‘He likes crime’: Trump lashes out at Pope Leo XIV over anti-war message on Iran

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump took aim at Pope Leo XIV on Sunday over his recent anti-war comments tied to Iran.

“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 asked about a Truth Social post he had published earlier.

The President said, “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.”

The remarks came after Leo criticized Trump’s threats to “wipe out” the Iranian civilization, warning that “attacks on civilian infrastructure are against international law.” The Pope also urged people to contact leaders and members of Congress to call for peace, pressing Trump to end the war in Iran.

In his Easter message last week, Leo lamented that the world is “becoming indifferent” to violence. He has also taken aim at the Trump administration’s immigration policies in recent months.

Trump's Truth Social rant against Pope Leo XIV

In a lengthy Truth Social post posted ahead of his remarks on the tarmac, Trump branded Leo “weak on crime” and “terrible” for foreign policy.

“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, for holding Church Services, even when going outside, and being ten and even twenty feet apart,” Trump wrote.

“I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA. He gets it, and Leo doesn’t!”

Trump then returned to foreign policy. “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Country that was sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers, into our Country," he said.

"And I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do, setting Record Low Numbers in Crime, and creating the Greatest Stock Market in History.”

The President also questioned Leo’s rise to the papacy.

“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,” he wrote. “If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”

“Unfortunately, Leo’s Weak on Crime, Weak on Nuclear Weapons, does not sit well with me, nor does the fact that he meets with Obama Sympathizers like David Axelrod, a LOSER from the Left, who is one of those who wanted churchgoers and clerics to be arrested. 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!” Trump concluded.

Past praise of Pope Leo XIV

It's worth noting that when Leo was elected in May, the President struck a far more welcoming note.

“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 posted 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, compared to just 8% who had negative views. For Trump, 41% reported positive views, while 53% said they viewed him negatively.