'Not a fan of Pope': Trump attacks Catholic leader following criticism over US-Israeli war on Iran

US President Donald Trump has attacked Pope Leo XIV for his condemnation of the US-Israeli aggression on Iran, saying he is not a fan of the Catholic leader.

During a Q&A with reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump said, “We do not like a pope that is going to say that it is OK to have a nuclear weapon … He is a man that does not think that we should be toying with a country that wants a nuclear weapon so they can blow up the world,” adding, “I am not a fan of Pope Leo.”

Iran has asserted that it pursues a peaceful nuclear program and, as such, not only has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) but also has allowed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to fully inspect its nuclear facilities.

The IAEA has repeatedly confirmed that it has found no sign of a nuclear military program in Iran and that Tehran has conformed to all of the agency’s laws.

The pontiff, the first American pope, has become increasingly vocal about the US and Israel’s war of aggression on Iran. Last week, he condemned Trump’s rhetoric and threats against the people of Iran as “truly unacceptable.”

Pope condemns those who invoke God to justify war amid US-Israeli war on Iran

Pope Leo XIV has issued a condemnation of those who invoke religion to justify warfare, in remarks widely interpreted as a critique of Donald Trump’s peace-through-strength policy and the US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran that has killed thousands of civilians.

The president’s remarks to reporters at Joint Base Andrews came shortly after he posted a tirade against Pope on his social media platform Truth Social.

“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” Trump wrote, going on to say he does not want a pope who thinks it is OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon or who thinks it is “terrible that America attacked Venezuela … And I do not want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States.”

On January 8, the US Special Forces invaded the Venezuelan Capital, Caracas, kidnapping President Nicholas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

Trump went on to claim Leo “was not 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.”

The criminal US-Israeli aggression on Iran began on February 28 with airstrikes that assassinated senior Iranian officials and commanders, including Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

Iranian armed forces responded by launching almost daily missile and drone operations targeting locations in the Israeli-occupied territories as well as US military bases and assets across the region.

 On April 8, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) announced that there was an agreement to a Pakistan-brokered temporary ceasefire after the US accepted Iran’s 10-point proposal.

A high-ranking delegation from Iran led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf arrived in Islamabad on Friday to participate in the negotiations with the US delegation led by Vice President JD Vance.

The first round of negotiations between Iran and the US ended without the two sides reaching an agreement.

The talks over the weekend were the first direct high-level negotiations between Tehran and Washington since the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran.

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