United States President, Donald Trump, has renewed his criticism of Pope Leo and NATO, escalating tensions over the ongoing Iran conflict.
Trump issued the remarks late Tuesday on his Truth Social platform after the Pope pledged to continue to “speak out loudly against war”.
The statement follows earlier criticism by the pontiff, who described Trump’s warning that Iran’s “civilisation will die” as “unacceptable”.
As the leader of about 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide, the Pope has emerged as a vocal critic of the US position on Iran. Trump, meanwhile, has also faced backlash from Catholic and political allies over a controversial AI-generated image that appeared to depict him as Jesus.
In his latest post, Trump 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!!!”
The US president also criticised the NATO alliance, raising concerns among European partners. He wrote on Truth Social: “Nato wasn’t there for us, and they won’t be there for us in the future!”
Trump’s latest comments come as the Iran conflict remains unresolved, with the president stepping up criticism of allies he accuses of failing to support the war effort.
The remarks follow a warning from the Pope, the first from the United States, who cautioned that democracies risk sliding into “majoritarian tyranny” if they are not grounded in moral values.
In a separate development, US Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic, urged the Pope to be “careful when he talks about matters of theology”.
(AASG)
