Pope Leo fires back with cutting retort after Trump savages him and poses as Jesus Christ: ‘No fear’

Pope Leo, the first U.S.-born pontiff, has fired back after President Donald Trump lashed out at him over the ongoing Iran war.

Trump derided Leo as “terrible” in an unusual, direct broadside against the leader of the Catholic church, who responded by vowing to continue denouncing war and suffering.

“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,” he told reporters Monday. “I don’t want to get into a debate with [Trump].”

“I will continue to speak out loudly against war, looking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateral relationships among the states to look for just solutions to problems,” Leo continued aboard a papal flight to Algiers, where he is embarking on a 10-day tour to four African countries.

“Too many people are suffering in the world today,” he said. “Too many innocent people are being killed. And I think someone has to stand up and say there’s a better way.”

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said he was also disheartened by Trump’s comments.

“Pope Leo is not his rival; nor is the Pope a politician. He is the Vicar of Christ who speaks from the truth of the Gospel and for the care of souls,” he said in a statement.

Trump is facing widespread backlash for his comments, and for sharing an AI picture of himself as Jesus.

“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” Trump wrote in a stunning 334-word Truth Social post on Sunday night while flying back to Washington, D.C. from Florida.

“I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon,” he continued. “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Country that was sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States.”

He claimed Leo — formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost — was elected pope only because of the president, and slammed him for meeting last week with David Axelrod, who served as a senior advisor to former President Barack Obama.

“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,” the president concluded.

Less than an hour later, Trump posted an AI image portraying himself as Jesus appearing to heal a sick man, encircled by bald eagles and fighter jets.

He continued his tirade against the pontiff when his plane touched down, telling reporters on the tarmac: “I’m not a fan of Pope Leo.”

His comments came after Leo suggested over the weekend that a “delusion of omnipotence” triggered the Iran war. Late last month, he wrote on X that God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.”

And, before the ceasefire, when Trump threatened to strike Iranian infrastructure and warned that “an entire civilization will die tonight,” Leo described these remarks as “truly unacceptable.”

The billionaire president’s scathing attack on the Catholic Church’s leader drew broad backlash in the U.S. — including from some members of his own party.

“The deranged and disgusting post from Trump attacking Pope Leo should certainly help him appeal to the more than 50 million Americans who identify as Catholics,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat, wrote on X.

“Trump shamefully attacked His Holiness Pope Leo XIV,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement. “People of faith will never worship a wannabe King. We worship an almighty GOD.”

“On Orthodox Easter, President Trump attacked the Pope because the Pope is rightly against Trump’s war in Iran and then he posted this picture of himself as if he is replacing Jesus,” former Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote on X. “I completely denounce this and I’m praying against it!!!”

The Iran war, which has engulfed large swaths of the Middle East in violence, leading to the deaths of thousands, is opposed by a majority of Americans, according to multiple recent polls.

Earlier this month, it was reported that the American Pope may not return to the U.S. while Trump remains in office.

The Free Press reported that in the wake of the Pope’s annual address to the Vatican’s diplomatic corps in January, in which he criticized states seeking conflict around the globe, the Department of Defense invited Cardinal Christophe Pierre for a meeting.

At the time, Pierre was serving as Pope Leo’s personal envoy to the United States. The Pentagon requesting a meeting with a Vatican official is “unprecedented,” according to the report.

According to Vatican and U.S. officials who were briefed on the meeting and spoke to the outlet, the Pentagon criticized the Pope’s statements in January, interpreting them as hostile attacks on Trump’s policies. U.S. officials reportedly lectured the church representatives, with one even invoking the the Avignon Papacy —a period of time when the French government used military force to exert influence over the Vatican.

A Pentagon spokesperson told Newsweek that The Free Press’ reporting was “highly exaggerated and distorted.”

“I would actually like to talk to Cardinal Cristophe Pierre and, frankly, to our people, to figure out what actually happened,” Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic, told reporters last week. “I think it’s always a bad idea to offer an opinion on stories that are unconfirmed and uncorroborated, so I’m not going to do that.”