A fresh public dispute between former U.S. President Donald Trump and the first American-born pontiff, Pope Leo XIV, has created new diplomatic complications, just days before U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to travel to the Vatican for a planned fence-mending meeting. The escalating tension has also spilled across borders, drawing pushback from top Italian government leaders and adding unexpected political friction ahead of upcoming U.S. midterm elections.
In an interview aired Monday with conservative media personality Hugh Hewitt, Trump doubled down on his previous attacks against Pope Leo. He claimed the pontiff was aiding Iran and undermining global security through two key positions: the pope’s public calls for respectful treatment of immigrants, and his stance on the ongoing Iran conflict. Trump went a step further, falsely asserting that Pope Leo supports Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, arguing the stance endangers Catholics and communities worldwide.
This claim directly contradicts the pope’s long-held public positions. Pope Leo has never backed Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear program; instead, he has repeatedly called for expanded diplomatic peace talks to resolve the Iran standoff, and publicly condemned both general military conflict with Iran and Trump’s past threats of mass civilian strikes against the country. The pontiff has repeatedly emphasized that his public statements are rooted in biblical and Catholic Church teaching, not political opposition to any U.S. administration.
Responding to Trump’s latest remarks to reporters Tuesday, Pope Leo pushed back forcefully against the misrepresentation of his views. “The Catholic Church for years has spoken out against all nuclear weapons, so there is no doubt there,” he stated. The pontiff also reaffirmed that his calls for peace and dialogue in the Middle East conflict stem directly from religious doctrine. “The mission of the church is to preach the Gospel, to preach peace. If someone wants to criticize me for announcing the Gospel, let him do it with the truth,” he added.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Rubio sought to downplay the rift between Trump and the Vatican, framing Trump’s criticism as rooted in shared global opposition to Iran obtaining a nuclear arsenal. “Trump doesn’t understand why anybody — leave aside the pope, the president and I, for that matter — think most people cannot understand why anyone would think that it’s a good idea for Iran to ever have a nuclear weapon,” Rubio said. Still, political analysts widely note that Trump’s unprompted new attack makes Rubio’s diplomatic outreach far more challenging when he meets with Pope Leo this Thursday.
This is not an isolated conflict: Trump first lashed out at Pope Leo last month on social media, attacking the pontiff for criticizing his administration’s hardline immigration and deportation policies, as well as his handling of the Iran war. In response, Pope Leo stated that God does not hear the prayers of warmongers. The dispute escalated further when Trump shared a social media graphic that compared himself to Jesus Christ; he deleted the post after widespread public backlash, refused to issue an apology to the pope, and later attempted to deflect criticism by claiming he misinterpreted the image as depicting him as a medical professional.
The tension has now spilled into Italian domestic politics, where long-time Trump ally Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has publicly rejected the U.S. former president’s comments about Pope Leo. Trump has hit back at Meloni as part of his growing frustration with NATO allies over what he calls insufficient support for U.S. policy on the Iran war. That friction has already led to U.S. plans to withdraw thousands of American troops from Germany in the coming months.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani also issued a public rebuke of Trump’s comments via social media, writing that the remarks were “neither acceptable nor helpful to the cause of peace.” Tajani added, “I reaffirm my support for every action and word of Pope Leo; his words are a testament to dialogue, the value of human life, and freedom. This is a vision shared by our government, which is committed through diplomacy to ensuring stability and peace in all areas where conflicts exist.”
Alongside his meeting with Pope Leo in Vatican City, Rubio is scheduled to hold talks with Meloni and Tajani in Rome on Friday. A practicing Catholic, Rubio has now visited Italy or the Vatican at least three times in the past 12 months, and has been repeatedly tasked with softening or clarifying Trump’s sharp rhetoric on issues related to Europe, NATO, and the Middle East. Beyond diplomatic fallout, the public dispute between Trump and Pope Leo also carries tangible domestic political implications for the upcoming U.S. midterm congressional elections, as both parties seek to court Catholic voters across key swing districts.