United States President Donald Trump has claimed that Pope Leo XIV would not have emerged as pope without his presidency, as he intensified his criticism of the Vatican leader.

Trump made the remark in a post on Truth Social, where he launched a sweeping attack on Pope Leo’s positions on crime, foreign policy, nuclear weapons and global conflicts, while also questioning the circumstances surrounding his emergence as pope.

The US president argued that the Catholic leader was weak on key global issues and suggested that his stance on Iran, Venezuela and US domestic policies did not align with American interests, while insisting that his own administration had delivered strong results on crime and the economy.

He also criticised the pope’s engagement with political figures he described as opposed to his administration and urged him to focus on religious leadership rather than politics.

He wrote, “Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy. He talks about “fear” of the Trump Administration, but doesn’t mention the FEAR that the Catholic Church, and all other Christian Organizations, had during COVID when they were arresting priests, ministers, and everybody else, for holding Church Services, even when going outside, and being ten and even twenty feet apart. I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA. He gets it, and Leo doesn’t! I don’t want a Pope who thinks It’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.

“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 and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers, into our Country. And I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m 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. Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise. He wasn’t 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.

“If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican. Unfortunately, Leo’s Weak on Crime, Weak on Nuclear Weapons, does not sit well with me, nor does the fact that he meets with Obama Sympathizers like David Axelrod, a LOSER from the Left, who is one of those who wanted churchgoers and clerics to be arrested. 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. It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church! President DONALD J. TRUMP.” (Nigerian Tribune)