Donald Trump Keeps Up Criticism of Pope Leo XIV, Says Pope Should Stay Out of Politics in Latest Interview

Donald Trump renewed his criticism of Pope Leo XIV and said the pope should stay out of politics in his recent interview on Monday, April 13. The interaction with CBS News comes after the president’s 334-word post against the religious leader on his Truth Social post on Sunday, April 12, 2026.

In the post, Trump called the Pope, “weak on crime and terrible for foreign policy” and also took credit for his rise. The president stated that “Leo should be thankful” to him for his election as the pope, saying that “he wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump.”

The president doubled down on his criticism of the pope while interacting with CBS News host Norah O’Donnell, despite facing some backlash from his supporters. Targeting the Pope, Donald Trump said, “He’s wrong on the issues.”

Trump added, “I don’t think he should be getting into politics. I think he probably learned that from this.” The President also admitted that he has no plans to contact the pope directly.

According to reports, the pope was asked about Trump’s remarks. Responding to it, he said that he has no fear of the U.S. president or of his MAGA administration.

The pope said, “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.”

In the same interaction, Trump also addressed the recent controversy surrounding the AI-generated image that showed him as Jesus Christ. The post that was shared on his Truth Social account received a lot of backlash and has now been deleted.

The picture showed the president as Jesus Christ attempting to heal a patient in a hospital bed. Many social media users, including Trump’s Republican supporters, criticized the post and labeled it as “blasphemous” and “disrespectful.”

Trump’s friend-turned-foe Marjorie Taylor Greene took to her X account to state, “It’s more than blasphemy. It’s an Antichrist spirit.” Former swimmer and right-wing activist Riley Gaines said that she did not understand why Trump shared the picture, adding that “a little humility would serve him well.”

In his clarification about the picture, he said that he was being portrayed as a doctor and not Jesus Christ. The President said the picture was created by, “a very beautiful, talented artist, and that it depicted him as a doctor, not as Jesus Christ.”

He added, “I viewed that as a picture of me being a doctor in fixing. You had the Red Cross right there, you had, you know, medical people surrounding me.” Trump said, “And I was like the doctor, you know, as a little fun playing the doctor and making people better. So that’s what it was viewed as. That’s what most people thought.”

Talking about why the post was deleted from his account, Trump said, “Normally I don’t like doing that, but I didn’t want to have anybody be confused.”