WASHINGTON — President Trump told The Post that he has two questions for Pope Leo XIV about his opposition to the Iran war — after the pontiff continued to voice opposition.
“Why does the pope think it is fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon and to kill 42,000 unarmed protesters?” Trump said in an early morning interview.
The president continued to express his upset at the criticism coming from the American-born pope, stressing the importance of the war with Iran as a two-week cease-fire with nears its end.
“This is one of the most important wars. I said to the pope you can’t allow them to have a nuclear weapon because they will use it and millions of people will be dead, including Italians and Catholics around the world,” Trump said.
“And you can’t allow a country to kill 42,000 unarmed protesters, many of which were young people who they hanged from a crane in a public square.”
Trump, who has argued that he’s serving the long-term cause of peace by crippling Iran’s military power and nuclear enrichment, has bristled for weeks at the Roman Catholic leader’s rebukes.
Leo has called for an end to the “madness of war” and denounced “arrogant” leaders who wage armed conflict.
“Jesus does not listen to prayers of those who wage war,” the pope said on Palm Sunday.
Trump, in turn, has called the pope naive and “terrible for foreign policy.
