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WASHINGTON — On Sunday, President Donald Trump took to social media to criticize Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff, urging him to “stop catering to the Radical Left.”
This sharp critique marked an escalation in the ongoing tension between Trump and the Catholic Church’s global leader, a dispute that initially arose over the conflict in Iran.
Trump voiced his dissatisfaction online, stating, “Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” He further expressed his disapproval by stating, “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”
Shortly afterward, while addressing reporters upon his return to Washington from Florida aboard Air Force One, Trump reiterated his stance, saying, “We don’t like a pope who says it’s OK to have a nuclear weapon.”
“He’s a very liberal person,” Trump remarked about Pope Leo, adding bluntly, “I’m not a fan of Pope Leo.”
Trump’s post followed Leo having denounced over the weekend the “delusion of omnipotence” that is fueling the U.S.-Israel war in Iran and demanded political leaders stop and negotiate peace.
Leo presided over an evening prayer service in St. Peter’s Basilica on the same day the United States and Iran began face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan during a fragile ceasefire.
The U.S.-born pope didn’t mention the United States or Trump by name in his prayer. But Leo’s tone and message appeared directed at Trump and U.S. officials, who have boasted of U.S. military superiority and justified the war in religious terms.
Leo is scheduled to leave Monday for an 11-day trip to Africa.
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