President Donald Trump has publicly attacked Pope Leo XIV, calling him “weak on crime” and terrible on foreign policy, accusing the pontiff of tolerating Iran’s nuclear programme and criticising US military actions in ways that Trump views as naive, counterproductive, and morally misguided.
The remarks, reported by BRICSinfo and circulating widely across social media, stem from recent statements by Pope Leo XIV condemning US-Israeli military actions in Iran and objecting to threats against civilian infrastructure including water and power systems that millions of Iranians depend on for survival.
The Pope has also criticised a US strike on Venezuela that Washington justified as necessary to disrupt drug trafficking networks, a position that the Vatican framed as disproportionate and in violation of Venezuelan sovereignty.
The public feud between a sitting US president and the leader of the Catholic Church is extraordinary by any measure. Popes and presidents have disagreed before, often on issues of war, poverty, and human rights, but those disagreements have typically been expressed through diplomatic language, indirect criticism, or carefully worded statements that allow both sides to maintain respect and avoid direct confrontation.
Trump’s decision to call the Pope weak on crime and terrible on foreign policy is a departure from that norm and reflects both his personal communication style and his broader impatience with institutions, religious or otherwise, that challenge American policy on moral or ethical grounds.
The accusation that Pope Leo XIV tolerates Iran’s nuclear programme is rooted in the Vatican’s longstanding opposition to military solutions to the Iran nuclear issue and its support for diplomatic engagement, arms control treaties, and multilateral frameworks like the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which Trump withdrew from during his first term. The Pope’s position is not that Iran should be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.
It is that war, sanctions, and threats of annihilation are not the path to preventing proliferation and that dialogue, verification, and incentives are more likely to produce lasting solutions. Trump views that position as weakness, appeasement, or both, and his public criticism reflects a belief that moral authority divorced from the willingness to use force is irrelevant in a world where adversaries respect only power.
The Pope’s criticism of the US strike on Venezuela is similarly rooted in principles of sovereignty, proportionality, and the protection of civilian populations. The Vatican has consistently opposed unilateral military actions that are not authorised by international bodies and that impose costs on civilians who have no role in the conflicts being targeted.
The US strike on Venezuela, which Trump justified as a counter-narcotics operation, was not authorised by the United Nations, was not coordinated with regional bodies, and resulted in casualties and infrastructure damage that the Vatican views as violations of international law.
The Pope’s objection is not a defence of drug trafficking. It is a defence of the principle that nations cannot bomb other nations without legal justification and without regard for the human consequences.
Trump’s framing of the Pope as weak on crime is particularly pointed because it uses language typically reserved for domestic political opponents and applies it to a religious leader whose authority is moral and spiritual rather than legal or coercive….See More
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