Pope Leo, aka Pope Bob, has gotten under Donald Trump’s skin. Granted, it’s not difficult – Trump is the most thin-skinned man in the world, an utter buffoon who operates solely on stupidity, evil, misogyny, racism and cruelty. Any pope preaching a gospel of tolerance, forgiveness, respect and kindness would be seen as a threat to Donald Trump. Last week, we learned that Pete Hegseth had the Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby threaten the Vatican’s ambassador to the US with military force. As in, the Pentagon threatened to use military force on the Vatican. Colby invoked the memory of the Avignon Papacy. As the news came out last week (it was leaked by the Vatican), Pope Bob continued to use his public remarks to make pointed criticisms of Trump and his unhinged policies. This weekend, Trump had a pope-related meltdown on his social media:
Pope Leo XIV is one of the world’s most powerful critics of the U.S. war with Iran. In recent days, he has condemned the worship of mortals and money, the pitfalls of arrogance, and the “absurd and inhuman violence” unleashed by fighting that has further destabilized the Middle East. His many admonishments over the past week appear to have reached President Trump, who responded to those calls for peace by scorching the first American-born pontiff on social media and then taking personal credit for Leo’s ascension to the papacy.
“Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise,” Mr. Trump wrote in a lengthy social media post on Sunday night. “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. If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”
When he sent the post, the president was fresh off a weekend of attending a mixed martial arts fight in Miami and spending time with supporters at his golf club after negotiations with Iran had failed. He criticized Leo as “weak on crime” — an insult he usually reserves for Democratic mayors — and “terrible for foreign policy.” He said that he much preferred the pope’s brother Louis because of his support for the MAGA movement — “He gets it!” Mr. Trump wrote. The president also accused the pope of “catering to the radical left” and then offered a piece of advice, to “focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician.”
The antagonistic post showed that there were really no boundaries when it comes to people Mr. Trump might target — the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics is apparently fair game. Shortly after sending his post on Sunday evening, Mr. Trump disembarked from Air Force One and answered questions from reporters. When asked why he sent the post, the president said that he did not think the pope was doing a good job and suggested that Leo “likes crime, I guess.” He accused the pope of supporting nuclear weapons and called him a “very liberal person.”
I feel like we’ve become inured to Trump’s demented mindset. Granted, I get so upset by this daily onslaught, I mostly try to ignore all of these people simply to get through the day. But whenever I dip my toe back in and actually read or listen to what Trump is saying, I’m newly shocked by his decline. This latest attack on Pope Bob is, to me, just the latest example of Trump’s complete lack of executive function. Think of the reaction if it was Barack Obama, Joe Biden or, hell, George W. Bush saying even a fraction of these things about THE POPE. Literally every media outlet would have blaring headlines about “unfit for office” and “impeachable offense.”
Today, Pope Bob was en route to Algeria for a 10-day African tour. On the plane, Bob was asked about Trump’s rant, and he said: “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.” Asked specifically about Trump’s Truth Social post, Bob said: “It’s ironic — the name of the site itself. Say no more.” Bob really is uniquely positioned here, you know?
Trump also posted this over the weekend. No words.
And Trump posted an image of himself as some sort of American Jesus healing people.
— Brian Kaylor (@briankaylor.bsky.social) April 12, 2026 at 10:02 PM
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
Bengali (Bangladesh) · 
English (United States) ·