{"id":124378,"date":"2026-04-15T19:53:45","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T14:53:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=124378"},"modified":"2026-04-15T19:54:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T14:54:13","slug":"trump-doubles-down-in-criticising-pope-leo-over-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/124378\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump doubles down in criticising Pope Leo over Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Web Desk(National Times)- US President Donald Trump, whose war and\u00a0immigration policies<\/a>\u00a0have been condemned by Pope Leo, reiterated his criticism of the religious leader on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a post on Truth Social, Trump urged that \u201csomeone please tell Pope Leo\u201d about the killings of protesters by Iran and that \u201cfor Iran to have a Nuclear Bomb is absolutely unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US and Israel attacked <\/a>Iran on February 28. Iran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states with US bases. US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran does not have nuclear weapons while the US does. Israel is widely believed to be the only Middle Eastern country with nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Western countries have long believed that Iran wants a nuclear bomb \u2014 or at least the ability to make one very quickly \u2014 Tehran has always denied that, citing its membership of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s comments come after Pope Leo warned earlier in the day of the risk of democracies sliding into \u201cmajoritarian tyranny\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first US pope, Leo wrote in a letter issued by the Vatican about the use of power in democratic societies, and said democracies remained healthy only when they were rooted in moral values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pope has criticised Trump\u2019s decision to launch the war against Iran, saying God rejects the prayers of those who launch wars and have \u201chands full of blood.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pope termed Trump\u2019s threat<\/a> this month to destroy the Iranian civilisation as unacceptable and previously declined to join the US president\u2019s so-called \u201cBoard of Peace\u201d<\/a> initiative for Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The religious leader has also urged a \u201cdeep reflection\u201d on the way migrants are treated in the US while Trump has pursued a hardline immigration policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Sunday, Trump called<\/a> the pope \u201cweak\u201d and \u201cterrible\u201d on crime and foreign policy issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Web Desk(National Times)- US President Donald Trump, whose war and\u00a0immigration policies\u00a0have been condemned by Pope Leo, reiterated his criticism of the religious leader on Tuesday night. In a post on Truth Social, Trump urged that \u201csomeone please tell Pope Leo\u201d about the killings of protesters by Iran and that \u201cfor Iran to have a Nuclear […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124379,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nTrump doubles down in criticising Pope Leo over Iran - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/124378\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump doubles down in criticising Pope Leo over Iran - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Web Desk(National Times)- US President Donald Trump, whose war and\u00a0immigration policies\u00a0have been condemned by Pope Leo, reiterated his criticism of the religious leader on Tuesday night. 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