{"id":3287,"date":"2026-04-18T16:43:38","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T16:43:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/?p=3287"},"modified":"2026-04-18T16:43:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T16:43:39","slug":"pope-leo-plays-down-tensions-with-trump-says-public-debate-not-in-my-interest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/?p=3287","title":{"rendered":"Pope Leo Plays Down Tensions with Trump, Says Public Debate \u2018Not in My Interest\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

VATICAN CITY: <\/strong>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 \u201chas not been accurate in all its aspects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201dSpeaking to reporters in English aboard his flight to Angola \u2014 the third stop of his ambitious 10-day Africa tour \u2014 the first American pope clarified that comments he made earlier in Cameroon, where he said the world was being \u201cravaged by a handful of tyrants,\u201d were not directed at Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leo explained that the speech in question \u201cwas prepared two weeks ago, well before the president ever commented on myself and on the message of peace that I am promoting.\u201dThe exchange comes after Trump criticised the pope on Sunday, just as Leo was preparing to begin his tour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a post on Truth Social, Trump described him as \u201cWEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.\u201d 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The post was later removed on Monday morning.Trump\u2019s remarks appeared to be a response to Leo\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday, Leo again condemned global leaders who spend billions on warfare, repeating that the world was \u201cbeing ravaged by a handful of tyrants,\u201d though he did not directly name Trump.Addressing the controversy, Leo said: \u201cAs it happens, it was looked at as if I was trying to debate the president, which is not in my interest at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 \u201chas not… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3288,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[100,2005],"class_list":["post-3287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-donald-trump","tag-pope-leo"],"yoast_head":"\nPope Leo Plays Down Tensions with Trump, Says Public Debate \u2018Not in My Interest\u2019 - World Watch Alert<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pope Leo downplays reported feud with Donald Trump, says remarks misinterpreted and rules out any interest in a public debate while continuing criticism of war.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/?p=3287\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pope Leo Plays Down Tensions with Trump, Says Public Debate \u2018Not in My Interest\u2019 - 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