Trump says ‘not a big fan’ of Pope Leo after his anti-war message

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US President Donald Trump told reporters Sunday that he is “not a big fan” of Pope Leo XIV, after the global leader of Catholics made a plea for peace amid the war in the Middle East.

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The 70-year-old American pope publicly implored leaders on Saturday to end the violence, telling worshippers at St Peter’s Basilica: “Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war!”

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“I’m not a big fan of Pope Leo. He’s a very liberal person, and he’s a man that doesn’t believe in stopping crime,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

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He accused the pontiff of “toying with a country that wants a nuclear weapon.”

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Trump later doubled down on his comments to reporters with a post on Truth Social, saying: “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”

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“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” he said.

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The president added that Leo had only been elected “because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump.”

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

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Trump later posted an AI-generated image seemingly depicting himself as Jesus Christ.

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In the image, the president appears dressed in red and white robes as he cures a man with his healing hand. The American flag is shown over his shoulder.

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Trump and the White House have previously shared AI-generated images, including one that showed the president dressed as the pope.

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– Rejecting a rift –

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Washington and the Vatican have rejected reports of a rift.

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On Friday, a Vatican official denied reports that a top Pentagon official gave the church’s envoy to the United States a “bitter lecture” over Pope Leo’s criticisms of the Trump administration.

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The story in the Free Press — which the Pentagon had already dismissed as “distorted” — reported that Cardinal Christophe Pierre was summoned in January to the Pentagon, where he was given a dressing-down by US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby.

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The military official reportedly told the cardinal that the United States “has the military power to do whatever it wants — and that the Church had better take its side.”

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Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement “the account presented by certain media outlets regarding this meeting does not correspond to the truth in any way.”

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While both parties insist the meeting was cordial, the Holy See and the White House have openly been at odds over the Trump administration’s hardline mass deportation campaign — which the pope called “inhuman” — and the use of military force in the Middle East and Venezuela.

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When Trump made genocidal threats against Iran Tuesday — saying “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” — the pontiff slammed the “truly unacceptable” statement and urged parties to “come back to the table” for negotiations.

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Earlier this month, Pope Leo hailed the news of a ceasefire between the United States and Iran as a “sign of real hope.”

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But peace talks between the United States and Iran, held in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, ended abruptly and without a resolution on Saturday, with US Vice President JD Vance telling reporters after a marathon-session of talks that Washington has delivered its “final and best offer.”

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