Washington D.C., UNITED STATES – The escalating tension between the White House and the Vatican reached a new peak on Wednesday as Vice President JD Vance and President Donald Trump issued sharp rebukes to Pope Leo XIV over his vocal opposition to the war with Iran.
Okay News learnt that the friction intensified late Tuesday night when President Trump took to Truth Social to lambast the Pontiff for the second time this week. Trump questioned the Pope’s awareness of the Iranian regime’s human rights record, specifically the killing of thousands of unarmed protesters. “Will someone please tell Pope Leo?” the President wrote, while reiterating that an Iranian nuclear weapon remains “absolutely unacceptable.”
Adding a theological dimension to the feud, Vice President JD Vance—a devout Catholic—publicly disagreed with the Pope’s stance during a speech at a Turning Point USA event in Phoenix. Vance suggested that the Pope should “be careful” when discussing matters of theology and implied that the leader of the Catholic Church should stick to morality while leaving public policy to the U.S. President. “How can you say that God was never on the side of those who wield the sword?” Vance asked, citing the U.S. liberation of Europe in WWII as a precedent for just war.
The Vice President’s comments have drawn sharp criticism from domestic opponents. Senator Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), a prominent pastor, described Vance’s attempt to instruct the Pope as the rhetoric of “despots and wannabe despots,” defending the Pontiff’s right to act as a voice for faith and peace.
Despite the personal attacks from the White House—including Trump’s claim that he was responsible for the Pope’s election—Pope Leo XIV has remained resolute. The Vatican has stated that the Pope has “no fear” of the administration and will continue to speak out against the war and the potential targeting of civilian infrastructure in Iran.
