Pope Leo XIV answers a question about U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent comments on a flight to Algeria, April 13, 2026, in Algiers, Algeria.
Matteo Pernaserci | Vatican Pool | Getty Images
US President Donald Trump has extended his criticism of the Catholic pontiff, again criticizing Pope Leo
“Can someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent and completely unarmed protesters in the last two months, and that Iran’s possession of a nuclear bomb is completely unacceptable,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social just before midnight Tuesday.
This comes after President Trump lashed out at the pope on Sunday, saying he doesn’t want a pope who criticizes the US president.
Pope Leo has called for a cease-fire and encouraged dialogue to resolve the Iran conflict, but President Trump has sharply criticized the pope, criticizing US military actions against Iran and Venezuela.
“I am not afraid of the Trump administration,” Leo told reporters on Monday. “I will continue to oppose war, seek to promote peace, and continue to be a vocal advocate of interstate dialogue and multilateral relations to find just solutions to problems.”
President Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself appearing to be Jesus Christ on Truth Social on Sunday, drawing immediate condemnation from religious leaders and Democratic lawmakers, and a harsh response from the Vatican, which called the image “extremely disrespectful.”
“I don’t know if the president thought he was joking, or if he was under the influence of some substance, or what explanation there is for this outrageous blasphemy,” conservative Christian commentator Megan Basham wrote in a post about the X image.
Trump later deleted the image and claimed he had meant to portray him as a doctor. “It was me as a doctor who posted it, and I thought it had something to do with the Red Cross. As a Red Cross worker on the ground, we are assisting,” he told reporters at the White House.
“Only ‘fake news’ would come up with something like that,” President Trump said, denying reports that he had dressed up as Jesus. “It’s supposed to be me as a doctor who makes people better,” he said. “And I make people better. I make people better.”
— CNBC’s Dan Mangan contributed to this report.
