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U.S. President Donald Trump is still making headlines, nearly a week after attacking Pope Leo XIV on social media and then refusing to retract his statements in several interviews following his post. Trump’s main complaint seems to be Leo’s vocal opposition to the U.S. and Israel attacking Iran, saying (among other things), “I don’t want a pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.” Trump’s original attack, which he posted to his Truth Social account, included other complaints, as well. “Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” the president wrote in his post. The president’s rant overshadowed Pope Leo’s departure for an historic journey to Africa, but the pontiff took the abuse in stride. Aboard the plane that would take the pope to Algeria, the first stop of his ten day, four-country trip, Leo pronounced himself unafraid of Trump and unwilling to cease or even consider modifying his approach to the mission of the Church or of his leadership of the Church. “I have no fear of the Trump administration or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do, what the Church is here to do,” the pope told reporters on his flight to Algiers on April 13. RELATED: Trump lambasts Pope Leo XIV, extending feud over Iran war with first American pontiff The presidential attack on the pontiff also took place just a few months before voters hit the ballot boxes for midterm elections, with Trump’s approval ratings plummeting. Republican candidates might be a little nervous. Trump pulled nearly 55 percent of the Catholic vote in 2024, but his popularity among Catholics has been falling recently. Although Catholic voters on the whole have endorsed stronger enforcement of immigration laws, many of them have been ill at ease with the often violent and disruptive enforcement tactics used by the Trump administration. Catholics have also been disturbed by some of the acts of Evangelical members of the administration. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth didn’t allow the traditional Catholic Good Friday service, while holding an Evangelical service. Hegseth is an evangelical Protestant closely associated with Pastor Doug Wilson, who has said he supports making public displays of Catholicism illegal. Also, earlier this year, the War Department invited the Holy See’s Apostolic Nuncio to a meeting at the Pentagon described by the Vatican as “frank.” In addition, the president’s political advisor is Pentecostal Paula White-Cain, who has said opposing Trump is opposing God. RELATED: Trump says he won’t apologize to Pope Leo and explains his reason for posting much-criticized meme The Trump administration has also canceled an $11 million contract with Catholic Charities, which has been helping immigrant children who enter the U.S. alone and has been supported by the government for over 60 years to help young exiles from Cuba. In Chicago, funds to help children with special needs were cut from Catholic schools. Yet many observers don’t see Trump’s current animus toward the pope as politically motivated. “President Trump’s primary interest is President Trump. His own faith is fickle and his positions on issues like abortion change based on politics rather than prayer,” said Peter Loge, an associate professor at the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs. “My guess is that the president lashed out at His Holiness because he felt slighted in the moment. It was more a reflex than a plan,” he said. Loge told Crux Now many Evangelicals support the president “because they believe in a Christian theocracy rather than democratic pluralism that places civic faith alongside one’s private faith.” “The United States was founded in part by people fleeing religious persecution who then went on to persecute others, including Catholics. Some of President Trump’s supporters would like to return to that time,” he said. RELATED: A ‘frank discussion’ is changing the dance card for the US and the Vatican Since the beginning of his presidency, Trump has used Catholic members of his administration to spearhead conflicts with the Church, often highlighting issues such as pro-life and religious freedom. Both Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are Catholic and are considered leading contenders for the Republican presidential nomination in 2028. It is getting more difficult for them to decide whether to continue with full-throated support of a president with flagging poll numbers, or distance themselves and run the risk of being attacked by Trump’s supporters. RELATED: Trump’s social media attacks have put Leo XIV in the U.S. presidential mix “Whether candidates like it or not, midterm elections are in part a referendum on the president. The president is increasingly unpopular across the board, which is bad news for Republicans,” Loge told Crux Now. “Devout Catholics also have to buy gas and groceries, pay the rent, and get health insurance, all of which are more difficult to do now than a couple years ago,” he said. RELATED: JD Vance’s words a ‘dog whistle’ to ‘Professional Catholics’ Sean M. Theriault, a professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin, says after all that Vance and Rubio have had to endure by serving in the Trump administration, “I doubt this will affect them at all.” Theriault doesn’t think a politician’s Catholic faith affects voters in any way. “I have not yet met a voter who voted for Biden because he was Catholic,” Theriault told Crux Now. “That’s just not how Catholic voters think,” he said. Theriault said if a voter still supported Trump last week, “I can’t imagine that you are now not supporting him.” “Now, the deteriorating conditions in the Middle East, inflation, the war of choice in Iran will all affect the election, but not mean Truth Socials at the pope,” he added. He said the timing of Trump’s attack on the pope was just the way the U.S. president responds to something like Leo’s statements about the war in Iran. “As the situation in the Middle East has deteriorated, [Leo’s] voice has gotten louder and more prophetic. Lest his message of peace dominate the narrative, President Trump needed to respond,” Theriault said. “For him to have remained silent would have amplified the pope’s message of peace even more.” Trump’s attack on Pope Leo may be an unwarranted one by a U.S. president on the leader of the Catholic Church, but it doesn’t seem to be a shock to the American people and will probably not influence elections in 2026 or 2028. “Trump is Trump. We have watched him for more than 10 years,” Theriault said. Follow Charles Collins on X: @CharlesinRome

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