Trump Attack on Pope and Posting of Jesus Image Draw Widespread Criticism

See more updates from this story

April 13, 2026, 12:53 p.m. ET

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.

Supported by

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

Trump Attack on Pope and Posting of Jesus Image Draw Widespread Criticism

A prominent conservative bishop who serves on President Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission was among those who called on the president to apologize.

Listen

· 5:44 min

Share full article

“I have no fear of the Trump administration, or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do,” Pope Leo said.

Credit...

Pool photo by Luca Zennaro

By

Elizabeth Dias

Elizabeth Dias is the national religion correspondent and has reported extensively about the papacy and the presidency.

April 13, 2026

Updated

12:39 p.m. ET

See more of our coverage in your search results.

Encuentra más de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de búsqueda.

Add The New York Times on Google

Agrega The New York Times en Google

President Trump faced a groundswell of criticism from Christians across the political spectrum on Monday for his social-media posts attacking Pope Leo XIV and depicting himself as a Jesus-like figure.

The president’s tirade on Sunday night against Pope Leo, one week after Easter Sunday, accused him of being too liberal and “weak on crime,” and even falsely claimed credit for the pope’s election.

For months, tension between the White House and the Vatican has been mounting amid the turbulence of the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation and military operations. Mr. Trump’s extraordinary eruption on Sunday night, the first major attack from the president against the pope, put on unavoidable display the starkly divergent moral visions of the two most powerful Americans in the world.

Pope Leo, leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, has rebuked Mr. Trump recently for his comments about Iran, and has condemned the violence stemming from wars in the Middle East. He replied on Monday morning to Mr. Trump’s eruption as he departed for a 10-day pastoral trip to Africa.

“I have no fear of the Trump administration, or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do,” the pope told reporters on his way to Algiers.

By late morning on Monday, the Jesus image, which had been posted on the president’s account on Truth Social, seemed to have been taken down.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and

log into

your Times account, or

subscribe

for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber?

Log in

.

Want all of The Times?

Subscribe

.

Related Content

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT