The dustup between President Trump and Pope Leo had its source in the landmine planted by Leo's predecessor in the Archdiocese of Washington, DC.
By Paul Kengor
Crisis Magazine
May 4, 2026
The dustup continues from Donald Trump's eruption against Pope Leo on his Truth Social two weeks ago. President Trump seems to have cooled off and pulled back from his recent diatribes against the Holy Father, and in the meantime, we're learning what really set him seething.
What triggered Trump's post was something that I suspected. It was less Leo than the three most liberal cardinals in the American Church-three Pope Francis picks: Cardinals Blase Cupich, Joseph Tobin, and particularly Robert McElroy. The culprit was their 60 Minutes appearance two days prior to the president's historic blowup at the Vicar of Christ.
The interview was done by journalist Norah O'Donnell, who has since spoken to Trump twice, including about the Truth Social post. In her words, "The president also told me that he decided to make that lengthy post on Truth Social, where he lashed out against the pope, after watching our interview on 60 Minutes on Sunday night."
I'm not surprised. I saw it coming, simmering, and hitting the boiling point.
As a biographer of Pope Leo, I've carefully watched every statement he has made regarding the Iran war, including those that may or may not be a reference to President Trump and his administration. Such is often difficult to determine, given that Robert Francis Prevost is a measured, prudent man who is both nuanced and very careful with his words.
Donald Trump is the opposite; he's a bull in a china shop swinging a baseball bat, and the man has no filter. He lacks discipline, and his impetuousness often makes him his own worst enemy. Trump's statements are obvious-painfully, explosively obvious. I've likewise carefully chronicled Trump's statements against Pope Leo.
Prior to Trump's Truth Social outburst, the closest that Pope Leo had gotten to a direct condemnation of a specific Trump statement came in response to the president's threat against the entire people of Iran two days after Easter Sunday. Trump had threatened: "A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again." The president of the United States cautioned, "I don't want that to happen," before assuring, "but it probably will."
As head of the Roman Catholic Church and the world's largest group of Christians, Pope Leo had no choice but to respond to such an astonishing statement. If he had not, he would have failed as a moral leader. But even then, Leo didn't name Trump by name.
The Holy Father condemned "this threat against the entire people of Iran," which he called "truly unacceptable." A condition of Just War doctrine is that you don't target civilians. The leader of the world's mightiest military power threatening to produce the death of "a whole civilization" of over 90 million people "never to be brought back again" is morally unacceptable.
But to repeat, even then the pope didn't name Trump by name. It's telling that the Vatican News article on Leo's remarks didn't even include Trump's name.
Still, Donald Trump no doubt wasn't happy about the criticism, nor the pope's other anti-war statements. And yet, even that Leo rebuke didn't launch Trump into orbit. What burst him into the stratosphere were the 60 Minutes comments from the three cardinals, none of whom are as careful with their words as their pope is.
Here's what happened.
McElroy Declares an "Unjust War"
Right on cue in the 60 Minutes interview, Cardinal Cupich went after President Trump, using words like "sickening" to describe his various posts. But Cardinal McElroy was the betting favorite to go further. It was very revealing that when Norah O'Donnell asked the three cardinals if the Iran war is just, only McElroy pounced. Here's the exchange:
Norah O'Donnell: Is this a just war?Cardinal Robert McElroy: No, in the Catholic teaching this is not a just war. The Catholic faith teaches us there are certain prerequisites for a just war. You can't go for a variety of different aims. You have to have a focused aim, which is to restore justice and restore peace. That's it.Norah O'Donnell: Iran has been the chief exporter of terror. Is there no scenario in which preventing that can be a just war?Cardinal Robert McElroy: It's an abominable regime, and it should be removed. But this is a war of choice that we went to, and I think it's embedded in a wider moment in the United States that's worrying, which is this: We're seeing before us the possibility of war after war after war.
There it was. "This is not a just war," declared McElroy categorically on 60 Minutes. And it wasn't the first time. For weeks, he made such statements. He said in early March that the U.S. war with Iran is "not morally legitimate," claiming it fails several tenets of Catholic Just War principles.
Unfortunately, this was typical of McElroy and very much an illustration of why many questioned if he was a prudent choice to be appointed archbishop in the volatile political environment of Washington, D.C.
Pope Francis made that appointment in January 2025, just before Donald Trump's inauguration. Typically, a pope would appoint a more neutral, calming voice to the position of Washington, D.C., archbishop, especially with Donald Trump returning to the Oval Office. But Francis did just the opposite.
It was reported that this highly ill-advised McElroy appointment was opposed by the two previous occupants-Cardinals Wilton Gregory and Donald Wuerl-as well as by the papal nuncio to the United States and several figures in Rome. But Francis did it anyway.
Francis was notorious for saying from the opening months of his papacy to the very end that he wanted to "make a mess of things." Well, his McElroy appointment was bound to make a mess. He's a lightning rod. He and Trump were bound to clash.
