Donald Trump and Pope Francis’s relationship at best could be described as cordial, riddled with heavy disagreements. Both the individuals who met several times had extremely contrasting political views. What started as differing opinions soon turned into a war of words.
The first time that Donald Trump and Pope Francis interacted publicly was when the former wrote a congratulatory message. The Republican took to X (formerly known as Twitter) after Francis was elected as the Pope to call him “humble.”
He added, “The new Pope is a humble man, very much like me, which probably explains why I like him so much!”
Tensions between the two kept increasing over their opposing political views. The Pope did not hesitate to call Trump out several times for his political ideologies. Francis even criticized Trump’s government while noting that his policies were “not Christian.”
The Pope commented in reference to Trump’s take on aggressive deportation of illegal immigrants in 2016. The Republican had expressed his wish to build a wall on the US-Mexico border and make sure to see to the deportation of undocumented migrants.
“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian,” the Pope said in a discussion with reporters back then. Trump did not take kindly to the criticism and lashed out at the Pope with a declaration.
“If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS,” he began. The Republican went on to note that the Vatican City is the terrorist organization’s “ultimate trophy.” He added, “I can promise you that the Pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been president.”
Pope Francis speaks about Donald Trump: “A person who only thinks on building walls, can never be a Christian. pic.twitter.com/Atri0QoQ1O
— dr. Marina (@mmeeuw) April 21, 2025
The two met in 2017 once again during Trump’s official visit to the Vatican. The meeting seemed to go without a hitch, considering the very public remarks that the two had made towards each other in the past.
Following the meeting, Trump even noted how “fantastic” the meeting had been. “He is something,” the President told the media back then. Despite Trump’s claims of the meeting going well, it was hard to miss a picture from the meeting that guaranteed Francis did not share the opinion.
The photo featured a very joyous Trump who stood there smiling ear to ear. On the other hand, Pope Francis stood straight-faced without cracking a smile. FLOTUS Melania Trump and Ivanka Trump, who accompanied the President on his visit, were spotted in the photo as well.
“Pope Francis is dead – Sad! He was a spiritual leader, some say the biggest ever – after me, of course. I had MANY better crowds than the Vatican. A lot of people thought I’d be Pope if I wasn’t so successful in business. Big loss for the Church!”
~ Donald Trump (probably) pic.twitter.com/vzb7Nub5u2— Canada Hates Trump (@AntiTrumpCanada) April 21, 2025
The friction between the Pope and Trump did not end there. Pope Francis spoke up against Trump at the beginning of this year as well. Francis addressed the mass deportation that the U.S. government was carrying out while heavily criticizing it. He noted how the aggressive deportation would “end badly.”
In the same letter, the Pope also criticised Vice President J.D. Vance. “Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups,” the Pope wrote. Notably, the comment came after Vance’s discussion with the Pope from his recent visit to the Vatican.
