President Trump refused to apologize to Pope Leo XIV for criticizing his opposition to the Iran war, intensifying a rare public feud. Trump also defended a now-deleted social media post depicting himself as Jesus, claiming he thought it showed him as a doctor, while Pope Leo reiterated his Gospel-rooted call for peace.
The article details the intensifying public feud between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV. Trump refused to apologize for criticizing the Pope's opposition to the U.S.-Israel war in Iran, instead launching further attacks, calling Leo 'WEAK on Crime,' 'terrible for Foreign Policy,' and suggesting his papacy was solely to deal with Trump. Simultaneously, Trump defended a controversial social media post, later deleted, that depicted him as Jesus, claiming he genuinely believed it showed him as a doctor. Vice President JD Vance later dismissed the image as a 'joke.' Pope Leo XIV firmly pushed back against Trump's criticisms, reiterating that the Vatican's appeals for peace and reconciliation are deeply rooted in the Gospel and that he does not fear the Trump administration. He affirmed his commitment to speaking out against war and promoting dialogue, having previously condemned the war as a 'delusion of omnipotence' and criticized Trump's threats against Iran. This rare and direct confrontation between the two global figures underscores a significant and deepening schism amid the ongoing war in Iran.