As for McElroy's assertion that "in the Catholic teaching this is not a just war," well, certainly not everyone in "Catholic teaching" agrees. Some would argue whether McElroy can make such a judgment. Bishop Robert Barron states that "it is not the role of the Church to evaluate whether a particular war is just or unjust." Fr. Gerald Murray flatly disagrees with McElroy, Apr16 2026 , "I do believe this is a just war precisely because of the nature of the threat that a nuclear-armed Iran poses to the United States, Israel, and its allies."
It's certainly a subject for debate-and one on which McElroy doesn't possess an authoritative final judgment.
What the Pope Has Said-and Hasn't Said
And despite what some are saying, including AI search engines, Pope Leo has not declared this war unjust. I've had multiple interviewers tell me that he has. They're being misled.
When Google's AI function is asked, "Has Pope Leo declared the Iran war unjust?" the answer comes back with a firm "yes." Specifically, AI says:
Based on April 2026 reports, Pope Leo XIV has repeatedly denounced the US-Israeli military action in Iran as an "unjust war." Direct Denunciation: The Pope has explicitly called the conflict "unjust," as noted on this Facebook post and this YouTube video.
But if you click those videos, you see that AI is incorrect. The pope refers to other individuals calling Iran an unjust war, and he makes no mention of President Trump. Both AI links go to a single video from three weeks ago in which Leo, speaking to the press (click here, here, and Pope Leo XIV calls for an end to 'unjust' Middle East war ) actually refers to "a war that many people are calling an unjust war." Leo is referring to others, not himself.
Interestingly, when Leo did use the word "unjust," he applied it in a very different way that Trump supporters might applaud. Here's an exchange he had on April 23 on the Vatican airplane flying back to Rome from Africa. The questioner is from Newsmax, with both speaking in English ( Pope Leo gives a new message regarding the ongoing conflict with Iran ):
Anneliese Taggart: Holy Father, thank you very much. You have spoken on this trip about how people hunger and thirst for justice. It was just reported this morning that Iran has executed yet another one of the members of the opposition, and this comes as it has been said that the regime has also publicly hanged multiple other people, as well as murdered thousands of its own people. Do you condemn these actions, and do you have any message to the Iranian regime?Pope Leo XIV: I condemn all actions that are unjust. I condemn the taking of people's lives. I condemn capital punishment. I believe that human life is to be respected and that all people-from conception to natural [death]-their lives should be respected and protected.So when a regime, when a country takes decisions which takes away the lives of other people unjustly, then obviously that is something that should be condemned.
Look closely at that statement. In this one occasion where Leo used the word "unjust," he applied it to the Iranian regime, not the war and not President Trump. The statement is further significant because many conservatives contend that Pope Leo has not condemned the Iranian mullahs. Would they like more from Leo than this ? Certainly. But the reality is that the only case of him applying the word "unjust" to the Iran situation was this occasion against the Iranian regime.
Pope Leo XIV: I condemn all actions that are unjust. I condemn the taking of people's lives. I condemn capital punishment. I believe that human life is to be respected and that all people—from conception to natural [death]—their lives should be respected and protected.So when a regime, when a country takes decisions which takes away the lives of other people unjustly, then obviously that is something that should be condemned.
Look closely at that statement. In this one occasion where Leo used the word "unjust," he applied it to the Iranian regime, not the war and not President Trump. The statement is further significant because many conservatives contend that Pope Leo has not condemned the Iranian mullahs. Would they like more from Leo than this ? Certainly. But the reality is that the only case of him applying the word "unjust" to the Iran situation was this occasion against the Iranian regime.
Of course, Leo has said many things about the conflict, including statements that many find controversial. "This is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war," said Leo at Palm Sunday Mass. "[Jesus] does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war."
This statement upset many people who have served in combat or had relatives—fathers—who fought in wars. But Leo here was not rejecting the idea of a Just War or defensive war. Our actions in World War II were not a matter of waging war. The Nazis and Japanese waged that war. America responded defensively. They were responding to the aggression of those who waged it.
Pope Leo's own father fought at Normandy. He was at Omaha Beach. He was not waging war. (I recommend this especially good analysis at the National Catholic Register.)
St. Augustine gave us Just War doctrine. Pope Leo calls himself a "son of Augustine." He headed the Augustinian order. He has quoted the author of Just War doctrine more than any other figure other than Christ Himself.
He did his doctoral work in Canon Law in Rome at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, also known as the Angelicum. This pope is no dope. He's a careful man, refraining from making edicts about this war being unjust.
Cardinal McElroy is not as cautious.
In the concluding section of my biography on Leo, I warned that the new pope faces many minefields put there by his predecessor, from Traditionis Custodes, to the same-sex blessings fiasco, to an American cardinalate that Pope Francis ideologized with left-of-center bishops, some of them not especially measured with their words. These mines remain, poised to detonate at any time. We saw one such explosion when the American president was triggered by the 60 Minutes interview with the cardinals. We can expect more messes to come.