Trump Criticizes Pope Leo XIV on Crime, Foreign Policy

President Donald Trump sharply criticized Pope Leo XIV in a lengthy social media post on Sunday, accusing the first American-born pontiff of weakness on crime and poor judgment in foreign policy amid ongoing tensions over U.S. military actions abroad. The remarks, posted on Truth Social, marked a significant escalation in a public dispute between the White House and the Vatican that has intensified since the start of the U.S.-led war in Iran.

Trump's post, which spanned several hundred words, addressed multiple grievances. He faulted the pope for opposing U.S. military intervention in Venezuela, which the president described as a response to drug trafficking and the release of prisoners into the United States. Trump also accused Leo of supporting Iran's right to nuclear weapons and failing to condemn restrictions on religious gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy," Trump wrote, adding that the pontiff should "stop catering to the Radical Left" and focus on his role as a spiritual leader rather than a political figure.

In the post, Trump claimed the Catholic Church selected Leo, a Chicago native, as pope partly to...