{"id":27025,"date":"2026-04-13T03:31:59","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T07:31:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stingfm.com\/news\/trump-claims-weak-pope-leo-should-be-thankful-to-him\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T03:31:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T07:31:59","slug":"trump-claims-weak-pope-leo-should-be-thankful-to-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stingfm.com\/news\/trump-claims-weak-pope-leo-should-be-thankful-to-him\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump claims \u2018weak\u2019 Pope Leo should be thankful to him"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><strong>The US president has rebuked the pontiff over his criticism of the Iran war<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>US President Donald Trump has criticized Pope Leo XIV, calling him <em>\u201cweak\u201d<\/em> and saying he should be grateful for his appointment as head of the Catholic Church, after the pontiff blasted his policies.<\/p>\n<p>Pope Leo has emerged as a critic of the US-Israeli attack against Iran launched in late February. He has described Trump\u2019s threat to destroy Iranian civilization as <em>\u201ctruly unacceptable,\u201d<\/em> saying it amounts to <em>\u201ca threat against the entire people.\u201d<\/em> He has also called for <em>\u201cdeep reflection\u201d<\/em> on the treatment of migrants in the US.<\/p>\n<p>In a post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump, who welcomed Leo\u2019s election last May as a <em>\u201cgreat honor\u201d<\/em> for the country, said the pontiff is <em>\u201cWEAK on CRIME, and terrible for Foreign Policy,\u201d<\/em> adding that he would prefer his <em>\u201call MAGA\u201d<\/em> brother Louis, referring to Louis Prevost, the pope\u2019s brother, a US-based figure known for his pro-Trump views.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cDon\u2019t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I\u2019m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do, setting Record Low Numbers in Crime, and creating the Greatest Stock Market in History,\u201d<\/em> Trump wrote.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n        <span><strong>Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<figure>\n            <imgsrc=\"\" alt=\"RT\"><figcaption><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rt.com\/russia\/638258-orthodox-patriarch-cosmonauts-iss\/\">Russian Orthodox Christian leader sends warning from Earth to space (VIDEO)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>He added that <em>\u201cLeo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise,\u201d<\/em> claiming that he was chosen solely for being American and was perceived as <em>\u201cthe best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Later on Sunday, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump repeated his criticism, calling the Pope <em>\u201ca liberal person\u201d<\/em> who does not believe in <em>\u201cstopping crime,\u201d<\/em> adding: <em>\u201cI don\u2019t think he\u2019s doing a very good job&#8230; I\u2019m not a big fan of Pope Leo.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The Pope has intensified his calls for peace and a return to diplomacy. He pushed back against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who urged Americans to pray for victory <em>\u201cin the name of Jesus Christ,\u201d<\/em> saying God <em>\u201cdoes not listen to the prayers of those who wage war.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>On Friday, Leo wrote on X that <em>\u201cGod does not bless any conflict\u201d<\/em> and that <em>\u201cno cause can justify the shedding of innocent blood.\u201d<\/em> He repeated the appeal a day later at a Vatican vigil, calling for prayers to <em>\u201cbreak the demonic cycle of evil.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The US president has rebuked the pontiff over his criticism of the Iran war US President Donald Trump has criticized Pope Leo XIV, calling him \u201cweak\u201d and saying he should be grateful for his appointment as head of the Catholic Church, after the pontiff blasted his policies. Pope Leo has emerged as a critic of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[483],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rt-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Trump claims \u2018weak\u2019 Pope Leo should be thankful to him - Sting FM<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump claims \u2018weak\u2019 Pope Leo should be thankful to him - Sting FM\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The US president has rebuked the pontiff over his criticism of the Iran war US President Donald Trump has criticized Pope Leo XIV, calling him \u201cweak\u201d and saying he should be grateful for his appointment as head of the Catholic Church, after the pontiff blasted his policies. 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