VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo on Saturday sought to tone down reports of a rift with Donald Trump, saying that media coverage of his remarks during his Africa tour “has not been accurate in all its aspects.
”Speaking to reporters in English aboard his flight to Angola — the third stop of his ambitious 10-day Africa tour — the first American pope clarified that comments he made earlier in Cameroon, where he said the world was being “ravaged by a handful of tyrants,” were not directed at Trump.
Leo explained that the speech in question “was prepared two weeks ago, well before the president ever commented on myself and on the message of peace that I am promoting.”The exchange comes after Trump criticised the pope on Sunday, just as Leo was preparing to begin his tour.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump described him as “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” He also shared an AI-generated image portraying himself as a Jesus-like figure, which sparked widespread backlash, including from some of his usual religious conservative supporters.
The post was later removed on Monday morning.Trump’s remarks appeared to be a response to Leo’s increasingly vocal criticism in recent weeks of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.Earlier in the week, Pope Leo told Reuters he would continue to speak out about the conflict, prompting Trump to renew his criticism on Tuesday.
On Thursday, Leo again condemned global leaders who spend billions on warfare, repeating that the world was “being ravaged by a handful of tyrants,” though he did not directly name Trump.Addressing the controversy, Leo said: “As it happens, it was looked at as if I was trying to debate the president, which is not in my interest at all.”
Originally from Chicago, Pope Leo had maintained a relatively low profile during his first 10 months as pontiff. However, during his Africa tour, he has adopted a more assertive tone, strongly criticising war, inequality, and global leadership.The tour itself is among the most complex ever undertaken by a pope, covering 11 cities and towns across four countries. It involves nearly 18,000 kilometres (11,185 miles) of travel and includes 18 separate flights.