WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has renewed his criticism of Pope Leo XIV, potentially complicating a fence-mending visit that Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to make this week to the Vatican.
In an interview with conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt, Trump said the first American-born pontiff is helping Iran and also making the world less safe with his comments about the importance of not treating immigrants with disrespect.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a press briefing in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Pope Leo XIV talks to journalists as he leaves his residence in Castel Gandolfo, on the outskirts of Rome, to return to the Vatican, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Leo XIV waves after presiding over the ordination of four Auxiliary Bishops of Rome, in Rome's St. John Lateran Basilica, Saturday, May 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
President Donald Trump speaks before signing a proclamation in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
“The pope would rather talk about the fact that it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said in the interview on Monday. “And I don’t think that’s very good. I think he’s endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people.”
The pope, however, has not said Iran should obtain nuclear weapons. He’s called for more peace talks, and criticized war with Iran generally and Trump’s specific threats of mass civilian strikes. The pope also has emphasized that he’s reflecting biblical and church teachings, not speaking as a political rival to Trump.
Leo responded to Trump's latest criticism by calling out the U.S. president's misrepresentation of his views. Speaking to reporters Tuesday, the pope said the Catholic Church “for years has spoken out against all nuclear weapons, so there is no doubt there.”
He also doubled down on his insistence that his call for peace and dialogue in the U.S-Israeli war in Iran is biblically inspired.
“The mission of the church is to preach the Gospel, to preach peace. If someone wants to criticize me for announcing the Gospel, let him do it with the truth,” Leo said.
For his part, Rubio, a practicing Catholic, said Trump's recent criticisms were rooted in his opposition to Iran potentially obtaining a nuclear weapon, which he said could be used against millions of Catholics and other Christians. Rubio said the whole world should be opposed to that.
Trump “doesn’t understand why anybody — leave aside the pope — the president and I, for that matter, I think most people, I cannot understand why anyone would think that it’s a good idea for Iran to ever have a nuclear weapon,” Rubio told reporters at the White House.
Still, Trump’s latest comments may make Rubio’s task more difficult when he sees the pontiff on Thursday. Rubio has often been called on to tone down or explain Trump’s harsh rhetoric as it relates to Europe, NATO and the Middle East, but the president’s dispute with the pope has domestic political implications in the U.S. with midterm congressional elections approaching.
Trump lashed out at Leo on social media last month, saying the pope was soft on crime and terrorism for comments about the administration’s immigration policies and deportations as well as the Iran war. Leo then said God doesn’t listen to the prayers of those who wage war.
Later, Trump posted a social media image likening himself to Jesus Christ, which he then deleted after backlash. He has refused to apologize to Leo and has sought to explain away the social media post by saying he thought the image was of him as a doctor.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a long-time Trump ally, has taken exception to Trump’s comments about the pope.
Trump in return criticized her as his ire against NATO allies expands over what he sees as a lack of support for the Iran war — most recently with the Pentagon planning to pull thousands of troops out of Germany in the coming months.
In response to Trump's latest comments criticizing the pope, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in a social media post that they were “neither acceptable nor helpful to the cause of peace.”
“I reaffirm my support for every action and word of Pope Leo; his words are a testament to dialogue, the value of human life, and freedom. This is a vision shared by our government, which is committed through diplomacy to ensuring stability and peace in all areas where conflicts exist,” Tajani wrote.
Rubio, who after this trip will have visited Italy or the Vatican at least three times in the past year, is expected to meet with Meloni and Tajani on Friday.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a press briefing in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Pope Leo XIV talks to journalists as he leaves his residence in Castel Gandolfo, on the outskirts of Rome, to return to the Vatican, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Pope Leo XIV waves after presiding over the ordination of four Auxiliary Bishops of Rome, in Rome's St. John Lateran Basilica, Saturday, May 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
President Donald Trump speaks before signing a proclamation in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Vice President JD Vance landed in Iowa on Tuesday, marking his first visit since taking office to the state where Republicans in less than two years will cast the initial votes to pick their party’s next presidential nominee.
Vance, who is seen as one of the GOP’s strongest potential candidates for president in 2028, is making the trip to campaign on behalf of Republican Rep. Zach Nunn, who faces a competitive race to keep his Des Moines-area seat in the November midterms.
Vance, a former U.S. senator who represented Ohio and became vice president before the end of his term, departed Washington earlier Tuesday accompanied by one of his young sons. He stopped first in Cincinnati to vote in Ohio's primary elections and told reporters he was voting for Vivek Ramaswamy in the governor's race. Asked about U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, who's running in a special election to serve out the remainder of Vance’s term, Vance said he thinks Husted's “going to do a great job” and has been “good for Ohio.”
His 6-year-old son, meanwhile, filled out a ballot for children, which the vice president showed to the poll workers when he cast his own ballot. “He voted for the Easter bunny over the tooth fairy,” he said of his son, who's also named Vivek.
Before arriving in Iowa, Vance also appeared in Oklahoma City to hold a fundraiser in his role as finance chair of the Republican National Committee.
But the visit to Iowa offers Vance an opportunity to test his reception before Iowa’s voters, whose leadoff caucuses give them an outsized role in determining the next presidential nominee. Campaigning for a local congressman in his role as the sitting vice president gives him an opening chance to make an impression on Iowa Republicans, seasoned evaluators of those who seek the nation’s highest office before the campaign begins in earnest.
