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ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE — President Donald Trump sharply criticized Pope Leo XIV Sunday as “WEAK on crime” and “terrible for Foreign Policy,” igniting a feud with the first American leader of the Catholic Church after the pontiff’s Iran war criticism.
The pope hit back, telling NBC News that he did not fear the Trump administration and that his appeals for peace were rooted in the gospel.
Speaking aboard the papal plane, the pope said “I have no fear of the Trump administration, or speaking out loudly of the message of the gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do, what the church is here to do.”
He added: “We are not politicians, we don’t deal with foreign policy with the same perspective he might understand it, but I do believe in the message of the gospel, as a peacemaker.”
Pope Leo XIV at St Peter’s Square in The Vatican on Feb. 18, 2026. Filippo Monteforte / AFP – Getty Images
He was responding to Trump’s public criticism in remarks to reporters and on social media.
“I don’t think he’s doing a very good job. He likes crime, I guess,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, when he was asked about his lengthy Truth Social post Sunday night criticizing the pope.
“We don’t like a pope that’s going to say that it’s OK to have a nuclear weapon. We don’t want a pope that says crime is OK in our cities. I don’t like it. I’m not a big fan of Pope Leo,” Trump added.
“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” Trump said on Truth Social.
“Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise. He wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump. If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican,” Trump said.
Later, Trump posted a picture portraying himself as having saint-like powers akin to those of Jesus Christ. Wearing a biblical-style robe, Trump is seen laying hands on a bedridden man as light emanates from his fingers. A soldier, a nurse, a praying woman and a bearded man in a baseball cap all look on, with American landmarks in the background and the sky filled with eagles and an American flag.
The pope last week criticized Trump’s public threats to “wipe out” Iranian civilization, saying “attacks on civilian infrastructure are against international law” and urging people to contact leaders and members of Congress to call for peace. He has urged Trump to end the war in Iran, and he lamented in his Easter message last week that the world is “becoming indifferent” to violence. Leo had also criticized the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
In a brief statement Sunday night, Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, rebuked Trump’s criticism of the pope.
“I am disheartened that the President chose to write such disparaging words about the Holy Father,” Coakley wrote. “Pope Leo is not his rival; nor is the Pope a politician. He is the Vicar of Christ who speaks from the truth of the Gospel and for the care of souls.”
Trump hasn’t always been critical of Leo. At the time, Trump called the pope’s election in May “an honor for our country.”
“It’s such a great honor for our country to have an American pope. I mean, what greater honor could there be? That we were a little bit surprised, very happy. But just a great, absolutely great honor,” he said at the time.
A March NBC News poll found U.S. voters viewed Pope Leo more favorably than Trump. Forty-two percent of respondents said they had positive views of the pope, while just 8% had negative views of him. While 41% of respondents said they had positive views of Trump, 53% said they had negative views of him.
Leo was heading Monday to Algeria as part of an 11-day tour of four African nations.
Claudio Lavanga reported from aboard the papal plane, Tara Prindiville and Raquell Coronell Uribe from Washington.
