Tensions between the White House and the Vatican have increased in recent weeks, with Pope Leo XIV criticizing the US war with Iran and President Trump expressing his displeasure with the American-born Pope. Amid the White House’s back-and-forth with the head of the Catholic Church, Trump presented himself as a Christ-like figure on social media.
Trump attacks Pope Leo on social media over political disagreements
President Trump recently lashed out at Pope Leo in a long social media post, in which the president said, “Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible on Foreign Policy.” Trump hits at the Pope’s opposition to the US operation that deposed and arrested Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, as well as the ongoing US war with Iran. “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon,” Trump says, mischaracterizing the Pope’s stance. Trump also personally attacks Pope Leo, born Robert Prevost in Chicago, who took the name Leo after being elected pope in 2025. Trump claimed in his post that Leo would not have been selected pope if Trump had not won the 2024 election. Trump also name-drops the Pope’s eldest brother, Louis Prevost, a self-declared MAGA supporter. “I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA,” Trump said.
Trump stands by criticisms of Pope while presenting himself as Jesus-like figure
Trump doubled down on his comments in remarks to reporters, saying of Leo, “I don’t think he’s doing a very good job,” and accusing Leo of being “a very liberal person” who “likes crime” and supports Iran developing nuclear weapons.
Trump also posted an apparently AI-generated image of himself as a Christ-like figure, clad in clothes and posing in ways similar to how Jesus has been portrayed in art. Trump, with light emanating from his hands, is touching the forehead of a sick man as if to heal him, while the American flag and fighter jets loom in the background of the image. “I’m not sure it has broken through to the general public that the president is a megalomaniac crazy person,” said journalist Aaron Rupar in a post of the image. “Hopefully posts like this help.”
New York Times columnist David French likewise called Trump’s post “self-evidently deranged” while expressing fear “that some evangelicals are so influenced by Trump that they won’t unite with their Catholic brothers and sisters in response to Trump’s blasphemy and intolerable attacks on the pope, but will instead turn against them.”
Pope pledges to stand by political positions as tensions with US continue
Pope Leo has issued a number of remarks seen as critical of Trump administration policies, including mass deportation and military operations against Venezuela and Iran. After Trump threatened to end Iranian “civilization” on social media, the pope took the extraordinary step of urging Americans to “Contact the authorities — political leaders, congressmen — to ask them, tell them to work for peace and to reject war always.” The Trump administration, meanwhile, has had a tense relationship with the Vatican. According to several sources, a recent meeting between members of the Department of Defense and representatives of the Vatican was unusually hostile, with Church officials feeling threatened. During the meeting, one member of the Defense Department is said to have reached for a medieval weapon that was housed in the room while referencing the Avignon Papacy, a period during the Middle Ages in which the King of France deposed the pope and replaced him with a loyalist while moving the office of the papacy from Rome to Avignon, France; Vatican officials took the reference as a threat. Despite these hostilities, Pope Leo has stood by his remarks. When confronted by reporters with Trump’s recent criticisms of his stances, Leo insisted that his positions are rooted in the Christian faith. “I will not enter into debate,” Leo said to the journalists. “The things that I say are certainly not meant as attacks on anyone. The message of the Gospel is very clear: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers.’” Leo also told reporters in a separate remark, “I have no fear of the Trump administration.”
President Trump’s insults against the head of the world’s largest Christian denomination adds to a long list of Trump attacks against political enemies, while the president’s choice to portray himself in a Jesus-like manner reflects the disturbing cult of personality that Trump has amassed around himself. Faced with these personal attacks and religious affronts, Pope Leo shows no signs of backing down, setting up sustained tension between the White House and the Vatican over issues such as the war with Iran.
