President Donald Trump issued a flurry of statements Sunday against Pope Leo XIV, saying in part that the U.S.-born pope supports Iran having a nuclear weapon.
Trump on Truth Social characterized Leo as “Weak on Nuclear Weapons.”
“I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon,” Trump wrote April 12.
However, the pope has specifically spoken against nuclear weapons and their devastation.
In a March 5 video message, Leo said: “Today we lift up our prayer for peace in the world, asking that nations renounce weapons and choose the path of dialogue and diplomacy. … Lord, enlighten the leaders of the nations, so they may have the courage to abandon projects of death, halt the arms race, and place the lives of the most vulnerable at the center. May the nuclear threat never again dictate the future of humanity.”
On March 8, Leo’s X account posted about the Iran war’s expansion, encouraging people to pray “for the roar of bombs to cease, weapons to fall silent, and space to open for dialogue, in which people’s voices may be heard.”
In June 2025, the pope called for a world free from nuclear threat and appealed for peace between Iran and Israel.
“The commitment to creating a safer world, free from the nuclear threat, should be pursued through respectful encounter and sincere dialogue, to build a lasting peace, based on justice, fraternity and the common good,” Leo said. “No-one should ever threaten the existence of another.”
Also in June 2025, during a general audience in St. Peter’s Square, Leo said, “We must never get used to war! Indeed, the temptation to have recourse to powerful and sophisticated weapons needs to be rejected.”
Trump’s criticism of the Roman Catholic leader comes days after Leo said threats against Iran’s entire population are “truly unacceptable.” Trump on an April 7 Truth Social post warned that “a whole civilization will die tonight.” Trump’s post was about Iran.
On April 12, Trump again told reporters, “We don’t like a pope that’s gonna say that it’s okay to have a nuclear weapon… I’m not a big fan of Pope Leo.”
We asked the White House for evidence to support Trump’s weapons comment and spokesperson Anna Kelly referred us back to Trump’s April 12 Truth Social post.
Asked about Trump’s comments, Leo told reporters during a flight to Algeria: “I have no fear of either the Trump administration, or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, That’s what I believe I am called to do, what the church is called to do. We’re not politicians, we’re not here to make foreign policy as he calls it, with the same perspective that he might understand it, but I do believe in the message of the gospel, blessed are the peacemakers, is a message that the world needs to hear today.”
The pope also said he will continue to “speak out loudly against war, looking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateral relationships among the states to look for just solutions to problems.”
We contacted the Holy See press office for comment but did not receive an immediate response. The Holy See is the diplomatic representative of the Roman Catholic Church and the pope, with its headquarters in Vatican City.
Trump’s statement also contradicts the Catholic church’s actions and statements against nuclear weapons.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops reported that Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, told the Italian news agency ANSA on June 17, 2025, that the Holy See is advocating for nuclear disarmament.
In fall 2025, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, the Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations, called on the international community to eliminate nuclear weapons, according to Vatican News. In 2017, the Holy See signed and ratified the United Nations’ Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Our ruling
Trump said Pope Leo XIV “thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”
The pope has said the opposite.
He has specifically spoken against nuclear weapons and their devastation. The Holy See, the pope’s diplomatic representative, has called for nuclear disarmament before and during Leo’s papacy, and in 2017 signed the U.N.’s Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Trump’s statement is inaccurate and makes a ridiculous claim. We rate it Pants on Fire!
This story originally appeared on PolitiFact
