When Donald Trump was reelected in November 2024, Robert Prevost was unknown to the wider public, albeit a much-respected Cardinal in Rome. In the first year of his papacy, Pope Leo XIV has begun an odyssey, returning to the first principles of the faith he leads while his country of origin has abandoned its commitments and laid waste to its international reputation.
At present, the Pope exemplifies the leadership the world so desperately needs, and President Trump has chosen to begin a political campaign against him. Seeing a warring head of state openly insult the Pope was something once thought to be relegated to the European Middle Ages.
As Pontiff, Leo XIV is restricted by his role from directly influencing global affairs. He has also been firm but measured in response to comments by President Trump who described him as “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.”
The papacy’s soft power extends far beyond the boundaries of the Vatican, and the present clash could damage Republican aspirations in the upcoming midterms in November. What appears to be a publicity spat for President Trump may instead be a David and Goliath story, the sweet irony being that it is the Bishop of Rome who is David.
A providential president?
As events continue to escalate in Iran and Lebanon, President Trump posted an AI-generated image of his own likeness as a Christ-figure. It depicted him descending from the heavens and healing a person while others gathered around and prayed to this heaven-sent being.
Although the post was deleted, the President indicated that he had posted it himself and believed he was simply shown as a doctor healing people. Vice President Vance brushed the post off as “a joke,” taken down because the President’s humor was misunderstood.
Given the lack of any clear political gain from the furore, it is probable, as argued by Periklis Dimitrolopoulos in his recent opinion article for To BHMA, that President Trump is governing in line with Richard Nixon’s “madman theory.”
Given religion’s dangerous role in American society, the situation should cause grave concern. The President of the United States posing as a messianic figure, launching insults at the Pope, and orchestrating military strikes against civilians in Iran while placing the world economy in jeopardy is a symptom of a presidency that has lost all moorings.
Blessed are the peacemakers
Leo XIV has repeatedly called for peace in the Middle East and for an “off-ramp” from war. He has been consistently warning of the dangers of escalating global violence, highlighting the need to end the extreme barbarity of the bombing and besieging of innocent people in his peace vigil on Saturday, 11 April.
Peace and reconciliation are not issues taken seriously by the White House today. While Vice President Vance was in Islamabad announcing the collapse of peace talks with Iran on 12 April, the President and Secretary of State Marco Rubio occupied themselves with attending a UFC cage fight in Miami.
In addition, the US diplomatic service has been completely absent from all peace negotiations between January 2025 and at least March 2026. According to Ambassador Nicholas Burns, who served as US ambassador to Greece from 1997 to 2001, the total absence of the US foreign service from international negotiations is a first in the 102-year history of the organization.
For his part, the Pope made his views clear to journalists on his way to Algeria on 13 April. He underlined that his main mission was to spread the word of the Gospel and to focus on peace. “I have no fear of the Trump administration,” he added. It seems that these events have only strengthened the first US-born Pope’s resolve to promote peace.
Possible consequences stateside
In the 2024 presidential election, Catholics made up 22 percent of votes cast for Donald Trump according to a June 2025 Pew Research Center report. They also represent roughly 20 percent of the voting population. Opening a direct attack against their spiritual leader is not only extraordinarily bizarre but also tactically mistaken given the levels of political dissatisfaction in the United States.
Inside the White House, Catholicism plays an important role in the cultural identity of the current administration. JD Vance has consistently publicized his own conversion to Catholicism in 2019 and has written a book dedicated to his personal religious journey, set to be published in June 2026, under the title Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and First Lady Melania Trump have also leaned on their Catholic faith. For the President of the United States to say that the Pope should “get his act together” can only serve to further alienate and divide American voters and his own Cabinet.
With opinion polling at record lows, the American public’s lack of confidence in the president reveals that the majority of voters are deeply unhappy with the direction their country has taken. Attacking the Pope underlines that President Trump does not have control over the political situation of his own making; his foot is firmly on the accelerator pedal, but his hands are nowhere near the wheel.
Of course, the rupture between the presidency and the papacy alone will not be the causal link to any defeat at the ballot box. However, no other president has, in modern history, disregarded and insulted the deeply held beliefs of 53 million of his compatriots. While there may still be dark days ahead, as the ancient phrase, often attributed to Cicero, says: “While I breathe, I hope” (dum spiro, spero).
