Pope Leo XIV has pushed back against media coverage of his reported feud with US President Donald Trump, saying much of the reporting on his Africa tour “has not been accurate in all its aspects” and had become “commentary on commentary.”
Speaking to journalists on Saturday (18 April), the pontiff said his speech in Cameroon two days earlier, in which he decried the world being “ravaged by a handful of tyrants,” had been written two weeks before Trump commented on him and was not aimed at the president. “Debating the president is not my interest at all,” Leo said.
The pair have been at odds since 31 March, with tensions escalating after Leo, the first American pope, called Trump’s threat to destroy Iranian civilisation “unacceptable,” prompting the president to declare he was “not a fan.”
