Pope Leo XIV Fires Back at Trump’s Criticism
Speaking to reporters aboard a papal flight from Rome to Algiers on Monday — the opening leg of a 10-day African tour spanning Algeria, Cameroon, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea — the pontiff was unequivocal, according to a report by media.
"I am not afraid of the Trump administration," Leo said.
"I speak of the Gospel and therefore I will continue to speak out loudly against the war."
On the prospect of a direct confrontation with the US president, the pope drew a firm line: "I have no intention of entering into a debate with him."
The remarks came in direct response to a broadside Trump launched on his Truth Social platform, in which he accused the pope of being soft on Iran's nuclear ambitions. "Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy," Trump wrote, adding that he did not want "a Pope who thinks it's OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon."
Trump went further, suggesting that Leo's election to the papacy was politically calculated — driven by his American nationality as a means of managing the White House.
"Because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J Trump," Trump wrote. "If I wasn't in the White House, Leo wouldn't be in the Vatican," he continued.
The pope had drawn Trump's ire following remarks delivered at a prayer vigil at St. Peter's Basilica on Saturday, where Leo issued a sweeping rebuke of the ongoing conflict.
"Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war," the pontiff said, in what was widely read as a direct reference to the US-Israel war on Iran.
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