During his flight to Angola on Saturday, Pope Leo addressed recent tensions with former President Donald Trump, clarifying that media coverage of his statements during his African journey “has not been accurate in all its aspects.”
The pontiff, who hails from Chicago and is the first American to hold the papal office, told reporters in English that remarks he delivered in Cameroon earlier this week condemning how the world was being “ravaged by a handful of tyrants” were not targeting Trump specifically.
According to Leo, the controversial speech “was prepared two weeks ago, well before the president ever commented on myself and on the message of peace that I am promoting.”
The exchange began when Trump criticized the pope on Truth Social as he prepared for his African journey, labeling him “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” Trump also shared an AI-created image depicting himself in a Christ-like manner, which sparked backlash from religious conservatives and was subsequently deleted.
Trump’s attacks appeared to stem from Pope Leo’s increasing vocal opposition to the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran in recent weeks.
When Pope Leo indicated on Monday that he would continue addressing the war publicly, Trump doubled down on his criticisms the following day.
During Thursday’s address, the pope condemned world leaders for allocating billions toward warfare and declared that “a handful of tyrants” were devastating the planet, though he avoided naming Trump directly.
“As it happens, it was looked at as if I was trying to debate the president, which is not in my interest at all,” the pontiff explained on Saturday.
The Chicago native maintained a relatively quiet public presence during his initial 10 months as pope, but has adopted a more assertive approach during his African visit, delivering strong condemnations of warfare, social disparity, and international leadership.
His current African journey represents one of the most logistically challenging papal trips ever organized, featuring visits to 11 urban centers across four nations and covering approximately 18,000 kilometers through 18 separate flights over 10 days.
