Donald Trump has doubled down on his criticism of the Pope as the war of words between the two world leaders intensifies.
Speaking on the front lawn of the White House, the president told reporters that Pope Leo XIV was naive about geopolitics.
“The Pope has to understand that this is the real world,” Trump said.
He added: “I have to do what is right… The Pope has to understand this.
The head of the Catholic Church has repeatedly called for peace amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
To justify US military action, Trump said the conflict was about preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
don top
Trump says Iran has agreed not to have nuclear weapons as he says deal is close
all imaginary
Pete Hegseth leads prayer ‘quoting the Bible’ but is actually from Pulp Fiction
The president also criticized the Islamic Republic’s leadership for killing its own people.
When Trump was asked about Iran’s plan to execute four more anti-regime protesters, he quipped: “Tell that to the Pope.”
However, the president also reassured a concerned audience that he had no personal issues with the Pope.
“I have nothing against the Pope. His brother is total MAGA,” Trump said.
The Pope took aim at leaders who spend billions of dollars on war, saying earlier this week that the world was currently being “destroyed by a handful of tyrants”.
He also condemned those who use religious language to justify their actions, and urged a “decisive change of course”.
His comments were widely interpreted as being aimed at US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who had resorted to Christian language to justify the Iran war.
The Pope also spoke about the “illusion of omnipotence”, calling for an end to all wars.
Neither Trump nor the Middle East conflict were directly named by the pontiff, but white House Seen it as a direct attack.
Trump began attacking Leo on Sunday, calling him “weak on crime and terrible at foreign policy.”
The president also told reporters that he did not think the Pope was “doing a very good job”, adding that he was “not a fan of Pope Leo”.
In response to Trump’s sharp attack, Leo stressed that the Vatican’s appeal for peace is based on the Gospel and is not intended to be a direct criticism of the Trump administration.
In a now-deleted post, Trump shared an image of himself — which many said made the president appear to be a Jesus figure.
After heavy criticism, Trump rejected the idea that he had compared himself to the Son of God.
He said, “As a doctor I believe I will make people better. And I do make people better. I make people a lot better.”
The Pope then directly named Trump, saying: “I have no fear of the Trump administration, nor of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel.
After this Trump tried to educate Religious leaders on Iran’s murderous regime On Wednesday.
The president posted: “Will someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent, completely unarmed protesters over the last two months, and that Iran having a nuclear bomb is absolutely unacceptable.”
Trump was referring to the Islamic Republic’s deadly crackdown on anti-regime protesters that began in January, in which thousands have been killed.