Vance’s appearance comes days after Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who is also considered a possible 2028 candidate, spoke to a group of evangelical Christians who are influential in Iowa’s GOP contest.
Des Moines-based Jimmy Centers, a Republican political consultant, said the 2028 contest is “light-years away” but said the Republicans who hear Vance speak on Tuesday will be evaluating how he might measure up in an election for the White House.
“I certainly think, as of right now, Vice President Vance would probably be a straw-poll winner of Iowa Republicans for 2028. But I don’t think anyone is saying, ‘We won’t consider anybody else,’” Centers said.
Vance, who has not said whether he will run for the presidency in 2028, is scheduled to appear with Nunn at a manufacturing facility in Des Moines. His office did not comment on the trip's impact on Vance's political future.
The vice president’s visit follows a trip President Donald Trump made in January to tout the administration’s tax cuts, part of a string of stops they’re making this year on economic issues before midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.
But Vance’s visit comes when his own political prospects — and the message he’s expected to deliver on the economy — have been complicated by the war in Iran.
The vice president, who has long been skeptical of foreign military interventions, has seemed a reluctant defender of the 9-week-old war, for which Trump has struggled to find an off-ramp. Iowans, like much of the rest of the country, are grappling with higher gas prices because of the conflict. But the state’s farmers are also feeling the pinch of high fertilizer costs from the war and have been hurt by tariffs Trump has imposed.
While Iowa’s farmers have steadfastly supported the president, they have been looking to the White House for assurances that the current troubles won’t last.
Vance’s visit to Iowa was originally scheduled for last week, but the timing shifted because the House moved to pass a sweeping farm bill that Nunn was due to vote on.
The vice president also had been slated to appear last week at an Iowa State University event with Turning Point USA, but the organization said it was not able to reschedule the event with the university until the fall.
Kim Schmett, a longtime Iowa GOP activist, said the presidential cycle starts “deceptively slow.”
Republican figures testing the waters often drop by the Westside Conservative Club, which Schmett hosts, but he said it's still too far out from the caucuses, which are typically held in January of the presidential election year.
He said Trump’s Make America Great Again political movement “is very alive and going here” in Iowa, which would benefit Vance — as well as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also thought to be a potential candidate.
“I think there’s going to be a lot of MAGA support,” he said. “And Vice President Vance and Marco Rubio seem to be the recipients of where that is going at the moment.”
But Schmett cautioned, “It’s awfully, awfully early in the process.”
On the Democratic side, at least half a dozen presidential prospects have been making visits to the states with the earliest presidential primary contests, including recent visits to Iowa by former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Michigan U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin.
Meanwhile, potential Republican presidential candidates “are treading very lightly,” said GOP strategist Alex Conant, who worked on Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign.
“I think Republicans are going to be very reluctant to get in Trump’s way until Trump gives the green light for the campaign to start,” Conant said.
That means much of the groundwork to meet with donors or activists or recruit political staffers might happen slowly and subtly – for now.
After the midterms? Conant said: “It’ll be irresistible.”
Price reported from Washington.
Vice President JD Vance, alongside his son Vivek, votes at a polling location at St. Anthony of Padua Maronite Catholic Church in the state's primary election, Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Vance is stopping in Ohio to vote in the state's primary election before continuing on to Oklahoma and Iowa. (Roberto Schmidt /Pool Photo via AP)
Vice President JD Vance and his son Vivek, walk off Air Force Two upon arrival at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in Hebron, Ky., Tuesday, May 5, 2026. Vance is stopping in Ohio to vote in the state's primary election before continuing on to Oklahoma and Iowa. (Roberto Schmidt /Pool Photo via AP)
Vice President JD Vance casts his ballot to vote at a polling location at St. Anthony of Padua Maronite Catholic Church in the state's primary election, Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Vance is stopping in Ohio to vote in the state's primary election before continuing on to Oklahoma and Iowa. (Roberto Schmidt /Pool Photo via AP)
Vice President JD Vance, alongside his son Vivek, votes at a polling location at St. Anthony of Padua Maronite Catholic Church in the state's primary election, Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Vance is stopping in Ohio to vote in the state's primary election before continuing on to Oklahoma and Iowa. (Roberto Schmidt /Pool Photo via AP)
Vice President JD Vance boards Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Tuesday, May 5, 2026. Vance is traveling to Ohio, Oklahoma, and Iowa. (Roberto Schmidt /Pool Photo via AP)
Vice President JD Vance arrives at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in Hebron, Ky., Tuesday, May 5, 2026. Vance is stopping in Ohio to vote in the state's primary election before continuing on to Oklahoma and Iowa. (Roberto Schmidt /Pool Photo via AP)
Vice President JD Vance boards Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Tuesday, May 5, 2026. Vance is traveling to Ohio, Oklahoma, and Iowa. (Roberto Schmidt /Pool Photo via AP)
Vice President JD Vance and his son Vivek, are escorted as they walk to board Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Tuesday, May 5, 2026. Vance is traveling to Ohio, Oklahoma, and Iowa. (Roberto Schmidt /Pool Photo via AP)
Vice President JD Vance and his son Vivek, walk to board Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Tuesday, May 5, 2026. Vance is traveling to Ohio, Oklahoma, and Iowa. (Roberto Schmidt /Pool Photo via AP)
FILE - Vice President JD Vance speaks in the Oval Office at the White House, April 23, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
