Donald Trump has once again inserted himself into a global moment that had absolutely nothing to do with him, this time claiming credit for the historic election of Pope Leo XIV as the first North American pontiff, despite the fact that the papal Conclave operates entirely independent of any political influence, especially from the American presidency.
In a furious and rambling Truth Social post late Sunday night, Trump blasted ABC News and veteran journalist Martha Raddatz for stating the obvious—that Trump had no role in the election of the new pope—and accused the network of “Trump Derangement Syndrome” while bizarrely attacking Disney CEO Bob Iger and calling for changes at the network.
“So funny to watch old timer Martha Raditz on ABC Fake News (the Slopadopolus show!) this morning, blurt out that, effectively, Pope Leo’s selection had nothing to do with Donald Trump,” Trump wrote, adding, “It came out of nowhere, but it was on her Trump Deranged Mind.”
He went on to boast that he “did WIN the Catholic Vote, by a lot,” before lashing out at the so-called “losers and haters” in the media. The post came just hours before Pope Leo XIV addressed the world in his first official press conference as head of the Catholic Church and delivered a blistering yet elegantly worded condemnation of the very type of aggressive, self-centered, and combative communication that Trump has made his trademark.
Speaking to thousands of journalists gathered inside the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall, Pope Leo did not mention Trump by name, but his message rang like a thunderclap across the political world. “Let us disarm communication of all prejudice and resentment, fanaticism and even hatred,” he said.
“Let us free it from aggression.” He warned that the world does not need “loud, forceful communication,” but rather a type of discourse “capable of listening and gathering the voices of the weak who have no voice.” The contrast with Trump’s latest rant could not be more stark.
Where Trump bragged, insulted, and spun conspiracy-laced self-praise, Leo delivered a call for humility, healing, and the moral responsibility to restore dignity to public conversation. “Let us disarm words and we will help the world disarm,” Leo continued. “Disarming communication will allow us to share events of the world and to act in a manner consistent with our human dignity.”
For many observers, Pope Leo’s words were not just spiritual instruction but a direct repudiation of the political climate Trump has helped create. Trump’s second presidency has been dominated by inflammatory rhetoric, nightly tirades on social media, public insults against judges and journalists, and a relentless campaign of division.
Even before his election, Leo—formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost—had signaled strong moral opposition to the MAGA worldview. In February, he shared a Catholic editorial titled, “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others,” a clear rejection of the MAGA-aligned vice president’s views on immigration and social hierarchy.
The Pope’s consistent alignment with justice, inclusion, and empathy has placed him at odds with the Trump-era Republican Party, which has increasingly embraced nationalism, exclusionary policies, and Christian identity politics. Now elevated as the spiritual leader of over a billion Catholics, Leo’s first words as pope were not only pastoral but politically symbolic.
During his address from the Vatican balcony last Thursday following the white smoke of his election, he told the cheering crowds in St. Peter’s Square that the Church must be one “that builds bridges, that listens, that walks with the people,” echoing the legacy of Pope Francis while adding a sharper tone of urgency.
His election came after a rare 24-hour conclave that produced the first ever Pope from North America, a Chicago-born clergyman with a long record of defending migrants, challenging authoritarianism, and standing up to the weaponization of religion for political gain.
That legacy has not gone unnoticed by Trump loyalists. MAGA media personality Laura Loomer immediately attacked Pope Leo as an “anti-Trump Marxist,” raging that the cardinals had chosen a pontiff who would, in her words, “lecture us about climate change and socialism instead of defending Christianity from the left.”
Far-right blogs and commentators across social media echoed those sentiments, with many complaining that Leo’s message of inclusion, compassion, and moral restraint was incompatible with the aggressive cultural warfare that defines the MAGA movement. Yet what they call weakness, the Church now calls leadership.
Trump’s attempt to hijack the moment for his own self-glorification was widely ridiculed. Religious scholars, Catholic commentators, and even some conservative Catholics noted the absurdity of Trump suggesting he had anything to do with a conclave conducted in total secrecy by a college of cardinals who had spent months deliberating over the moral direction of the Church, not the political fantasies of an American president.
Trump’s insistence that his 2024 victory with Catholic voters somehow entitled him to credit for Leo’s election betrayed both a profound misunderstanding of Catholic doctrine and a narcissistic need to inject himself into every headline. That same narcissism has driven much of Trump’s foreign policy and domestic agenda, from accepting a $400 million jet from Qatar to threatening judges who challenge his immigration orders.
What Pope Leo XIV offered in his first press conference was not just a theological message—it was a rebuke of leadership styles that exploit communication for power, domination, and fear. He did not need to call out Trump by name because his every word stood in direct opposition to Trump’s methods.
As the world watches the escalating confrontation between spiritual authority and political arrogance, the moral clarity of Leo’s papacy could not have arrived at a more urgent moment. In rejecting loudness, hate, and aggression, Leo has drawn a line that leaders around the globe, including in Washington, will now have to answer to.
While Trump insists on taking credit for a papal election he had nothing to do with, the new pope is already shaping global discourse by standing against the very behavior that Trump has normalized. The spectacle of Trump’s Truth Social post, boasting about his Catholic vote share and attacking a respected journalist while claiming unearned credit for a spiritual election, reflects the very sickness Pope Leo now seeks to heal—a world where ego overrides humility, where power corrupts faith, and where the loudest voice drowns out the most compassionate.
The battle lines are not political but moral, and in that confrontation, Pope Leo XIV has spoken. The world is listening. And Donald Trump, once again, has made it all about himself.
