Washington-Vatican feud deepens as JD Vance says pope should 'stick to matters of morality'

https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/us">US Vice President JD Vance has waded into the feud between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV, after the American president sparked global controversy for erupting at the Catholic leader over his criticism of the US-https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel">Israeli war on https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/iran">Iran.

“I certainly think that in some cases it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality, to stick to matters of what’s going on in the Catholic Church and let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy,” Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, told Fox News on Monday.

American-born Pope Leo XIV, who has emerged as a vocal critic of the conflict, last week slammed Trump’s https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/trump-tells-iran-whole-civilization-will-die-tonight">apocalyptic rhetoric against the people of Iran as “truly unacceptable".

On Sunday, he denounced the "delusion of omnipotence that surrounds us and is becoming increasingly unpredictable and aggressive", a statement that appeared to be directed at the US leader. 

Trump took to Truth Social in the early hours of Monday to post a https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116394704213456431">330-word condemnation of the Pope, with his characteristic mix of all-caps words, unusual punctuation and exaggerated language, labelling the leader of approximately 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide as “WEAK”.

“Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime”, “Foreign Policy” and “Weak on Nuclear Weapons,” he raged.

“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,” he continued.

Pope Leo has not made any statement to suggest he supports nuclear weapons, and has https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/fact-checking-trumps-claim-that-pope-leo-supports-nuclear-weapons-in-iran">spoken out against them.

Trump went on to suggest it was the US president who enabled his election because “they [the College of Cardinals] 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,” Trump claimed.

The feud between the world’s two most influential Americans reached a new level when Trump posted shortly after his tirade an AI-generated picture depicting himself as a Christ-like figure healing a sick person.

The post came a week after Trump’s spiritual adviser, Paula White-Cain, faced https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/paula-white-cain-trump-jesus-christ-controversy-b2951338.html">backlash for comparing Trump’s life to that of Jesus Christ’s at a White House event.

The now-deleted post was met with fury globally, including traditional Trump supporters, many of whom accused him of https://x.com/megbasham/status/2043532479194075630?s=20">blasphemy.

The Knights Templar International condemned the move as an “offensive and blasphemous image”.

🚨BREAKING The Knights Templar Order and its ruling Council demand that this offensive and blasphemous image be removed forthwith !

We supported President Trump in 2016 and 2024 (NY Times attributed our support in 2016 to be part of his victory)

However we are deeply offended… https://t.co/l4Ql0MFYXF">pic.twitter.com/l4Ql0MFYXF

— Knights Templar International (@KnightsTempOrg) https://twitter.com/KnightsTempOrg/status/2043649552146657764?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 13, 2026

Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a close ally of the president and the only European head of government who was invited to Trump's inauguration, was also publicly critical of the comments.

“The statements, particularly about the Pope, were unacceptable… frankly I would not feel at ease in a society in which religious leaders do what political leaders say,” she https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp841y07w5xo">said.

When pressed on the matter in a press conference on Monday, Trump said he would not apologise to the Pope because "he’s very weak on crime and other things", and denied that the image depicted him as Jesus Christ. 

“I thought it was me as a doctor, and it has to do with the Red Cross, as a Red Cross supporter... which we support,” he told reporters, months after the US https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/11/21/red-cross-to-cut-2900-jobs-slash-budget-as-donors-reduce-support">slashed contributions to the International Committee of the Red Cross which has caused major global cutbacks.

“I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor.”



US President Donald Trump said on Monday that the AI-generated image of himself as a Jesus-like figure was intended to depict him as a doctor https://t.co/IsZaP4edx8">pic.twitter.com/IsZaP4edx8

— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) https://twitter.com/MiddleEastEye/status/2043836695288918445?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 13, 2026

Vance also downplayed the image as a "joke". 

However, many people, including Catholic leaders, around the world are not buying the justification.

“I don't know too many doctors who have glowing hands,” Jesuit priest Father James Martin https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/13/politics/pope-leo-trump-feud-timeline">told CNN.

CNN’s chief data analyst, Harry Enten, suggested that Trump may be “jealous” of the pontiff's approval rating among the US public. 

CNN’s chief data analyst, Harry Enten, suggested that US President Donald Trump may be “jealous” of Pope Leo XIV, noting that Trump is significantly less popular than the Catholic Church leader among the American public https://t.co/aECChCGVpz">pic.twitter.com/aECChCGVpz

— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) https://twitter.com/MiddleEastEye/status/2043913987226841216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 14, 2026

It’s not the first time the president has attracted criticism from the Catholic Church.

In May of last year, Trump posted an https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1918502592335724809?s=20">AI-generated image of himself as the pontiff, which was shared by White House social media accounts at a time when Catholics around the world were mourning the death of Pope Francis and preparing the election of the next leader of the church.

"There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr President," The New York State Catholic Conference criticised. 

There is also https://www.axios.com/2026/04/13/trump-pope-leo-catholic-swing-voters">speculation about whether Trump’s spat with the Pope might cost him his fragile margin of popularity among Catholic voters.

According to a CNN’s 2024 election https://edition.cnn.com/election/2024/exit-polls/national-results/general/president/0">poll, Trump won between 55 percent and 59 percent of Catholic votes.