Trump supporters back Iran strikes, tell Pope Leo to stay out of war policy

Trump’s Iran strikes won loud backing from supporters in Nevada and Arizona, even as Pope Leo XIV pressed for a ceasefire and dialogue and warned that violence could not produce justice or peace. In interviews with more than 20 Trump supporters at events in Las Vegas and Phoenix, most said the pope should not weigh in on foreign policy and sided with Donald Trump instead.

The reaction suggested little appetite among many Trump voters for divided loyalties between presidential power and church authority. Jim Brizeno, a 71-year-old Catholic Trump voter in Las Vegas, said the pope should “stay in your lane.” Christopher Brandlin, a Nevada Republican candidate for state Assembly, said Pope Leo was “actually using more politics than he should.” Across both events, supporters largely treated the conflict with Iran as a matter for the White House, not the Vatican.

The clash began after Operation Epic Fury, the joint U.S.-Israeli air campaign against Iran that CBS News said started on Feb. 28. Pope Leo then urged a ceasefire and renewed dialogue, saying the fighting could not bring justice, stability or peace. Vatican News said he called on those responsible to “Cease the fire!” and reopen talks, while also describing heavy civilian suffering and displacement tied to the wider conflict.

Trump answered with open defiance. He attacked the pope on Truth Social as weak on crime, very liberal and wrong on foreign policy. On April 16, he told reporters he had “a right to disagree” and repeated his view that Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. Pope Leo, speaking aboard the papal plane on April 13, said he was not trying to debate Trump, that the Church’s peace message came from the Gospel, and that he was not afraid of the Trump administration.

The feud has also drawn in Catholic leaders who argue that the pope’s position is rooted in longstanding church teaching. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and several bishops backed Leo’s peace appeals and defended just war doctrine. Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, the conference’s president, called on Trump on April 7 to “step back from the precipice of war” and negotiate a just settlement. CBS News said the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire that same day.

For now, the Republican coalition around Trump appears more united on Iran than divided by the pope’s warnings. The episode has become a rare public test of whether Trump’s hard-line foreign policy can coexist with Catholic voters and the hierarchy that claims moral authority above partisan combat.