Pope Leo XIV responds to questions regarding US President Donald Trump’s recent statements during the flight to Algeria on April 13, 2026 in Algiers, Algeria.
Matteo Pernaselci | Vatican Pool | Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump took aim at Pope Leo XIV again, suggesting that he was unaware of Iran’s repressive actions against its own people and building on his criticism of the Catholic pontiff.
“Will someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent, completely unarmed, protesters in the last two months, and that for Iran to have a Nuclear Bomb is absolutely unacceptable,” Trump said in a Truth Social post just before midnight Tuesday stateside.
This comes after Trump lashed out against the pontiff on Sunday, saying that he did not want a pope who was critical of the U.S. president.
Pope Leo has called for a ceasefire and urged dialogue to resolve the Iran conflict, while Trump has lambasted him for criticizing U.S. military actions against Iran and Venezuela.
“I have no fear of the Trump administration,” Leo told reporters on Monday, “I will continue to speak out loudly against war, looking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateral relationships among the states to look for just solutions to problems.”
Trump on Sunday posted an AI-generated image of himself appearing like Jesus Christ on Truth Social that drew swift condemnation from religious leaders and Democratic lawmakers, and prompted a sharp response from the Vatican, which called the imagery “deeply disrespectful.”
“I don’t know if the President thought he was being funny or if he is under the influence of some substance or what possible explanation he could have for this OUTRAGEOUS blasphemy,” wrote Megan Basham, a conservative Christian commentator, in a post about the image on X.
Trump later deleted the image, claiming he was meant to depict him as a doctor. “I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor, and had to do with Red Cross, as a Red Cross worker there, which we support,” he told reporters at the White House.
“Only the ‘fake news’ could come up with that one,” Trump said, dismissing reports that he had cast himself as Jesus. “It’s supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better,” he said. “And I do make people better. I make people a lot better.”
— CNBC’s Dan Mangan contributed to this report.
