THE MOST UNPOPULAR AMERICAN PRESIDENT TAKES ON A POPULAR AMERICAN POPE

Donald Trump has now opened a war on another front: with the Pope.

Every day Trump seemingly aims a political broadside at Pope Leo in response to Leo…a Pope…saying that he’s against war, bombs and death. Trump accuses him of being “weak on crime,” as if the Pope is one the Democrats he rails against. He says Leo “wasn’t on any list to be Pope” and was put there because Trump was President.

At any moment you expect Trump to say the Chicago-born Robert Francis Prevost’s selection as Pope on May 8, 2025 was rigged.

“Why is Trump mad at Leo?” asks The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols: “For the same reason that Trump ever gets mad at anyone: The Holy Father dared to criticize him. Last week, the president of the United States posted an expletive-filled threat—on Easter Sunday, no less—to destroy the ancient civilization of Iran. His supporters wrote this off as a clever gambit to bring an end to the war (which it has not). Leo called the threat ‘unacceptable,”’ blasted the “’delusion of omnipotence’ that led to the war, and said: “’nough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war!'”

Vice President JD Vance basically said the morality-conscious Leo should stay out of U.S. politics. Trump has issued a slew of interview and Truth Social slams on the Pope. Then Pope outraged many supporters, non-supporters and world leaders by posting an AI that showed him as Jesus Christ. Trump later took it down and insisted he thought it was him as a doctor, sparking many mocking memes on social media. The latest explanation from the White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is that Trump feels the video was “doctored.’

The New York Times’ Ross Douthat said Trump’s response “emphatically does not belong to a normal push and pull between church and state, pope and empire. Nor is it even a normal kind of Trumpian abnormality. Instead we have outright profanation and sacrilege, in a pattern that began with his social media post on Easter Sunday, cursing and threatening violence and sarcastically praising Allah, and then escalated through a post attacking Leo and finally a post of A.I. slop depicting himself as Jesus Christ.”

There is precedent for political leaders clashing with popes—but not quite like this.

In the United States, tensions between presidents and the Vatican have typically been restrained, even when disagreements were real. John F. Kennedy had to reassure voters he wouldn’t take orders from Rome, while Joe Biden has navigated policy differences with Pope Francis over issues like abortion. Even Donald Trump previously sparred with Francis over immigration. Bill Clinton had big differences over reproductive rights and population policy. George W. Bush faced Pope John Paul II vehemently opposing the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Richard Nixon had tense meetings with Pope Paul VI regarding the Vietnam War. Woodrow Wilson had an awkward interaction where he expressed disinterest in being blessed by Pope Benedict XV.

These moments were largely about policy, not personal or theological one-upmanship.

It’s one thing to debate policy. it’s another to take on a man whose résumé includes “Vicar of Christ.” Historically, picking a fight with the pope hasn’t been great for one’s eternal polling numbers.

If you go further back, the clashes become far more dramatic—and consequential. Medieval rulers didn’t just trade barbs with popes. They risked excommunication, political collapse, and worse. Henry IV was forced into a humiliating public penance after defying Pope Gregory VII. Philip IV of France went so far as to have Pope Boniface VIII seized during a power struggle. And Napoleon Bonaparte made a point of crowning himself in front of Pope Pius VII, signaling that his authority didn’t come from the Church. World leaders have tangled with popes before—though usually with a little more fear of lightning bolts, if not voters. There’s a long tradition of rulers clashing with the papacy. It rarely ends with the pope updating his position.

That’s what makes the current moment feel different. Modern presidents don’t derive legitimacy from the pope, and the pope doesn’t command armies. Today’s conflicts are symbolic, rhetorical, and rooted in values rather than raw power.

But there’s still a line between disagreeing with a religious leader and implicitly placing yourself on comparable spiritual footing.

Arguing with the pope is not unprecedented. Doing so while sounding like you’re auditioning for a sequel to the New Testament is something else entirely.

Presidents come and go. Popes do too—but the institution they represent has outlasted empires. It’s not a great track record for anyone looking to win a long-term argument.

Footnote: One poll puts Pope Leo’s approval at 84% and Trump’s at 38%.

The post THE MOST UNPOPULAR AMERICAN PRESIDENT TAKES ON A POPULAR AMERICAN POPE appeared first on The Moderate Voice.