更新于：美国东部夏令时2026年4月17日晚8:58 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
特朗普总统一直在对教皇利奥十四世发表侮辱性言论，以回应后者对伊朗战争的批评以及和平呼吁，这标志着世界最强大国家的领导人与全球最大基督教教派的领袖之间出现了异乎寻常的严重裂痕。
但利奥早在当选天主教领袖之前和之后，都曾批评特朗普政府的大规模驱逐行动。他在去年11月对记者表示，对移民的待遇“极其不尊重”，这与他的前任教皇方济各的观点一致。
2月28日启动的“史诗之怒行动”，即美以联合空袭伊朗，成为教皇利奥与特朗普先生之间持续言语交锋的导火索。
军事行动开始的第二天，教皇表达了“深切担忧”，并敦促交战各方“在暴力螺旋演变成无法挽回的深渊之前停止”。随着战争持续，他的措辞愈发尖锐，方济各谴责特朗普威胁摧毁伊朗文明“不可接受”，并呼吁公民“联系当局——政治领导人、国会议员”。
美国与伊朗于4月7日同意为期两周的停火，但特朗普与利奥仍在互相攻击，总统的言论在《60分钟》专题报道播出后进一步升级。该专题突出了教皇对特朗普政府大规模驱逐和伊朗战争的批评。在这期节目中，一群美国天主教红衣主教严厉批评这场战争，称其不符合天主教教义中的正义战争定义。
4月12日：特朗普称教皇“对犯罪软弱”且“非常自由派”
观看该专题后，特朗普先生在社交媒体上攻击利奥。
在Truth Social平台的一篇长文中，特朗普先生痛斥教皇“在犯罪问题上软弱无力，外交政策也糟糕透顶”。
“我不想看到一个认为伊朗拥有核武器没问题的教皇，”他写道。“我也不想看到一个批评美国总统的教皇，因为我做的正是我以压倒性优势当选时承诺要做的事——犯罪率创下历史新低，打造了史上最棒的股市。”
特朗普随后声称，他重返白宫对利奥去年当选领导全球14亿天主教徒起到了作用，称这是一个“令人震惊的意外”。
“他不在任何教皇候选人名单上，只是因为他是美国人，教会才选他上台，他们认为这是应对唐纳德·J·特朗普总统的最佳方式，”这位美国历史上首位天主教出身的总统在谈到这位首位美国籍教皇时写道。“如果我没在白宫，利奥就不会在梵蒂冈。”
他称赞了利奥的兄弟路易斯·普雷沃斯特，后者是直言不讳的特朗普支持者，去年曾在椭圆形办公室与总统会面。
特朗普在社交媒体帖子的结尾敦促教皇“振作起来，做个教皇，运用常识，不再迎合激进左翼，专注于成为一位伟大的教皇，而非政治家。这对他伤害很大，更重要的是，这伤害了天主教会！”
在佛罗里达度过周末后返回安德鲁斯联合基地时，特朗普在对记者的讲话中再次强化了对利奥的批评，称“我认为他干得不太好”。
“我不太喜欢教皇利奥，”特朗普说。“他是个非常自由派的人，而且他不认为应该制止犯罪。他不认为我们应该对付一个想要拥有核武器、以此毁灭世界的国家。我不喜欢教皇利奥。”
当天晚些时候，特朗普因另一件宗教事务受到批评：他在社交媒体上发布了一张人工智能生成的图片，画面中他看起来酷似耶稣。他后来坚称这张图片中的自己不是耶稣，而是一名“医生”，但几小时后删除了该帖子，并告诉哥伦比亚广播公司新闻，他“不想让任何人产生误解”。
4月13日：特朗普称教皇“不应卷入政治”，万斯建议教皇“专注于道德事务”
皈依天主教的副总统JD·万斯也加入了争论，他告诉福克斯新闻：“在某些情况下，梵蒂冈最好专注于道德事务，专注于天主教会内部的事务，让美国总统来负责制定美国的公共政策。但当他们产生冲突时，冲突就会发生。”
在佐治亚大学的问答环节中，万斯表示，他喜欢教皇就堕胎、移民和战争等问题发表评论，因为这能引发讨论。他就教皇此前在X平台上的言论提出质疑，即上帝“永远不会站在那些曾经挥舞刀剑、如今投掷炸弹的人一边”。
“你怎么能说上帝永远不会站在挥舞刀剑的人一边？”他问道。“上帝站在将法国从纳粹手中解放的美国人一边吗？上帝站在解放大屠杀集中营、解救那些无辜民众的美国人一边吗？……我当然认为答案是肯定的，而且……我同意耶稣基督绝不会支持种族灭绝。”
当天晚些时候在白宫接受记者提问时，特朗普先生表示：“教皇利奥说的话是错误的”，并表示他“非常反对我在伊朗问题上的做法”。
“我认为他在犯罪和其他事情上非常软弱，”总统说。
随后，在接受哥伦比亚广播公司新闻高级记者诺拉·奥唐奈的电话采访时，特朗普表示利奥“在这些问题上是错误的”。
