Related videos:
Donald Trump published a new message yesterday on Truth Social directed to Pope Leo XIV, asking that someone inform him about the situation in Iran and reiterating his stance on Iranian nuclear weapons.
"Can someone tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent and completely unarmed protesters in the last two months, and that for Iran to have a nuclear bomb is absolutely unacceptable? Thank you for your attention to this matter. AMERICA IS BACK!!! President DONALD J. TRUMP," wrote the leader.
The message represents the latest chapter in a heated exchange of statements between Trump and the pontiff that has unfolded throughout this week.
The origin of the conflict dates back to last Sunday, when Trump attacked Pope Leo XIV on the same social media platform calling him weak on crime and terrible on foreign policy, accusing him of tolerating Iran having nuclear weapons and opposing U.S. military actions against Iran and Venezuela.
Trump also criticized the Pope for having met privately with the Democratic strategist David Axelrod, claiming it was evidence that the pontiff was serving the "radical left."
Pope Leo XIV —whose secular name is Robert Francis Prevost, born in Chicago in 1955 and elected on May 8, 2025, as the first American pope— had described the threat from Trump to destroy "all of Iranian civilization" if the Strait of Hormuz was not reopened as "truly unacceptable."
On Monday, during a flight from Rome to Algiers at the beginning of an 11-day African tour, the Pope responded resolutely: “I am not afraid” and quoted the Gospel: "Blessed are the peacemakers."
Trump refused to apologize yesterday and extended his attacks on Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for defending the pontiff, publicly breaking what had until then been a close personal and political relationship.
“She doesn’t want to help us with NATO, she doesn’t want to help us get rid of the nuclear weapon,” Trump said about Meloni, adding, “Europe is destroying itself from within” and “She is no longer the same person, and Italy will not be the same country.”
Meloni, for her part, described Trump's attacks on the Pope during a wine fair in Verona as "unacceptable."
The figure of 42,000 deaths in Iranian protests cited by Trump has no backing from any verified independent source: the Iranian government reports 3,117; the non-governmental organization HRANA verified 7,015 by name; the UN rapporteur estimated between 5,000 and 20,000; and local health officials cited as many as 30,000. Trump did not reveal the source of his data.
The conflict is framed within "Operation Epic Fury," launched at the end of February by the United States and Israel against Iran, which destroyed key nuclear facilities and eliminated the supreme leader Ali Jamenei. Iran responded by closing the Strait of Hormuz, and Trump announced a naval blockade against the country that came into effect yesterday.
The Archbishop of Miami, Thomas Wenski, defended the right and duty of the Church to express opinions on political matters and suggested that Trump would likely regret his comments.
Filed under: