Trump attacks Pope for Iran war, immigration agenda criticism

Catherine Lucey, Bloomberg News on Apr 12, 2026

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President Donald Trump attacked Pope Leo XIV for his criticisms of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, calling the leader of the Catholic Church “WEAK on crime.”

The American-born pope has issued a series of rebukes to his leadership, most recently challenging the administration’s argument that God is on the side of the U.S. in the conflict with Iran.

“I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon,” Trump said in the social media post. “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Country that was sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers, into our Country.”

Amid the conflict in Iran, the pontiff wrote on X Friday that “God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword who today drop bombs. Military action will not create space for freedom or times of #Peace.”

Leo didn’t specifically cite Trump but his remarks followed repeated comments from the president and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth couching the U.S. war against Iran in religious terms, comparing a downed U.S. fighter pilot to Jesus Christ and arguing that God has given divine protection to U.S. troops.