Speaker Mike Johnson sides with Trump, Vance in feud with Pope Leo

As the feud between the Vatican and the White House continues to gain steam, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, has weighed in, seemingly siding with President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

In comments to journalists at the Capitol, as reported by Politico and The Hill, Johnson said that Pope Leo XIV should “expect some political response” to his statements.

“A pontiff or any religious leader can say anything they want, but obviously, if you wade into political waters, I think you should expect some political response, and I think the pope’s received some of that,” Johnson said. “I’m not one to criticize clerics and religious leaders. We defend free speech, and we certainly defend the right, the free exercise of religion.”

Johnson’s comments come as tensions between the White House and the Vatican have increased in recent weeks following the start of the war in Iran.

Increasing tensions between White House, the Vatican

The most recent clash between the White House and the Vatican sparked after the pontiff called Trump’s threats to wipe out a “whole civilization” in Iran “unacceptable."

“Today, as we all know, there was this threat against the entire people of Iran, and this is truly unacceptable,” he said.

Trump then lashed out against the pontiff, accusing him of being “terrible for foreign policy” and “weak on crime.”

“If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican. Unfortunately, Leo’s Weak on Crime, Weak on Nuclear Weapons, does not sit well with me,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on April 12.

Trump has refused to apologize to Leo, while Vance cautioned the pontiff about his recent comments.

Vance, who converted to Catholicism and often calls himself deeply religious, warned the leader of the Catholic church to be “careful” when talking about theology during a speech on April 14 at a Turning Point USA rally in Georgia.

“I think it's very, very important for the Pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology,” Vance said.

USA TODAY’s Bart Jansen, Zac Anderson and Phillip M. Bailey contributed to this report.

Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected] and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.