'I'm not fighting with him.' Trump says he and pope disagree, and that's OK

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump ratcheted down his weeklong feud with Pope Leo XIV, saying it's OK for the two of them to have different approaches to the world's problems.

“I’m not fighting with him,” Trump said. “The pope can say what he wants and I want him to say what he wants but I can disagree.”

The president's comments came after Trump and Leo have exchanged a series of critical messages in statements to the press and on social media about the war with Iran.

Leo had said in a post on April 10 that anyone who is a disciple of Christ “is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs.”

After Trump threatened Iran on Easter Sunday, April 5, Leo told reporters on April 7 that “there was this threat against the entire people of Iran, and this is truly unacceptable.”

What are Trump and Leo feuding about?

Trump blasted the pope on social media April 12.

"Pope Leo is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy," Trump said. "I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do ... If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican."

Vice President JD Vance said April 14 the pope should “be careful when he talks about matters of theology.”

In response, Bishop James Massa, who heads the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ doctrine committee, issued a statement saying the pope was preaching the gospel.

“When Pope Leo XIV speaks as supreme pastor of the universal Church, he is not merely offering opinions on theology, he is preaching the Gospel and exercising his ministry as the Vicar of Christ,” the statement said.

Asked about the bishops' statement, Trump said he has the right to disagree.

“I want him to preach the gospel. I’m all about the gospel,” Trump said. “But I also know that you cannot let a certain country which is a mean-spirited country have a nuclear weapon. If they did, they would use it and I think they would use it quickly and they would kill many millions of people.”

Reporters asked Trump if he felt Leo, the first American pontiff, was being disrespectful.

“I don’t think about it that way,” Trump said. “The Pope has to understand that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon.”