After facing widespread criticism for his lengthy post on April 12 referring to Pope Leo XIV as “WEAK on Crime” and claiming that the only reason he was elected pope was because of his own presidency, President Trump doubled down and used social media to call out the Holy Father again.
On Wednesday evening, the president took to Truth Social and wrote, “Will someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent, 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.”
Trump faces mounting criticism for the war in Iran. A few weeks ago, apologist Dr. Taylor Marshall shared an episode which outlined why military engagement does not fit the criteria for a just war according to Catholic doctrine.
Many other critics, religious and secular, have questioned the claim that the war is necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, since the public was told that Operation Midnight Hammer in June 2025 successfully destroyed their nuclear capabilities.
Recently, John Yep, president of Catholics for Catholics, commented in an interview that “President Trump has sold America that the war in Iran is something God is blessing, but that may not necessarily be so.”
After Trump’s April 12 post targeting the pope along with a second post which featured an AI image depicting himself as Jesus, Yep made an official statement holding the line on criticizing the war in Iran but provided important political context that warns against leftist manipulation of this conflict:
CATHOLICS FOR CATHOLICS STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT TRUMP'S ATTACK ON POPE LEO XIV
— Catholics for Catholics 🇺🇲 (@CforCatholics) April 13, 2026
President Trump’s attack on Pope Leo yesterday, Sunday April 12, was disheartening and merits an apology. His subsequent post depicting himself as Jesus is as dangerous as it is scandalous to all… pic.twitter.com/TfgDQbIpjK
President Trump is absolutely wrong to tell the Pope not to speak up on issues like this. That is precisely the role of the Church, to be a voice of morality in the public square. We are grateful to the Holy Father for speaking up bravely on this.
At the same time, we must address a troubling trend. There is a well-organized attempt by the left to sever the Catholic base from the Republican Party, which up until now has been more aligned with Catholic teaching than the Democrat Party. The Democrats still have not recovered from the historic landslide that Catholics delivered to President Trump in the 2024 election. The recent amplifications of a discord between Rome and the White House, oftentimes exaggerated, trace back to left-leaning “Catholics in name only,” who are determined to swing the Catholic vote back in the other direction.
This is a highly coordinated operation from key Obama advisors and prominent liberal Catholic clergy intentionally stoking the flames of discord with the intention of separating the Catholic base from the Republican Party. The recent CBS interview with Cardinals McElroy, Cupich, and Tobin, speaking out against the Iran War while failing to ever address the scandals of “Catholic” President Joe Biden, demonstrates this point. Catholic patriots ought to be prudently aware of who is behind these provocations.
In this sense, President Trump is right to ask the Holy Father about his high-profile meeting with key Obama strategist David Axelrod. Without clarification, this meeting threatens to drag the Pope into the group described above that is not operating out of love for truth, but out of a sinister desire for disunity. The independent voice of the Holy Father as the Vicar of Christ, solely focused on defending the Faith, is what we all desire and pray for.
Michael Flynn Jr. described the publication as a “Must Read Statement.”
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