“我认为他不应该卷入政治，我想他可能是从这件事上学到的，”他说。
伊朗总统马苏德·佩泽什基安为教皇辩护，他在X平台上写道：“我代表伟大的伊朗人民谴责对阁下的侮辱，并声明，亵渎和平与兄弟情谊的先知耶稣，是任何自由人都无法接受的。”
4月13日：利奥回应称他“不怕”特朗普
针对特朗普的猛烈抨击，利奥表示：“我说的话当然不是针对任何人的攻击，福音的信息非常明确：‘使人和睦的人有福了。’”
“我不怕特朗普政府，也不怕大声宣扬福音的信息，这正是我认为我来到这里要做的事，也是教会来到这里要做的事，”他说。“我们不是政治家，我们处理外交政策的视角与他可能理解的不同，但作为和平缔造者，我确实相信福音的信息。”
4月14日：霍曼称红衣主教应“远离政治”
特朗普继续在Truth Social上攻击利奥，他写道：“有没有人能告诉教皇利奥，伊朗在过去两个月里杀害了至少4.2万名完全手无寸铁的无辜抗议者，伊朗拥有核武器绝对是不可接受的。感谢你对此事的关注。美国回来了！！！”
当天晚些时候，白宫边境事务专员汤姆·霍曼自称是终身天主教徒，他告诉记者，在《60分钟》节目中发声的红衣主教应该“远离移民问题”。
“我爱天主教会，”他说。“我只是希望他们专注于修复教会，因为教会有很多问题——我知道，因为我也是教会成员——远离政治。”
4月15日：迈克·约翰逊“感到意外”，辩称伊朗战争是正义战争
与万斯一样，众议院共和党议长迈克·约翰逊也驳斥了利奥关于战争的言论，特别是耶稣不会倾听参战者祈祷的说法。他可能是指教皇3月29日的帖子，其中写道：“他不会倾听发动战争者的祈祷，而是会拒绝他们。”
身为福音派基督徒的约翰逊告诉记者，他“对此言论有点意外”，并辩称：“基督教神学中有一个非常明确的定论：有所谓的正义战争教义。”
美军大主教区解释称，正义战争是指防御性战争，且是在万不得已的情况下发起的：“侵略者造成的伤害……必须是持久、严重且确定无疑的。”战争必须有“取得成功的严肃前景”，并且“使用武力所产生的邪恶和混乱不得超过要消除的邪恶”。
约翰逊试图以此为总统和副总统的言论及行动辩护，并表示他们的言论反映了“他们从机密简报中了解到的”“我们面临的局势极其严峻的利害关系”，以及“这个曾是最大恐怖主义赞助国的国家，如今已被剥夺了这种能力”。这意味着，潜在的数百万无辜民众能够保住性命，不会被恐怖分子杀害。这是件好事。”
众议院议长还表示，“教皇或任何宗教领袖都可以随心所欲地发言，但显然，如果卷入政治水域，我认为你应该预料到会有政治回应，教皇也确实收到了一些这样的回应。”
4月16日：特朗普称他“有权不同意”教皇；利奥警告“那些操纵宗教和上帝之名的人”
正在喀麦隆访问的利奥在X平台上发帖称：“那些为了自身军事、经济和政治利益操纵宗教乃至上帝之名，将神圣之物拖入黑暗与污秽的人，有祸了。”
当天下午晚些时候，特朗普启程前往拉斯维加斯时，告诉记者他与教皇并无私人恩怨，认为教皇有权表达自己的想法。但总统再次表示，“教皇必须明白伊朗杀害了4.2万人”，这指的是去年年底以来伊朗国内抗议活动中死亡的未经证实的抗议者人数。
总统还声称，教皇“说伊朗可以拥有核武器”。
没有证据表明利奥支持伊朗寻求核武器，教皇和其他天主教会官员历来都反对核武器。
特朗普表示他们“没有吵架”，并且他“有权不同意”教皇的观点。
“这是现实世界，这是一个残酷的世界，”他说。“但至于教皇，他想说什么就说什么，他可以这么做。”
当被问及是否会与利奥会面解决分歧时，总统表示：“我认为没有必要。”
How the dispute between Trump and Pope Leo escalated
Updated on: April 17, 2026 / 8:58 PM EDT / CBS News
President Trump has been lobbing insults at Pope Leo XIV in response to his criticisms of the war in Iran and appeals for peace, marking an unusually pronounced rupture between the leaders of the world’s most powerful country and the world’s largest Christian denomination.
