds that Vance urged the Vatican to “stick to matters of morality,” saying the pope should be “careful when he talks about matters of theology,” and it reports that the statement prompted a rebuke from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Al Jazeera quotes the bishops’ position that Leo’s comments were in line with the church’s “just war” doctrine, stating that the war “must be a defense against another who actively wages war.”

In the same Al Jazeera account, Pope Leo downplayed the dispute during his trip to Angola, saying, “And yet it was perceived as if I were trying to start a new debate with the president, which doesn’t interest me at all,” and he added, “Much of what has been written since then has been more commentary on commentary, trying to interpret what has been said.”

USA Today reports that the Trump clash with Pope Leo XIV has divided Catholics and describes how the dispute has escalated beyond “president versus pontiff.”

It says “some suggest the moment could be a flashpoint for Catholic conservatives torn between political and religious allegiances,” and it quotes Landon Schnabel, an associate professor of sociology at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, saying, “Conservative Catholics who have supported Trump may now feel the need to decide between him and the pope.”

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USA Today also quotes Frank Lacopo, an assistant professor of history at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, saying, “This is unprecedented in American history,” and it reports that “Nearly 60% of Catholics backed Trump in the 2024 election.”

The same USA Today account includes Mathew Schmalz, founding editor of the Journal of Global Catholicism, saying “up to a third of that support may have since withered” as the president and the pope clashed over deportation policies and the Iran war.

USA Today quotes Nicholas Hayes-Mota, a social ethicist and public theologian at Santa Clara University in California, saying the cumulative effects of “the last two weeks” and Trump’s “since-deleted AI image on Truth Social” have already pushed some people to break with the president, adding, “For some it’s clearly a bridge too far.”

The Hill adds a political dimension by quoting Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), who likened Trump to a “second coming” amid backlash over the AI Jesus posts, saying, “I believe that Donald Trump is better than sliced bread. I think he’s almost a second coming, in my humble opinion.”

The Hill reports that Nehls said, “I think he’s done a fantastic job,” and it notes that the “second coming” reference is tied to Christian belief in “the future return of Christ in glory.”

The Hill also quotes Megan Basham, a conservative Christian journalist, writing on X that she “don’t know if the President thought he was being funny or if he is under the influence of some substance or what possible explanation he could have for this OUTRAGEOUS blasphemy.”

It further reports that Trump deleted the post a day later and claimed it had been misinterpreted, saying he thought the image portrayed him as a doctor and “had to do with the Red Cross,” while Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said he was willing to take it “at face value.”

As the Trump-Vatican dispute continued, Al Jazeera reported that Pope Leo XIV downplayed the back-and-forth with U.S. President Donald Trump while traveling to Angola on the third leg of a landmark African tour.

“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

Al Jazeera says Leo is expected to arrive at 3pm (14:00 GMT) on Saturday in Luanda, where billboards bearing his image have been erected to welcome him, and it notes that he visited Cameroon for three days before flying to Luanda.

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Al Jazeera identifies the context as Leo’s appeals for an end to the US-Israel war on Iran and his condemnation of those who claim the war is religiously justified, which it says prompted rebuke from Trump.

It reports that earlier this week Trump called the 70-year-old head of the Catholic Church “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy,” and it says Trump later posted what appeared to be an AI-generated image of himself as Jesus, prompting backlash from leaders across the religious spectrum.

Al Jazeera says Vance urged the Vatican to “stick to matters of morality,” and it quotes the US Conference of Catholic Bishops maintaining that Leo’s comments were in line with the church’s “just war” doctrine, stating that the war “must be a defense against another who actively wages war.”

Al Jazeera also reports that Pope Leo told reporters on Saturday: “And yet it was perceived as if I were trying to start a new debate with the president, which doesn’t interest me at all,” and it adds that he said, “Much of what has been written since then has been more commentary on commentary, trying to interpret what has been said.”

The same Al Jazeera account ties Leo’s peace messaging to his itinerary, saying that on Sunday he will celebrate an open-air Mass in Kilamba, outside Luanda, before traveling by helicopter to Muxima, home to a 16th-century church and major pilgrimage site.

It also says on Monday he is due to travel to Saurimo to visit a retirement home and hold another Mass, and it adds that he will then fly to Equatorial Guinea, the final stop of his 18,000km (11,185-mile) African tour.