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Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, Pope Leo, World News, Europe, US News, Iran
Jen Thomas
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, Pope Leo, World News, Europe, US News, Iran
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has hit out at Donald Trump for his comments about Pope Leo XIV, saying they were 'unacceptable'.
Meloni and Trump have long been allies, with POTUS previously heard calling the PM a 'beautiful young woman', as well as a 'a really great leader'.
That friendship has now been strained following Trump's remarks about the Pope on Truth Social, leading Meloni to hit out at the president in defence of Pope Leo XIV.
Trump accused Pope Leo of being 'WEAK on Crime and terrible for Foreign Policy', after also telling reporters he was 'not a big fan', according to the BBC.
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Meloni, who is Catholic, responded to Trump's comments with a statement, saying: "The Pope is the head of the Catholic Church, and it is right and normal for him to call for peace and to condemn every form of war."
The PM said it was 'unacceptable' for Trump to say such a thing and stressed that she 'expressed her solidarity' with Pope Leo, adding that she 'wouldn't feel comfortable in a society where religious leaders do what political leaders say... that's why I disagreed and told you so'.
According to Politico, Trump has now hit back at Meloni in a phone interview with an Italian newspaper, Corriere della Sera, saying he was 'shocked by her. I thought she was brave, but I was wrong.'
He replied: "It’s her who’s unacceptable, because she doesn’t care if Iran has a nuclear weapon and would blow up Italy in two minutes if it had the chance.”
"She is no longer the same person, and Italy will not be the same country," Trump insisted, and added that Pope Leo 'is not the guy that should be talking about war, because he has no idea what’s going on.'
The Pope himself told reporters that he does not want to talk about Trump instead wants to promote peace, adding that he has 'no fear' of the Trump administration.
He said: "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,"
"I don't want to get into a debate," he added.
"Too many people are suffering in the world today. Too many innocent people are being killed. And I think someone has to stand up and say: there's a better way to do this."
He previously criticised the war in Iran, responding to Trump's threat to destroy the civilisation 'unacceptable' and urged the President to find an 'off-ramp' to end the ongoing action.
In addition, Trump has said that the Pope 'should get his act together', alleging that he is 'weak on nuclear weapons'.
He also said he thinks that Pope Leo was chosen 'because he was American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J Trump'.
Trump insisted: "If I wasn't in the White House, Leo wouldn't be in the Vatican," later telling reporters he had made the post on Truth Social because "I don't think he's doing a very good job, he likes crime, I guess."
Trump added: "He's a very liberal person, and he's a man who doesn't believe in stopping crime, he's a man who doesn't believe we should be toying with a country that wants a nuclear weapon so they can blow up the world."