But Leo criticized the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts both before and after he was elected leader of the Catholic Church. He told reporters in November that the treatment of immigrants is “extremely disrespectful,” echoing the views of his predecessor, Pope Francis.
Operation Epic Fury, which began on Feb. 28 with joint U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran, served as the catalyst for the ongoing exchange of words between Pope Leo and Mr. Trump.
The day after the military operation began, the pontiff expressed “deep concern” and urged the warring parties to “stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss.” His words grew sharper as the war continued, with Francis condemning Mr. Trump’s threat to destroy Iranian civilization as “unacceptable” and urging citizens to “contact the authorities — political leaders, congressmen.”
The U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire on April 7, but Mr. Trump and Leo have continued to trade barbs, with the president’s rhetoric escalating following a “60 Minutes” segment that highlighted the pontiff’s criticisms of the Trump administration’s mass deportations and war with Iran. During the segment, a group of U.S.-based Catholic cardinals skewered the war, saying it did not meet the definition of a just war under Catholic doctrine.
April 12: Trump calls pope “weak on crime” and “very liberal”
After watching the segment, Mr. Trump took to social media to go after Leo.
In a lengthy post on Truth Social, Mr. Trump lambasted the pope as “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.”
“I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon,” he wrote. “And I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do, setting Record Low Numbers in Crime, and creating the Greatest Stock Market in History.”
Mr. Trump then claimed his return to the White House played a role in Leo’s election last year to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, calling it a “shocking surprise.”
“He wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump,” the president wrote of the first American pope in history. “If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”
He praised Leo’s brother, Louis Prevost, an outspoken Trump supporter who met with the president in the Oval Office last year.
Mr. Trump concluded his social media post by urging the pontiff to “get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician. It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church!”
The president doubled down on his criticisms of Leo in comments to reporters when he arrived at Joint Base Andrews following a weekend in Florida, saying, “I don’t think he’s doing a very good job.”
“I’m not a big fan of Pope Leo,” Mr. Trump said. “He’s a very liberal person, and he’s a man that doesn’t believe in stopping crime. He’s a man that doesn’t think that we should be toying with a country that wants a nuclear weapon so they can blow up the world. I’m not a fan of Pope Leo.”
Late in the day, Mr. Trump faced criticism over another religious matter: An AI-generated image that he posted to social media that appeared to depict the president in the likeness of Jesus. He later insisted the image showed him not as Jesus, but as a “doctor,” though he deleted the post hours later, telling CBS News he “didn’t want to have anybody be confused.”
April 13: Trump says he doesn’t think pope “should be getting into politics,” Vance advises pope to “stick to matters of morality”
Vice President JD Vance — who converted to Catholicism — entered the fray, telling Fox News that “in some cases, it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality, to stick to matters of what’s going on in the Catholic Church, and let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy. But when they’re in conflict, they’re in conflict.”
In a Q&A session at the University of Georgia, Vance said he liked it when the pope commented on issues including abortion, immigration and war because it invites conversation. He challenged Leo on a statement the pope had previously made on X, that God “is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs.”
