President Donald Trump isn't saying he's sorry to Pope Leo XIV, escalating a bitter and public dispute between the White House and the Vatican over war, religion, and global leadership.
Trump said there was "nothing to apologize for" and insisted the Pope was wrong to criticize his administration's actions, the New York Post reported.
The remarks came after Leo sharply criticized U.S. military action against Iran, warning the conflict is morally indefensible and urging world leaders to pursue peace, according to The Guardian.
Trump has argued his approach is necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and to protect U.S. interests, dismissing the Pope's objections as misguided, the New York Post reported.
The feud has turned increasingly personal, with Trump calling the Pope "weak on crime" and "terrible for foreign policy" in social media posts, according to Axios.
Leo responded that he has "no fear" of the Trump administration and will continue speaking out against war and what he described as the misuse of religion to justify violence, Reuters reported.
The clash widened after Trump posted and later deleted an AI-generated image depicting himself in a Jesus-like form, drawing backlash from religious leaders and some political allies, according to Reuters.
Some Catholic figures have argued Trump's rhetoric warrants an apology, reflecting unease within parts of his religious support base, the Times of India reported.
At the center of the dispute is the war involving Iran, which began earlier this year and has led to rising global tensions and repeated appeals from the Vatican for de-escalation, The Guardian reported.
Leo, the first American-born Pope, has emerged as a leading global critic of the conflict, condemning what he called the "absurd and inhuman" nature of modern warfare, according to The Guardian.
The rift has been building for months, with Leo warning that a "delusion of omnipotence" is driving global conflicts and cautioning against attacks on Iranian infrastructure, according to background reporting cited by multiple outlets.
Trump has framed his policies as fulfilling campaign promises to project strength and deter adversaries, while accusing the Pope of straying into political matters, according to reporting from The Wall Street Journal.
The dispute also reflects longer-running tensions between Trump and Catholic leaders over issues such as immigration and moral authority, dating back to his first presidential campaign.
The unusually direct exchange between a sitting U.S. president and a Pope has become one of the most visible global disputes of Trump's second term, underscoring a fragile and increasingly strained relationship between Washington and the Vatican.
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