Donald Trump Shrugs Off Meeting With Pope Leo Amid Clash

President Donald Trump is not seeking any meeting with Pope Leo XIV as the pair remains in an escalating war of words, with Trump stressing that he believes he has “a right to disagree with the pope.”

“I can disagree with the Pope. I have a right to disagree with the Pope,” Trump told reporters during a press gaggle outside the White House before he departed to Las Vegas. “This is the real world. It’s a nasty world. If the Pope would allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon, he cannot do that.”

Trump said he didn’t “think it’s necessary” for him to meet with the pope and hash out their differences when asked about a possible meeting.

The president is headed to Las Vegas to discuss his tax policies, including cuts he signed into law last year to highlight what Republicans see as an economic strength ahead of this year’s midterms.

However, reporters peppered him with a range of questions, including some about tensions that have continued to escalate between the president and the pope after Trump posted a pointed criticism on Truth Social and then posted an image that appeared to depict him as Jesus. Trump subsequently deleted the image and said he thought it had depicted him as a doctor – an excuse that has drawn sharp scrutiny.

The pope then today posted a message that many have interpreted as intended for the Trump administration, in which the pope wrote: “Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic, and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.”

But the president maintained his right to disagree with the pope, saying in response to another question that “the pope can disagree with me.”

“I’m all about the gospel. I’m about it as much as anybody can be, but I can’t allow, as president of the United States of America, I can’t allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.

This article includes reporting by the Associated Press.

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This story was originally published April 16, 2026 at 11:27 AM.