On April 13, 2026 at 09:51, President Donald Trump criticized Pope Leonard XIII on Sunday night in an unusual and direct attack on the head of the 1.4 billion-strong Catholic Church, which immediately triggered a strong reaction from followers. The president, apparently in response to the pope’s increasing criticism of the US-Israeli war against Iran and the strict immigration policies of the Trump administration, stated that Leon was “terrible.”
“President Trump wrote on Truth Social, ‘Pope Leonard is lax on crime and catastrophic in foreign policy’,” he further added.
Leonard from Chicago is the first American pope known for his careful statements. In recent weeks, he has become a vocal critic of the war in Iran and denounced the “folly of war” in a peace appeal on Saturday.
“Last year, he questioned whether the strict immigration policies of the Trump administration are in line with the pro-life teachings of the Church,” Trump’s tweet on Sunday urged Leo to reclaim his title as pope, later telling reporters that he was “not a big fan” of the pope.
The United States imposes a blockade on Iranian ports and interrupts traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, as announced by the American army.
