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By Andrew Stanton
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Americans viewed Pope Leo XIV more favorably than President Donald Trump ahead of their escalating dispute over the Iran war, according to recent polls.
Trump and Pope Leo are starkly divided over the president’s approach to the Iran war, marking a notable divide between two of the most prominent American leaders across the globe. The feud carries political risk for Trump, particularly among Catholic voters, ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. A recent NBC News poll gave Pope Leo a +34 net favorability rating, compared to Trump’s -12 net favorability rating.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment via email.
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Is Donald Trump More Popular Than Pope Leo?
The latest NBC News poll revealed how Americans view Trump versus Pope Leo.
The survey found that 41 percent of Americans view Trump favorably, compared to 53 percent who view him unfavorably. Meanwhile, 42 percent of Americans view Pope Leo positively, while only 8 percent view him negatively.
The poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters from February 27-March 3, 2026, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
A Gallup poll last year found similar results: 57 percent of respondents viewed the pope favorably, while 11 percent viewed him negatively. Meanwhile, 41 percent viewed Trump favorably, and 57 percent viewed him unfavorably. That poll surveyed 1,002 Americans from July 7-21, 2025.
CNN data analyst Harry Enten noted the difference in a Monday morning post on X.
“Maybe Trump's jealous of the Pope?...It's a blowout favoring the Pope in terms of popularity in America. The Pope's net popularity rating: +34 pt. Trump: -12 pt. With American Catholics specifically, they agree with the Pope on the war: it has a -10 pt net approval with them,” he wrote.
What Donald Trump Said About Pope Leo
In his Truth Social post, the president described the pope as “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.”
“I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA. He gets it, and Leo doesn’t! I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Country that was sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers, into our Country. 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,” Trump wrote.
He wrote that Pope Leo should be “thankful” and that he 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.”
Pope Leo responded in comments to the Associated Press aboard the papal plane.
“To put my message on the same plane as what the president has attempted to do here, I think is not understanding what the message of the Gospel is,” he said. "And I’m sorry to hear that but I will continue on what I believe is the mission of the church in the world today.”
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According to The New York Times, the pope also said he has “no fear of the Trump administration.”
Trump posted—and later deleted—an AI-generated image depicting himself as Jesus Christ on Sunday night that drew swift, bipartisan backlash.
Trump’s comments have also drawn backlash from Catholic leaders.
“The statements made by President Trump on Truth Social regarding the Pope were entirely inappropriate and disrespectful,” Bishop Robert Barron wrote to social media, adding, “I think the President owes the Pope an apology.”
Pope Leo Criticized Trump's Iran Threats
Earlier last week, Pope Leo criticized Trump’s remarks that “a whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran failed to meet a U.S. deadline tied to the Iran war.
“Today, as we all know, there was this threat against all the people of Iran,” the pope said. “This is truly unacceptable.”
Trump’s post also came after Pope Leo denounced the "delusion of omnipotence" fueling the U.S.-Israel war in Iran. He demanded that political leaders stop fighting and negotiate peace without naming Trump or the U.S. directly.
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