Trump Attacks Pope Leo XIV: "If I Wasn't in the White House, Leo Wouldn't Be in the Vatican"

On April 13, 2026, Trump unloaded on Pope Leo XIV — the first American pope, leader of 1.4 billion Catholics — in a Truth Social rant after the Pope's repeated criticism of the Iran war.

"If I wasn't in the White House, Leo wouldn't be in the Vatican."

"Leo should 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. It's hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it's hurting the Catholic Church!"

"Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy."

The president of the United States — a politician — demanded the spiritual leader of 1.4 billion people stop being a politician. The man who started the Iran war during peace talks called the Pope "terrible for Foreign Policy." The man whose Defense Secretary prays for troops to "rain violence and death on the enemy" called the Pope "WEAK on Crime."

The "if I wasn't in the White House" claim is also self-aggrandizing fiction. Two American cardinals at the conclave explicitly denied Pope Leo's election was a counterweight to Trump. Cardinal Wilton Gregory: "I didn't sense in the conversations I had with the other cardinals of the world that the conclave was seen as a continuation of the American political election." Trump's framing inverts cause and effect — Leo's papacy is not Trump's gift; if anything, the conclave proceeded knowing exactly what Trump's America had become.

What Pope Leo actually said that triggered the rant:

• Called Trump's "a whole civilization will die tonight" threat "truly unacceptable"
• On Palm Sunday, rebuked Defense Secretary Hegseth's war prayers by quoting Isaiah: "Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood"
• Repeatedly criticized the Iran war as a war "no one can use Jesus to justify"
• Declined an invitation to the U.S. 250th birthday celebrations
• According to a Vatican official, may never visit the United States during Trump's presidency

This is unprecedented. Never before has a sitting U.S. president been in open conflict with an American pope. The previous occasion an American president clashed with a pontiff at all (and even those clashes were polite by comparison) involved popes who were Italian or Polish or Argentine — never one of America's own. The first time the Vatican has an American leader, the American president picks a fight with him.

The whataboutism Trump deployed — "He talks about 'fear' of the Trump Administration, but doesn't mention the FEAR that the Catholic Church, and all other Christian Organizations, had during COVID when they were arresting priests, ministers, and everybody else" — is the standard reflex: any criticism of the present must be rebutted with grievance about the past.

The pattern is now established. Pope Francis's final public act was rebuking Vance on migrants. Pope Leo's first major address rebuked Hegseth's war prayers. Now the U.S. president is publicly calling the Pope weak, terrible, and hurting the Catholic Church. The most influential American religious leader on Earth and the most powerful American political leader on Earth are openly at war — and Trump started it, on Truth Social, after midnight.