POTUS vs Pontiff: Trump feud with Pope Leo marks unprecedented moment

The feud between President Trump and Pope Leo XIV this week marked yet another unprecedented moment in history, with the president becoming the first U.S. leader to publicly lock horns with the head of the Roman Catholic church in modern times.

Leo’s status as the first American pope makes the episode even more unique. 

For weeks the pontiff had voiced veiled criticism of Trump’s immigration policies, but it was the pope’s criticism of the U.S. war in Iran that drew the president’s ire leading to a Truth Social post that criticized Leo for being “weak on crime and terrible for foreign policy.” 

But the president ended the week by significantly toning down his rhetoric, saying he wasn’t fighting with Leo and that he has a right to disagree with him, but only after facing criticism from Catholics and world leaders.

Political strategists agree Trump’s comments criticizing the pope likely won’t directly impact Republicans running in midterms, but they likely won’t help them either. 

“Politics is a game of addition, not subtraction,” said T.W. Arrighi, a Republican strategist who is Catholic. “There’s no addition to be gained by attacking the head of the largest Christian denomination in the world.”

However, Arrighi added the pope “is not infallible.” 

“It’s not as though you have to agree with everything he says,” he noted.  

Trump’s criticism of Leo came minutes after a 60 Minutes segment aired on CBS in which three prominent American cardinals spoke out against the administration’s rhetoric and policy toward the Iran war. 

Unlike the cardinals’ criticism of Trump in the 60 Minutes interview, Leo’s criticism of the administration was much more veiled. 

“The pope is so good at staying above the fray. It’s not direct, it’s not personal,” said John McCarthy, a former political adviser to President Biden and liaison to the Catholic Church. 

“When the American cardinals were able to talk about this more in a context that resonates directly, I think that’s probably what felt different this time,” he continued. 

Trump’s comments led to criticism from both sides of the aisle, as well as around the world. 

Bishop Robert Barron, a member of Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, said the president owed the pope an apology, while Italian Giorgia Meloni, who has been seen as a Trump ally in the past, called the remarks “unacceptable.” 

Catholic administration officials have defended the president’s comments against the pope.

Vice President Vance warned Leo to “be careful” when speaking about theology and White House border czar Tom Homan said the pope should “leave politics alone.”

Trump won the religious group handily in 2024. According to ABC News exit polling, 59 percent of Catholics said they voted for Trump in the last presidential election, while only 39 percent said they voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris. 

CatholicVote President Kelsey Reinhardt echoed the polls’ sentiment, calling the Catholic vote for Trump in 2024 as “one of the biggest political realignments in the last 25 years.”

“I think it’s part of the reason why some people have said this was an interesting political choice to make for the president,” Reinhardt said, adding that she has seen an “unprecedented number of statements this week.”

But prior to Trump’s most recent comments about the pope, his approval rating appeared to be slipping among the religious group. According to a CNN poll conducted in March, Trump’s approval sat at 42 percent with Catholic voters. Another 57 percent said they disapproved of the president. 

McCarthy noted that the comments likely won’t affect Republicans directly with the party’s own Catholic base, but it could help influence Catholic voters in swing states and districts ahead of the midterms. 

“There are 36 states in the country where the largest faith denomination is Catholic, some of the highest concentration of Catholic voters in this country are California, Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois, Arizona, and Iowa. Those are all places where there happen to be competitive, congressional elections,” McCarthy said. 

Reinhardt said she thinks how Catholics vote in the future “is more going to be determined by policies in the future than by the temperature of this particular week.”

The back and forth between the two most famous Americans in the world comes as the Catholic church in the U.S. experiences a resurgence. 

According to data gathered by Hallow, an American Catholic app, the average Catholic diocese in the U.S. is seeing 38 percent more people joining the church in 2026 than it did in 2025. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles saw growth as high as 139 percent, while the Archdiocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Fla. saw 144 percent growth. 

Additionally, Trump’s own inner circle is made up of a number of prominent Catholics including first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and press secretary Karoline Leavitt. 

This is not the first time a sitting U.S. president has disagreed with the head of the Roman Catholic Church. 

Pope John Paul II was vocally opposed to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq during former President George W. Bush’s administration, and broke with former President Bill Clinton over abortion. 

But Trump’s arguably bombastic rebuke of the pontiff blows the roof off of decorum in ways not seen before in modern politics.

“President’s don’t attack popes usually,” McCarthy said. “I think you see disagreements in the church, but they tend to be pretty high level, and handled semi-diplomatically. This is so direct that it’s different.” 

Reinhardt said she’s been “heartened by the fact that some of his statements have moved on to a less pugilistic tone to statements of the facts.”

She pointed to comments Trump made Thursday about the pope having to understand that “Iran has killed more than 42,000 people over the last few months.”

“I don’t know that anyone would have had a problem with that, rather than saying he’s weak and terrible,” she said.

“Donald Trump’s job is to defend his policy, the pope’s job is to defend Catholic principles,” she said.”Once you realize that you can have a discussion on a different level.”

Trump has notably toned down his rhetoric when addressing the pope when speaking in person. He told reporters Thursday that he was “not fighting” with the pope and said the pontiff had a right to say whatever he wanted but that he also had the right to disagree.

“I have a right to disagree with the pope. I have no disagreement with the fact the pope can say what he wants, and I want him to say what he wants, but I can disagree,” he said.

The president reiterated that he likes Leo’s brother, Louis Prevost, who is a Trump supporter.

“Look at the pope’s own family,” Arrighi said. “They both love their brother who’s the pope.”

“I think that’s the perfect metaphor for where we are,” he said.

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