Trump and Pope Leo clash over Iran war and deportations

Donald Trump’s fight with Pope Leo XIV became less a personal spat than a contest between political power and religious authority, with war in Iran and deportations at the center. The clash sharpened after the U.S.-Israeli air campaign against Iran, then widened as the first American pope answered Trump’s attacks with his own defense of peace, diplomacy and human dignity.

The dispute traced back to Operation Epic Fury, which began on Feb. 28 with joint U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran. Pope Leo, who was elected on May 8, 2025, and is the 267th pope, condemned the violence and urged an end to the “spiral of violence.” He had already criticized the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts before and after his election, telling reporters in November that the treatment of immigrants was “extremely disrespectful.”

The temperature rose again after a “60 Minutes” segment highlighted Leo’s criticism of Trump’s deportation policy and the war in Iran. On April 12, Trump escalated publicly on Truth Social, branding Leo “WEAK on Crime,” “very liberal” and “terrible for Foreign Policy.” Trump also claimed Leo was chosen because he was American and suggested his own return to the White House influenced the conclave, a remarkable claim aimed at a pope whose authority comes from the Church, not Washington.

Leo answered by rejecting the idea that the White House could intimidate the Vatican. He said he had “no fear of the Trump administration” and vowed to keep speaking out for peace, dialogue and against war. The Vatican’s appeals, he said, were rooted in the Gospel, putting the issue squarely in moral terms rather than partisan ones.

The broader Catholic hierarchy moved quickly to push back on Trump’s comments. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said it was “disheartened” by the president’s remarks and insisted that “Pope Leo is not his rival.” Archbishop Paul S. Coakley said the pope is “the Vicar of Christ,” not a politician, while Bishop Robert Barron said Trump’s comments were inappropriate and that the president owed the pope an apology.

The feud also carried political risk. Catholics were a pivotal bloc in the 2020 and 2024 elections, and the dispute could complicate Trump’s standing with Catholic voters heading toward the 2026 midterms. Trump has said he will not apologize, and he has continued to insist that he was simply responding to the pope’s criticism of his policies, but the episode has already turned into a bigger question: how far presidential power can go when it runs into a pope speaking in the name of conscience.