President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and second lady Usha Vance attend the National Prayer Service at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC, on January 21, 2025. | Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images To celebrate the second Sunday of Easter, President Donald Trump appears to have decided that blasphemy might be the best option. Late Sunday evening, Trump posted a wordy attack of Pope Leo XIV on Truth Social, saying the first American-born leader of the Roman Catholic Church was “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” Leo, by criticizing the joint US-Israeli war on Iran, is apparently “catering to the Radical Left,” “hurting the Catholic Church,” and encouraging Iran to develop nuclear weapons. “I am not a fan of Pope Leo,” Trump later told reporters. Key takeaways President Donald Trump on Sunday escalated preexisting tensions between the Vatican and his government by criticizing Pope Leo XIV, calling him “weak” and in the service of the “Radical Left” for criticizing the US-Israeli war on Iran. It was the most direct attack yet he’s made on the pontiff, and sparked criticism from Catholics, including Republicans who have supported Trump before. That backlash only grew…
Donald Trump’s pivot to blasphemy