“How can you say that God is never on the side of those who wield the sword?” he asked. “Was God on the side of the Americans who liberated France from the Nazis? “Was God on the side of the Americans who liberated Holocaust camps and liberated those innocent people?…I certainly think the answer is yes, and…I agree Jesus Christ certainly does not support genocide.”
While taking questions from reporters at the White House later that day, Mr. Trump said, “Pope Leo said things that are wrong,” and said he is “very much against what I’m doing with regards to Iran.”
“I think he’s very weak on crime and other things,” the president said.
Then, in a phone interview with CBS News senior correspondent Norah O’Donnell, Mr. Trump said Leo is “wrong on the issues.”
“I don’t think he should be getting into politics. I think he probably learned that from this,” he said.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian came to the pope’s defense, writing on X: “I condemn the insult to Your Excellency on behalf of the great nation of Iran, and declare that the desecration of Jesus, the prophet of peace and brotherhood, is not acceptable to any free person.”
April 13: Leo responds that he has “no fear” of Trump
In response to Mr. Trump’s broadsides, Leo said, “The things that I say are certainly not meant as attacks on anyone, and the message of the Gospel is very clear: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers.’”
“I have no fear of the Trump administration, or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do, what the church is here to do,” he said. “We are not politicians, we don’t deal with foreign policy with the same perspective he might understand it, but I do believe in the message of the Gospel, as a peacemaker. “
April 14: Homan says cardinals should “stay out of politics”
The president continued to go after Leo on Truth Social, writing, “Will someone please tell Pope Leo that Iran has killed at least 42,000 innocent, completely unarmed, protesters in the last two months, and that for Iran to have a Nuclear Bomb is absolutely unacceptable. Thank you for your attention to this matter. AMERICA IS BACK!!!”
Later in the day, White House border czar Tom Homan, describing himself as a lifelong Catholic, told reporters that the cardinals who spoke out on “60 Minutes” should “stay out of immigration.”
“I love the Catholic Church,” he said. “I just wish they’d stick to fixing the church, because there’s issues — I know because I’m a member — and stay out of politics.”
April 15: Mike Johnson “taken aback,” argues Iran war is a just war
GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson, like Vance, also disputed Leo’s remarks about war, in particular that Jesus does not hear the prayers of those who engage in war. He may have been referring to the pope’s post from March 29, which said, “He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.”
Johnson, an evangelical Christian, told reporters he “was taken a little bit aback” by that remark and argued, “It is a very well-settled matter of Christian theology: There’s something called the Just War doctrine.”
The Archdiocese for the Military Services explains that a just war is one that is defensive and launched as a last resort: “The damage inflicted by the aggressor…must be lasting, grave, and certain.” It must have “a serious prospect of success,” and “the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated.”
Johnson sought to defend the president’s and vice president’s comments and actions in those terms and said their remarks reflect “their understanding” from “classified briefings of the stakes that are so high in the situation that we’re facing, and the fact that you have the nation that was the largest sponsor of terrorism now having had that ability taken away from them. That means potentially, millions of innocent people will be able to keep their lives and not get killed by terrorists. That’s a good thing.”
The House speaker also said a “pontiff or any religious leader can say anything they want, but obviously, if you wade into political waters, I think you should expect some political response, and I think the pope’s received some of that.”
April 16: Trump says he “has a right to disagree” with pope; Leo warns “those who manipulate religion and the very name of God”
Leo, who was traveling in Cameroon, posted on X, “Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic, and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.”
Later in the afternoon, as Mr. Trump was departing for Las Vegas, he told reporters he has no personal issue with the pope, and thinks he should speak his mind. But the president again said it’s “very important the pope understands Iran killed 42,000 people,” in reference to the unverified number of protesters who have been killed in Iran since late last year.
The president also alleged that the pope “says Iran can have a nuclear weapon.”
There is no evidence that Leo endorsed Iran seeking a nuclear weapon, and the pope and other Catholic Church officials have traditionally voiced opposition to nuclear weapons.
Mr. Trump said they’re “not fighting” and “I have a right to disagree” with the pope.
“This is the real world. It’s a nasty world,” he said. “But as far as the pope and saying what he wants, he can do that.”
Asked if he’d meet with Leo to iron things out, the president said, “I don’t think that’s necessary.”