Vatican City’s first American-born pope may not have become president Donald Trump Would hope. Since his appointment as Pope Leo XIV, the Chicago native has been at loggerheads with the Trump administration, often indirectly targeting it.
What started as criticism of Trump’s immigration raids as “inhumane” later escalated into comments about Trump’s immigration raids. iran is and the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro during a U.S. Army Delta Force operation.
There is no doubt that the two have been at a crossroads, albeit indirectly, leading to an unusual situation: White House The Vatican finds itself in opposing positions.
In this article, we take a look at what Pope Leo has said about the Trump administration since he took office in May 2025.
Timeline of Pope Leo’s criticism of Trump: May 2025 to present
May 2025: Shortly after the new pope was elected on May 8, 2025, to succeed the late Pope Francis, old comments by Pope Leo criticizing Vice President J.D. Vance surfaced.
But on May 19, the day after the inauguration, Pope Leo met with Vance, signaling a possible rapprochement between the White House and the pope. Holy See. However, things went downhill from there.
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November 5, 2025: As the Department of Homeland Security conducted immigration raids in Minnesota, Pope Leo offered what was then called his “strongest” criticism of the Trump administration to date. The pope called the attack “inhumane” and said it called for “deep reflection.”
January 9, 2026: A week after the arrest of the Venezuelan president on January 3, Nicolás Madurosponsored by U.S. troops in Venezuela, Pope Leo lashed out at the Trump administration. He described the Trump administration’s actions in Venezuela as “force diplomacy.”
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“The principle established after the Second World War that prohibits states from using force to violate the borders of other states has been completely undermined,” the pope said, adding that “war blockades” were spreading rapidly.
February 18: While not commenting directly, the Vatican took a big step toward the Trump administration after it announced it would not join Trump’s proposed peace commission. Gaza and declined the same invitation from Trump.
March 7: In another major update, Pope Leo named Italian Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, 68, a Vatican diplomat, as the new Vatican ambassador to Washington. Although relations between the two countries continue to deteriorate, Khacha faces the difficult task of negotiating relations between the two countries.
March 15: The Pope posted address Call for a ceasefire in the US-Israel-Iran conflict affecting the Middle East via the Vatican website. “Thousands of innocent people have been killed and countless people have been forced to flee their homes,” he said, urging all parties to stop.
March 29: Pope Leo offered his most critical take on the Trump administration’s Iran war with Israel on Palm Sunday. In his speech, Pope Leo criticized the war as a “spiral of violence” and warned that it could lead to further escalation.
