Trump Attacks Pope Leo, Says He is Weak and Too Liberal

Pope Leo XIV. (Instagram/pontifex)

JAKARTA - US President Donald Trump launched an open attack on Pope Leo XIV. According to a report by The Guardian, quoted on Monday, April 13, Trump accused the Catholic Church leader of being weak, too liberal, and not doing his job well.

Trump launched the attack on Sunday night through a long post on social media as he flew from Florida to Washington. After landing, he repeated the same tone in front of reporters. "I'm not a fan of Pope Leo," Trump said.

This tension arose after Pope Leo on the weekend alluded to what he called "the illusion of omnipotence" that triggered the US-Israeli war against Iran. The Pope did not mention Trump directly. However, The Guardian wrote, the direction of the statement seemed to be aimed at Trump and US officials who often boasted of military power and justified war with religious language.

Trump then responded harshly. In his post, he called Pope Leo "weak on crime" and "bad on foreign policy". He also attacked the pope's stance on Iran. "I don't want a pope who thinks Iran should have nuclear weapons," he wrote.

Bouts like this are rare. The pope and the US president are not always in line, but this open attack, especially from the president to the pope, is not common.

Previously, Pope Leo also said that God does not listen to the prayers of those who fight. He quoted the Book of Isaiah: many prayers will not be heard if the hands are full of blood. When Trump threatened a major attack on Iran and said "the whole civilization will die tonight", the Pope called such a tone "completely unacceptable".

Trump did not stop at the Iran issue. He also touched on Venezuela, the pope's criticism of the US President, to imply that Leo was elected because he was both an American and considered to be able to face him. "If I'm not in the White House, Leo won't be in the Vatican," Trump wrote.

In front of reporters, Trump attacked again. "I think he's not doing a good job. Maybe he likes crime. He's a very liberal person," he said.

According to AP VoteCast, Trump won 55 percent of Catholic voters in the 2024 election. However, his administration is also close to conservative evangelical Protestants who openly give religious justification for the war against Iran. Therefore, Trump's clash with Pope Leo is not just a difference of opinion. This has spread to become an open clash between political power and moral voice.