Pope Leo XIV Says Debate With Donald Trump “Doesn’t Interest Me At All”

Pope Leo XIV has said he has no interest in engaging in a public debate with US President Donald Trump, after remarks he made during a visit to Africa were widely interpreted as a response to criticism from the American leader. Speaking to journalists while traveling onward to Angola, the Pope also expressed regret that his comments were taken out of context and framed as part of a political exchange.

The controversy stems from a speech delivered on Thursday in Bamenda, a city in northwestern Cameroon that has been at the center of a long-running English-speaking separatist conflict. During that address, Pope Leo spoke out against “tyrants” he said were ransacking parts of the world, language that some media outlets in the United States linked to recent statements made by Trump.

Pope Leo, however, insisted the remarks were not directed at the US president and had been prepared well in advance of Trump’s comments about him. He said the speech was part of a broader message of peace and humanitarian concern during his ongoing tour of Africa. “It was perceived as if I were trying to start a new debate with the president, which doesn’t interest me at all,” he said, adding that much of the public reaction had focused more on interpretation than on the original intent.

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The Pope’s clarification comes after Trump said on April 12 that he was “not a big fan of Pope Leo,” accusing him of “toying with a country (Iran) that wants a nuclear weapon.” Trump later reinforced his position on his social media platform Truth Social, writing that he did not want a Pope who supported Iran having nuclear capabilities and also criticizing Leo’s stance on crime and foreign policy.

In response to the growing media attention, Pope Leo said the narrative surrounding his remarks had become distorted. He emphasized that commentary circulating after the speech had created an inaccurate picture of his intentions and that he was focused on promoting peace rather than engaging in political disputes with world leaders.

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