WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said he doesn’t think Pope Leo XIV was being disrespectful in criticizing the war on Iran, but the pontiff needs to understand the world is a “nasty” place and Tehran must be prohibited from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“This is the real world,” Trump told reporters at the White House on April 16. “It’s a nasty world.”
Trump said the pope needs to understand the imperative of preventing Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon, as demonstrated by the killings of an estimated 42,000 unarmed Iranian protesters in recent months. Trump said Iran could threaten to kill millions in the Middle East if not disarmed.
“I’m not fighting with him,” Trump said. “The pope can say what he wants and I want him to say what he wants but I can disagree.”
The president's comments came after Trump and Leo have exchanged a series of critical messages in statements to the press and on social media about the war on Iran.
