Pope Leo backtracks on Donald Trump feud and says 'tyrants' dig was not aimed at US President

George Bunn
Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:43:30 +0000

Pope Leo has downplayed his feud with Donald Trump as he claimed his "tyrants" comment was not aimed at the US President.

The Pontiff said reporting about comments he has made during his Africa tour has "not been accurate in all its aspects".

Speaking to reporters in English aboard his flight to Angola for the third leg of his 10-day tour, Pope Leo said comments he made two days earlier in Cameroon decrying that the world was being "ravaged by a handful of tyrants" were not aimed at President Trump.

He said the speech "was prepared two weeks ago, well before the President ever commented on myself and on the message of peace that I am promoting".

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On Sunday, as Pope Leo prepared to embark on his tour, President Trump called him "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy" in a post on Truth Social.

He also posted an AI-generated image of himself as a Jesus-like figure, drawing widespread criticism including from some religious conservatives who usually support the President. The post was quickly removed on Monday morning.

President Trump appeared to be responding to Pope Leo's growing criticism in recent weeks of the US-Israeli war against Iran.

Pope Leo told reporters on Monday that he would keep speaking out about the war, and President Trump reiterated his criticism on Tuesday.

On Thursday, Pope Leo blasted leaders who spend billions on wars and said the world was "being ravaged by a handful of tyrants", though he did not mention President Trump directly again.

The Pontiff said earlier today: "As it happens, it was looked at as if I was trying to debate the president, which is not in my interest at all."

Pope Leo, originally from Chicago, kept a relatively low profile for a pope in his first 10 months but has debuted a new forceful speaking style in Africa, sharply denouncing war, inequality and global leaders.

His current Africa tour is one of the most complicated ever arranged for a pontiff, with stops in 11 cities and towns in four countries, traversing nearly 18,000 km over 18 flights.

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Before leaving Cameroon, Pope Leo celebrated a farewell Mass in the capital, Yaounde, urging participants not to lose hope despite the challenges faced by the Central African country.

This includes a simmering conflict in its two anglophone regions that has killed thousands.

He told the crowd: "In moments when we seem to be sinking, overcome by adverse forces, when everything appears bleak...Jesus is with us always, stronger than any power of evil.

"In every storm, he comes to us and repeats: 'I am here with you: do not be afraid'."

While pontiffs have long been a moral voice on the global stage, they have also generally attempted to keep the Church neutral in world conflicts, allowing the Vatican to act as a mediator if asked to do so.

Massimo Faggioli, an expert on the papacy at Trinity College Dublin, pointed to the example of Pope Pius XII, who directed a clandestine network to shelter Jews during the Holocaust.

However Pope Pius XII, who was Pontiff from 1939 until his death in October 1958, is accused by some modern critics of not speaking loudly enough about the genocide.

Professor Faggioli said "There's always the ghost of Pius XII hanging there...I don't think he wants the Vatican to be accused of being soft on Trumpism because he's an American."

Pope Francis, Leo's predecessor, was from Argentina and was also known for forceful denunciations of conflict.

He also clashed with President Trump, who once called Francis "disgraceful".

John Thavis, a retired Vatican correspondent who covered three papacies, said: "Other popes, including John Paul II and Francis, have spoken about the dangers of ideological tyrannies and neocolonialism.

"But when Leo says the world is 'ravaged by a handful of tyrants,' that strikes me as a much more direct challenge to the leaders of powerful nations."