President vs. Pope: How feud with Leo could hurt Trump

Trump has drawn barbs even from some allies over the attacks on the US-born pontiff, who has criticized the Trump administration over its immigration crackdown, the intervention in Venezuela and the Iran war. The president risks alienating the religious right in November's crucial US midterm elections.

So far the unprecedented clash between the leader of the most powerful military on Earth and the head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics shows no signs of abating.

"There's nothing to apologize for. He's wrong," the 79-year-old Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday.

In the post on Sunday, Trump called the pontiff "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy," suggesting that Leo was elected pope in May 2025 only because he was American and a possible bridge to the Trump administration.

Trump then posted an AI-generated image seemingly depicting himself as a figure like Jesus Christ, which he later deleted. He insisted on Monday that he believed the image showed himself as a doctor.

For his part, Pope Leo told reporters on the papal plane en route to Africa earlier Monday that he has "no fear, neither of the Trump administration nor speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel."

Leo had earlier this month branded Trump's threat to destroy a "whole civilization" in Iran as "truly unacceptable." He has also previously criticized Trump's mass deportation campaign as "inhuman."

Three-times married billionaire Trump has long reached out to America's evangelical Christians with his conservative, nativist vision.

They backed him in his election wins in 2016 and 2024 despite a series of scandals and an ambiguous personal relationship with religion.

But Trump, who has previously hawked $60 Bibles branded with his name, appeared to have had something of an awakening during his second term.

At his inauguration last year he said he had been "saved by God" after a 2024 assassination attempt on the campaign trail and has taken a more explicitly religious tone.
'Evil tirade'
Yet over the recent Easter period, which is sacred to Christians, Trump has made a series of eye-opening posts when it comes to religion.

On the morning of Easter Sunday, as Christians were celebrating around the world, Trump posted a profanity-laced warning to the "crazy bastards" of Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz or else -- bizarrely signing off: "Praise be to Allah."

Then, amid what appeared to be increasing frustration after talks with Iran produced no breakthrough, came Sunday's attacks on Pope Leo.

"I am disheartened that the president chose to write such disparaging words about the Holy Father," the head of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Paul Coakley, said in a statement.

At least one prominent Catholic in Trump's administration backed the US president over the pontiff.

US Vice President JD Vance, a recent convert, told Fox News on Monday, "in some cases, it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality... and let the President United States stick to dictating American public policy."

There was no immediate reaction from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also Catholic.

Perhaps more worrying for the White House is the ire on the religious right, particularly among former allies.

Any slackening of support for Trump will add to concerns among Republicans that they could lose control of Congress in November's mid-term elections, with the economy already a worry amid high oil prices caused by the Iran war.

"On Orthodox Easter, President Trump attacked the Pope because the Pope is rightly against Trump’s war in Iran and then he posted this picture of himself as if he is replacing Jesus," one time ally and former congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene said.

"This comes after last week's post of his evil tirade on Easter and then threatening to kill an entire civilization. I completely denounce this and I’m praying against it!!!"

Conservative commentator Riley Gaines also railed against the apparent Jesus image.

"Seriously, I cannot understand why he'd post this," Gaines said on X, urging Trump to show humility and adding: "God shall not be mocked."