‘Stick to morality’: JD Vance told the Vatican to stay in its lane, then defended Trump’s deleted Jesus image as just a joke people didn’t get

US Vice President JD Vance stepped into the growing feud between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV on Monday, telling the Vatican to stay out of American foreign policy while also defending a controversial social media post in which Trump appeared as a Jesus-like figure healing a sick man.

Vance made the remarks in an interview with Fox News as tensions between the White House and the Vatican continued to rise over the US war in Iran, now in its seventh week. The conflict has put the two most prominent Americans on the world stage, Trump and the US-born Pope Leo XIV, on a direct collision course in an unusually public and sharp exchange.

It was in this interview that Vance, a Catholic who recently released a book about his faith, made his position clear. “I certainly think that in some cases, it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality,” he said, according to People, “and let the President of the United States stick to dictating American public policy.” He was responding to the pope calling for peace and his criticism of Trump’s threat to destroy Iranian civilisation, “truly unacceptable.”

Vance is Catholic but still backed Trump over the pope, which says a lot

Vance also came to Trump’s defence over the now-deleted Truth Social post, which showed the president in biblical robes laying hands on a sick man, surrounded by eagles, American flags, and angelic figures. The image drew wide criticism, including from some of Trump’s own evangelical supporters.

“The President was posting a joke,” Vance said. “Of course, he took it down because he recognised a lot of people weren’t understanding his humour.” Vance added that it was “a good thing” that Trump “likes to mix it up on social media” and is “not filtered.”

Pope Leo, speaking to reporters aboard his plane as he began an 11-day trip to Africa, pushed back. “I have no fear of the Trump administration or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel,” he said. He added that he would continue to speak out against war and push for dialogue. “Too many people are suffering in the world today. Too many innocent people are being killed. And I think someone has to stand up and say there’s a better way.”

Trump had attacked Leo in a lengthy Truth Social post, calling him “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” He also suggested that Leo was only elected pope because he was American and the Church thought it would help them deal with Trump. “If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican,” Trump wrote.

He later told reporters he was “not a big fan” of the pope. The broader conflict is also tied to Trump’s naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has dramatically raised the stakes of the Iran war and added more pressure on world leaders to take sides.

The row also drew reactions from Europe. According to BBC, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a close Trump ally, broke from her usual silence and said Trump’s attacks on the pope were “unacceptable.” Her coalition partner Matteo Salvini also said that “attacking the Pope doesn’t seem like a useful or intelligent thing to do.”

The Archbishop of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, Paul Coakley, was direct in his response to the remarks. “Pope Leo is not his rival; nor is the Pope a politician,” he said. “He is the Vicar of Christ who speaks from the truth of the Gospel.” The feud comes at a time when the war itself continues to expand, with US intelligence accusing China of secretly routing weapons to Iran through third countries, drawing a sharp warning from Trump toward Beijing as well.