God’s Clearly Not on Trump’s Side—So He Picked a Fight With Pope Leo

It’s been a little over 500 years since Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Germany, but here we are—yet again—seeing a man with a volcanic temper and a fat list of complaints challenging the pope’s authority. Except in this situation, the 95 Theses is a 330-word Truth Social post. Classy! 

Over the weekend, Trump picked a fight with Pope Leo, calling him “weak on crime,” “terrible for foreign policy,” and suggesting that the fear of the Trump administration is nothing compared to the “fear” the Catholic Church had to endure while congregating during the pandemic. (Also, yes, a pope who’s tough on crime is exactly how I’d describe the ideal Holy Father.) Trump then posted an AI-generated image of himself as Jesus, which, of course, is normal behavior. 

Trump’s latest tantrum came after Pope Leo hosted a peace vigil in Vatican City on Saturday and gave some (innocent) comments about how very few things are looking peaceful right now. Praying for peace, he said, is “a bulwark against that delusion of omnipotence that surrounds us and is becoming increasingly unpredictable and aggressive.”

Alas, “unpredictable and aggressive” is the president’s middle name. “Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician,” Trump Truth Social-ed on a flight from Florida to D.C. on Sunday. He also suggested Leo only got the papacy because of his presence in the White House, saying, “Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise. He wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump.” OK!

If Trump thinks the pope is too woke and soft on crime wait til he hears about Jesus

— The Tennessee Holler (@thetnholler.bsky.social) April 13, 2026 at 4:18 AM

Speaking to reporters after, Trump added, “I don’t think he’s doing a very good job. He likes crime, I guess.” 

Then, after being left on read by the Vatican for nearly an hour, Trump Truth Social’ed again, with an AI-generated photo of himself as Jesus. In the background, there’s an American flag, an eagle, and U.S. troops. In the foreground is a man who Trump appears to be curing with…lights shooting out of his fingers. Mhm! That’s the mark of a man who’s fully there!.

Pope Leo replied to the president’s tirades on Monday, aboard the papal plane on a flight to Algeria. He plans to spend the next 11 days touring African countries.

It’s so cool that the pope can’t stop tweeting about how much God hates the American government

— The Liberal BoJack (@thelibbojack.bsky.social) April 11, 2026 at 6:29 PM

“I have no fear of the Trump administration, or speaking out loudly of the message of the gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do, what the church is here to do,” Leo said. “We are not politicians, we don’t deal with foreign policy with the same perspective he might understand it, but I do believe in the message of the gospel, as a peacemaker.” 

It’s a bizarre situation—made remarkably crazier when you realize U.S.-Vatican relations revolve around two septuagenarians from New York and Chicago. “They’re two white guy boomers but they could not be any more different in their life experiences, in their values, in the way they have chosen to live those values,” theology professor Natalia Imperatori-Lee told the Associated Press. “This is a very stark contrast, and I think an inflection point for American Christianity.”

Though if anything, Trump’s war in Iran has been the most remarkable “inflection point” for American Christianity, with religious rhetoric reportedly echoing among troops; Secretary of War Defense Pete Hegseth delivering sermons at the Pentagon; and for all of the above, Catholic support for the president plummeting. 

Now, I’m not the most religious person myself. But if the highest religious authority for the entire Church is speaking out? I’ll go with what he says.

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