Trump told the Pope to “get his act together,” but the response from America’s own Catholic bishops hit different

Donald Trump has launched a public attack on Pope Leo, criticizing the pontiff over his stance on the war in Iran and U.S. immigration policy. As detailed by BBC, Trump took to Truth Social to label the head of the Catholic Church as weak on crime and terrible for foreign policy. Speaking with reporters, he later said plainly that he is not a big fan of the Pope.

The confrontation follows the Pope’s vocal opposition to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The pontiff has used public addresses to denounce global violence, specifically calling the threat to destroy Iranian civilization unacceptable, and has urged world leaders to pursue peace over the use of weapons. Trump fired back by accusing the Pope of being weak on nuclear weapons, claiming he does not believe in stopping countries from seeking the power to blow up the world.

The remarks drew immediate attention from scholars of religion and politics. Expert Massimo Faggioli noted that not even Hitler or Mussolini attacked the Pope so directly and publicly, underscoring how unusual the confrontation is. The Pope, meanwhile, has just begun an 11-day trip to Africa.

Trump’s criticism of the Pope comes with real electoral stakes

Trump also made claims about the circumstances of the Pope’s election, suggesting Leo was chosen because he was American and that the Vatican believed it would be the best way to deal with Donald J. Trump. He further claimed that if he were not in the White House, Leo would not be in the Vatican. This echoes the tension Trump had with the previous Pope, who once remarked that Trump was not Christian due to his anti-immigrant language, a comment Trump called disgraceful at the time.

The political stakes are notable given the size of the Catholic electorate. There are more than 70 million Catholics in the United States, representing roughly 20 percent of the population. In the 2024 election, Trump won 55 percent of Catholic voters compared to 43 percent for Kamala Harris, a shift from 2020 when the Catholic vote was split nearly evenly between Trump and Joe Biden.

The rift with the Vatican is also complicated by the fact that Vice President JD Vance is a Catholic himself, with Vance’s recent foreign policy moves drawing scrutiny of their own. The Pope’s position on immigration directly challenges one of the administration’s central policy pillars, with the pontiff questioning whether it is possible to be pro-life while supporting what he described as the inhuman treatment of immigrants.

The broader backdrop of the US-Iran conflict has added further weight to the Pope’s criticism, with collapsed US-Iran nuclear talks keeping the Middle East at the center of global debate. Trump’s public statements attacking the Pope have come precisely as the pontiff continues to call for de-escalation and an end to the conflict.