Trump Doubles Down: Pope Should Stay Out of Politics

Italy's prime minister just put daylight between herself and US President Trump over his feud with the American pope, the BBC reports. Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday called Trump's broadside against Pope Leo XIV "unacceptable," saying it was "right and normal" for the head of the Catholic Church to plead for peace and denounce war. The rebuke is notable: Meloni, a Catholic who leads a right-wing coalition, is one of Trump's closest allies in Europe and had faced criticism at home for staying silent. (This isn't the first time recently that she's distanced herself from Trump, however.) Coalition partner Matteo Salvini also distanced himself from Trump, saying attacking the pontiff "doesn't seem like a useful or intelligent thing to do."

Trump labeled the pope "weak on crime," "very liberal," and soft on Iran, and suggested Leo was elevated in part to handle his administration—adding, "If I wasn't in the White House, Leo wouldn't be in the Vatican." The clash stems from Leo's strong opposition to the Iran war and to Trump's threat last week that "a whole civilization will die tonight," which the pope called "truly unacceptable." Traveling in Africa, Leo declined to trade barbs, saying he has "no fear" of the US administration and will keep pushing a gospel message of peace. As for Trump, he doubled down on his doubling down—after telling reporters at the White House that he wouldn't apologize to the pontiff, the POTUS spoke to CBS News and confirmed he had no plans to reach out to Pope Leo. "He's wrong on the issues," he said. "I don't think he should be getting into politics. I think he probably learned that from this."

He also claimed he's "done more for the Catholic Church than any president in the last hundred years," adding, "During COVID I gave them billions of dollars. They were gonna go under. I gave them billions of dollars for education and that's not the right way to treat somebody that's been so good." The AP reports that while a majority of US Catholic voters voted for Trump in 2024, many Catholics were speaking out in dismay against Trump's criticism of Leo. Vice President JD Vance, a convert to Catholicism, said on the matter: "I certainly think that in some cases, it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality, to stick to matters of what's going on with the Catholic church, and let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy."