VATICAN CITY (AP) — They went into last week's conclave vastly outnumbered and smarting after being sidelined by Pope Francis for 12 years.
And yet conservatives and traditionalist Catholics are cautiously optimistic over the historic election of Pope Leo XIV, hopeful that he will return doctrinal rigor to the papacy, even as progressives sense he will continue Francis’ reformist agenda.
Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, a titan of the conservative bloc, said Monday he was very pleased with the election and expected that Leo would heal the divisions that escalated during Francis’ pontificate. Mueller, who was fired by Francis as the Vatican’s doctrinal chief, suggested as a first step that Leo should restore access to the old Latin Mass that his predecessor had greatly restricted.
“I am convinced that he will overcome these superfluous tensions (which were) damaging for the church,” Mueller said in an interview with The Associated Press. “We cannot avoid all the conflicts, but we have to avoid the not necessary conflicts, the superfluous conflicts.”
His sense of hope is significant, given that conservative cardinals went into the conclave at a numerical disadvantage. Francis appointed 108 of the 133 electors, including the former Cardinal Robert Prevost and other pastors in his image.
But in the secret dynamics of the conclave, the Augustinian missionary who spent most of his priestly life in Peru secured far more than the two-thirds majority needed on the fourth ballot in an exceptionally quick, 24-hour conclave. The speed and margin defied expectations, given that this was the largest, most geographically diverse conclave in history and the cardinals barely knew each other.
“I think it was a good impression of him to everybody, and in the end it was a great concordia, a great harmony,” Mueller said. “There was no polemics, no fractionizing.”
Speaking in an interview in his apartment library just off St. Peter's Square, Mueller said Francis’ crackdown on traditionalists and the old Mass created unnecessary divisions that Leo knows he must heal.
Pope Benedict XVI had loosened restrictions on celebrations of the Latin Mass, which was used for centuries before the modernizing reforms of the 1960s Second Vatican Council, which allowed the liturgy to be celebrated in the vernacular. Francis reversed Benedict's signature liturgical legacy, saying the spread of the Latin Mass had created divisions in dioceses. But the crackdown had the effect of galvanizing Francis' conservative foes.
“We cannot absolutely condemn or forbid the legitimate right and form of the Latin liturgy,” Mueller said. “According to his character, I think (Leo) is able to speak with people and to find a very good solution that is good for everybody.”
Mueller is not alone in his optimism.
Benedict’s longtime secretary, Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, who also was fired by Francis and exiled from the Vatican, said he was pleasantly surprised by Leo's election and hopeful for the future.
In an interview with Corriere della Sera, Gaenswein said the new pontiff's choice of his name, referencing Pope Leo XIII, who led the church from 1878-1903, as well as Leo the Great and other popes, sent a signal that he would respect tradition, restore doctrinal clarity and pacify divisions.
“Pope Prevost gives me great hope,” Gaenswein was quoted as saying.
In newspaper stories, social media posts, TV interviews and private conversations among friends, some of Francis’ most vocal critics also are sounding cautiously optimistic, rejoicing over some of the smallest — but to them significant — gestures.
They liked that Leo read a written statement when he emerged from the conclave on the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, rather than improvise. They liked that his first words referenced Jesus Christ. They loved that he decided to wear the formal red cape, or mozzetta, of the papacy, which they viewed as a show of respect for the office that Francis had eschewed.
Another plus: He sang the noontime Regina Caeli Latin prayer on Sunday, instead of reciting it.
Many point to a report in Corriere that one evening before the conclave began, Prevost was seen entering the apartment building of Cardinal Raymond Burke, another tradition-minded cardinal whom Francis fired as the Vatican’s supreme court chief. Burke, who didn't respond to a request for comment, could have played the role of a “kingmaker” in the conclave, rallying conservative votes behind a particular candidate.
Mueller said he knew nothing about such a meeting and insisted he was unaware of behind-the-scenes pushing of Prevost. Such lobbying occurred when Jorge Mario Bergoglio had more progressive cardinals promoting his candidacy in 2005 and 2013.
Asked if he voted for Prevost, Mueller demurred.
“Oh, I cannot say. But I am content, no?” he replied.
And yet Prevost also pleased moderates, with many seeing in his first words a continuation of Francis’ priorities to build bridges. The buzzwords signal to some a pope who reaches out to the LGBTQ+ community and people of other faiths. But to others, it is the literal meaning of “pontifex” and a sign of internal bridge-building to heal divisions.
“The pope, as successor of St. Peter, has to unite the church," Mueller said.
Mueller said he expected Leo would move into the papal apartments at the Apostolic Palace, which he said was the proper place for a pope. Francis chose to live in the Vatican’s Domus Santa Marta hotel because he said he needed to be around people. But the decision had the practical effect of taking over the entire second floor of the hotel, reducing rooms for visiting priests.
Part of the dynamic at play in these early days of Leo's papacy is that it appears progressives and conservatives can see in Leo what they want. He has virtually no published history, and played his cards very close to his vest while in Rome as head of the Vatican’s bishops office. He granted few interviews and shied away from the public appearances that fill Vatican cardinals’ days after hours: book presentations, conferences and academic lectures.
George Weigel, the biographer of St. John Paul II and senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, said Leo's doctrinal position should be self-evident: that “a man who spent a lot of his life in the Peruvian missions believes in the truth of the Gospel and the truth of the world.”
As for the papal cape and stole, it means “we have a pope who understands the nature of the Petrine Office, which should not be bent to personal idiosyncrasies,” Weigel said in an email.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
FILE - A crowd gathers in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, where newly elected Pope Leo XIV will deliver a blessing from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica on Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis, File)
FILE- Pope Leo XIV speaks from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica on Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis, File)
Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller answers questions during an interview with The Associated Press at the Vatican on Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller answers questions during an interview with The Associated Press at the Vatican on Monday, May 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
President Donald Trump, aboard Air Force One to the NATO conference, has sought to maintain a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, and said he’s not seeking regime change in Tehran.
U.S. intelligence leaders will provide classified briefings as Congress prepares to debate whether to invoke the War Powers clause restraining Trump. Some Democrats filed to impeach him for striking Iran without congressional approval. Homeland Security meanwhile warns of a heightened risk of a domestic attack.
The Supreme Court, without explanation, is allowing Trump to deport migrants away from home countries. The dissenting liberal justices warned that the court’s action exposes “ thousands to the risk of torture or death.”
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The government lawyer who was fired after conceding that a Salvadoran man was deported by mistake has filed a whistleblower complaint.
Erez Reuveni is accusing Principal Assistant Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove of suggesting the Trump administration might have to ignore court orders as it prepared to deport Venezuelan migrants it accused of being gang members.
The complaint seeking an investigation was made public Tuesday, just as Bove prepares to face lawmakers Wednesday for his confirmation hearing to become a federal appeals court judge. It was first reported by The New York Times.
Reuveni was fired after conceding to a federal judge that Kilmar Abrego Garcia should not have been deported to El Salvador.
The whistleblower filing says Bove raised the possibility that judges might block deportations before they could be carried out, and told department officials they would need to consider telling the courts “f— you,” and to “ignore any such order.”
▶ Read more about the whistleblower complaint against Bove
A top U.S. military official says Iran still possesses “significant tactical capability” despite an American strike over the weekend on three of the country’s nuclear sites.
Vice Admiral Brad Cooper told lawmakers Tuesday that that capability was demonstrated by Iran’s limited retaliatory missile strike on a U.S. military base in Qatar.
In response to a question about whether Iran still poses a threat to U.S. troops and Americans around the world, he replied, “They do.”
Cooper is currently the deputy commander of the U.S. Central Command. He made the remarks at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing as the panel considers his nomination for the position of commander of Central Command.
But the extent of the damage hasn’t been fully determined, despite Trump’s claim that Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been “completely and totally obliterated.”
In a fresh social media post, Trump said Israel and Iran wanted to stop the war equally. A ceasefire is in effect after 12 days of hostilities between the enemy countries.
“It was my great honor to Destroy All Nuclear facilities & capability, and then, STOP THE WAR!” Trump posted.
Military leaders said at the Pentagon on Sunday that the U.S. bombardment inflicted “severe” damage to Iran’s nuclear sites, but officials were still conducting a damage assessment. Almost 400 kilograms, or 880 pounds, of uranium the Iranians had enriched to 60% are publicly unaccounted for.
The Republican-controlled House and Senate are scheduled to be on recess next week for the Fourth of July holiday, but that could change as GOP leaders signal their determination to send Trump the bill by his Independence Day deadline.
The Senate is currently working on the tax and spending cuts measure after the House passed it near the end of May.
Trump offered senators some unsolicited advice in another social media post sent during his flight to Europe.
“To my friends in the Senate, lock yourself in a room if you must, don’t go home, and GET THE DEAL DONE THIS WEEK. Work with the House so they can pick it up, and pass it, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump said. “NO ONE GOES ON VACATION UNTIL IT’S DONE.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday he told his members to keep their schedules flexible.
Outside a super-tight security perimeter, hundreds of people have turned out to protest at the NATO summit site in The Hague.
“They call it the defense industry, we call it the murder industry,” Azra Sayeed of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle, which describes itself as an anti-imperialist organization, told The Associated Press.
The 65-year-old traveled from her native Pakistan to join various demonstrations opposed to NATO. Tuesday’s event, held around 2 miles away from where the leaders are meeting, included anti-imperialist karaoke and a clothing upcycling workshop.
A handful of environmental activists from Extinction Rebellion tried Monday to blockade the highway that delegations would use to reach The Hague from Amsterdam’s airport, but were thwarted by police. On Sunday, hundreds of people protested NATO and the war in Gaza, and Iranians held up banners saying “No Iran War.”
Trump was expected to stay at a swanky hotel while visiting The Hague for a summit of the 32 leaders of NATO on Wednesday. Now he’s gotten a significant upgrade.
On arrival Tuesday night, he’ll be whisked by motorcade along closed-off highways to the Huis Ten Bosch palace, nestled in a forest, for a dinner with alliance leaders hosted by Dutch King Willem-Alexander.
A Dutch government information service spokeswoman, Anna Sophia Posthumus, tells The Associated Press that the president will be sleeping at the 17th-century palace that is home to Willem-Alexander, his Argentine-born wife Queen Maxima and their three daughters, though the princesses have mostly flown the royal nest to pursue studies.
▶ Read more about Trump’s royal sleepover
Trump’s challenge came in a lengthy and invective-filled response to her call for him to be impeached for striking Iran without approval from Congress.
The Republican president called the Democratic politician from New York “stupid” and attributed her “rantings” to “all of the Victories that the U.S.A. has had under the Trump administration.”
“The Democrats aren’t used to WINNING, and she can’t stand the concept of our Country being successful again,” Trump wrote.
Trump alluded to his two impeachments by Democrats who ran the House during his first term and dared Ocasio Cortez and her “Democrat friends” to “go ahead and try Impeaching me, again, MAKE MY DAY!” Now in GOP control, the House is certain to reject any impeachment votes.
The Federal Reserve chairman said Trump’s sweeping tariffs may still push up prices and slow growth later this year, even though so far the duties haven’t worsened inflation.
Powell is testifying before the House Financial Services Committee after coming under sharp criticism from Trump for not cutting the Fed’s key interest rate. Powell said the Fed will take time to evaluate the economy’s evolution before deciding whether to reduce borrowing costs.
Powell said “ increases in tariffs this year are likely to push up prices and weigh on economic activity.” He said the bump to inflation from tariffs could be temporary, or it could lead to a more persistent bout of inflation.
The Fed’s “obligation,” Powell said, is “to prevent a one-time increase in the price level from becoming an ongoing inflation problem.”
A new world of podcasts, newsletters and websites has expanded, providing a lifeline to legacy media refugees striking out on their own.
Megyn Kelly, Jennifer Rubin, Bari Weiss and Mehdi Hasan are among the barons of this new world, with sites like the Contrarian and Zeteo, fueled by the explosive growth of YouTube and Substack in providing a landing place for new ideas.
Substack says it has 5 million paying subscribers, 50,000 of its publishers make money, and more than 50 are earning more than $1 million annually.
Terry Moran headed almost immediately to Substack after he was cut loose by ABC News on June 10 for an anti-Trump tweet. Former NBC’s “Today” show hosts Katie Couric and Hoda Kotb announced new media ventures on the same day last month.
Couric says she’s seen “this whole space explode with people who are understanding that this is a really important way to convey information.”
▶ Read more about mainstream media figures finding profit online
Americans’ view of the U.S. economy worsened in June, resuming a downward slide that had dragged consumer confidence to its lowest level since the COVID-19 pandemic five years ago.
The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index slid to 93 in June, down 5.4 points from 98.4 last month, which represented a brief uptick. In April, American consumers’ confidence in the economy sank to its lowest reading since May 2020, largely due to anxiety over the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
A measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for their income, business conditions and the job market fell 4.6 points to 69. That’s well below 80, the marker that can signal a recession ahead.
Consumers’ assessments of the present economic situation declined by 6.4 points to 129.1.
▶ Read more about the Consumer Confidence survey
The U.S. president, while flying aboard Air Force One en route to the Netherlands, published a screenshot of a text from Mark Rutte praising him on his decision to strike three Iranian nuclear sites.
“Congratulations and thank you for your decisive action in Iran,” Rutte wrote in the message, which appeared to be on the secure messaging platform Signal. “That was truly extraordinary, and something no one else dared to do. It makes us safer.”
Rutte also wrote to Trump that he was “flying into another big success in The Hague this evening,” noting that other countries had signed onto the new pledge for NATO member countries to spend 5% of their gross domestic product on defense.
NATO confirmed that the post was a message that Rutte had sent to Trump earlier Tuesday.
The Democrat from Texas introduced a single article of impeachment asserting that Trump has abused his power as president and “become a threat to democracy” by starting the “illegal and unconstitutional war” without authorization from Congress, in violation of the constitution’s War Powers clause.
Green, who has filed previous impeachment articles against Trump claiming high crimes and misdemeanors, said in a statement that Trump’s “authoritarian actions are a warning sign we cannot ignore… we must uphold and protect our Constitution from being dismantled by an authoritarian president who seeks unchecked power.”
President Donald Trump took office in January pledging to “make America the crypto capital of the world.” He has since harnessed wide swaths of the federal government to bolster the industry — all while raking in huge sums of money for his family’s business.
By some estimates, crypto ventures now account for nearly 40% of the Trump Organization’s $2.9 billion net worth. But the Republican president’s championing of the industry has been just as big a boon for many of the industry’s top names.
Many have seen their profits and political standing soar, while investigations of potential wrongdoing and other legal entanglements led by the administration of Trump’s predecessor, Democratic President Joe Biden, have largely fallen away.
▶ Read more about the crypto industry’s top leaders and their ties to Trump
The warning followed the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. The deputy FBI director says the bureau’s “assets are fully engaged” to prevent retaliatory violence, while local law enforcement agencies in major cities like New York say they’re on high alert.
No credible threats to the homeland have surfaced publicly in the days since the stealth American attack. It’s also unclear what bearing the tentative ceasefire between Israel and Iran might have on potential threats, or how lasting such an arrangement might be.
But the potential for reprisal is no idle concern given the steps Iran is accused of having taken in recent years to target political figures on U.S. soil. Iranian-backed hackers have also launched cyberattacks against U.S. targets in recent years.
The DHS warns of an increased likelihood that a “supporter of the Iranian regime is inspired to commit an act of violence in the Homeland.
Brushing up on English has taken on new urgency for truck drivers in the United States. Trump issued an executive order saying truckers who don’t read and speak the language proficiently would be considered unfit for service.
Federal guidelines for applying the order are going into effect. They call for enhanced roadside inspections to decide if truckers can reply to questions and directions in English, as well as understand highway traffic signs and message boards. Some truckers worry they may lose their jobs if they make a mistake or speak with a heavy accent.
“A driver who can’t understand English will not drive a commercial vehicle in this country. Period,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said last month while announcing enforcement guidelines that take effect on Wednesday.
▶ Read more on Trump’s executive order on truck drivers
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's bid to join the 32-nation alliance has been put in deep freeze by Trump. In a telling sign of Ukraine’s status at the two-day summit, neither leader mentioned NATO by name during brief remarks to reporters Tuesday.
Zelenskyy and Trump’s relationship has been strained since a very public Oval Office bust up earlier this year. But they both are expected to attend a dinner hosted by Dutch King Willem-Alexander Tuesday evening for leaders attending the summit.
Trump and the Ukrainian President were scheduled to meet on the margins of last week’s Group of Seven summit in Canada — but it didn’t happen because Trump left Canada a day ahead of schedule to return to Washington because of the Iran crisis.
“Yeah, probably I’ll see him,” Trump said aboard Air Force One when he was asked about the possibility of seeing Zelenskyy during the NATO summit at The Hague.
▶ Read more about NATO Summit developments
Trump did not answer directly when asked Tuesday whether he would abide by Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which outlines the alliance’s mutual defense guarantees.
“Depends on your definition,” he told reporters traveling on Air Force One en route to The Netherlands. “There’s numerous definitions of Article Five, you know that, right? But I’m committed to being their friends.”
Asked later to clarify, Trump said he is “committed to life and safety” but did not clarify further, saying he did not want to go into further details in the back of an airplane.
The classified intelligence briefings could turn contentious as many lawmakers feel they have been left in the dark on what led to the strikes and amid escalating tensions between the White House and Congress over the role of the United States internationally — disagreements that don’t always fall along party lines.
“We expect them to explain to the American people what were the results in terms of actually thwarting Iran’s capacity to become a nuclear power and what are the Trump administration’s plans to avoid another potentially disastrous war in the Middle East, where thousands of American lives are potentially at risk,” said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
▶Read more about congressional responses to Trump’s air strikes on Iran
Members of Congress will get classified briefings directly from intelligence leaders three days after Trump directed strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and a day after Iran struck a U.S. base in Qatar.
Separate House and Senate briefings will be led by CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, along with Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and deputy secretaries of state Christopher Landau and Steve Feinberg.
Democrats and some Republicans have questions about the unilateral decision to launch military action, arguing that the president should have gone to Congress for approval — or at least provided more justification for the attacks.
Stocks rallied and oil prices fell Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced what appears to be a shaky ceasefire in the Israel-Iran war.
The tentative truce proposed by Trump remained uncertain after Israel said Iran had launched missiles into its airspace less than three hours after the ceasefire went into effect. It vowed to retaliate.
Still, investors took heart after Trump said Israel and Iran had agreed to a “complete and total ceasefire” soon after Iran launched limited missile attacks Monday on a U.S. military base in Qatar, retaliating for the American bombing of its nuclear sites over the weekend.
“The Middle East may still be smoldering, but as far as markets are concerned, the fire alarm has been shut off,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
▶ Read more about today’s financial market movements
Jerome Powell said Tuesday that the Federal Reserve will continue to wait and see how the economy evolves before deciding whether to reduce its key interest rate, a stance directly at odds with President Donald Trump’s calls for immediate cuts.
“For the time being, we are well positioned to wait to learn more about the likely course of the economy before considering any adjustments to our policy stance,” Powell said in prepared remarks he will deliver early Tuesday before the House Financial Services Committee.
Powell is facing two days of what could be tough grilling on Capitol Hill, as Trump has repeatedly urged the Fed to reduce borrowing costs. Trump lashed out early Tuesday, posting: “I hope Congress really works this very dumb, hardheaded person, over. We will be paying for his incompetence for many years to come.”
Read more about Powell's appearance before Congress
Trump heads to a two-day NATO summit in Europe laden with uncertainty. Iran’s response to U.S. air strikes, the fate of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the future of U.S. troops based in NATO countries are all up in the air.
Trump’s first appearance at NATO since returning to the White House was supposed to center on how the U.S. secured a historic military spending pledge of 5% GDP from each nation in the defensive alliance — with some exceptions.
“NATO has no opt-out, and NATO does no side deals,” NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told reporters in The Hague. “It is critical that each ally carries their fair share of the burden.”
However, Spain said that it has reached a deal with NATO to be excluded from the 5% target, while President Donald Trump said the figure shouldn’t apply to the United States, only its allies.
But the spotlight is now on Trump’s attempts to broker a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. The sharp U-turn in hostilities just hours before he departed for the summit is sure to dominate the discussions in The Hague, Netherlands.
▶ Read more about the NATO summit
A divided Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration to restart swift removals of migrants to countries other than their homelands, as Trump continues his sweeping immigration crackdown that has sparked widespread protests, high-profile detentions and various court challenges.
The majority's action, issued without explanation, lifts for now a court order requiring they get a chance to challenge the deportations. U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston had found the administration had violated his order by sending eight people to South Sudan in May.
The migrants had been convicted of serious crimes in the U.S. and immigration officials have said they were unable to return them quickly to their home countries. Authorities instead landed the plane at a U.S. naval base in Djibouti.
All three liberal justices dissented, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor writing that the court’s action exposes “ thousands to the risk of torture or death.”
▶ Read more about the Supreme Court’s decision
While the president has authority as the commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces to order specific military actions, any prolonged war-time footing would traditionally need authorization from Congress.
The House and Senate authorized actions in Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond after the Sept. 11, 2001, attack.
Trump faces a vote in Congress as soon as this week on a war powers resolution from Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., that would “direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran that have not been authorized by Congress.”
Another resolution has been introduced by lawmakers from both parties in the U.S. House.
At least one Democrat, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, said Trump’s actions are “clearly grounds for impeachment.”
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, Tuesday, June 24, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
