Will Donald Trump get along with another pope who opposes his 'anti-immigrant' rhetoric?
WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump, the architect of "America first," now gets an American pope.
But the Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, the first U.S.-born pope to be selected to lead the Vatican, doesn't appear to be a big fan of Trump. And as a 20-year resident of Peru, where he also holds citizenship, he doesn't seem to support the president's immigration policies.
Prevost, now known as Pope Leo XIV, is committed to social justice and helping migrants, according to those who know him, mirroring the viewpoints of his predecessor, Pope Francis, who Trump feuded with over his hardline immigration polices during his first time.
And the 69-year-old Leo has a trail of social media posts promoting opinion articles critical of Vice President JD Vance ‒ one as recent as April 14 ‒ over Vance's interpretation of Scripture and his position on immigration. A decade earlier, Leo shared a 2015 column on X, then Twitter, written by a fellow cardinal with the headline "Why Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric is so problematic."
The pope's history of sharing those sentiments online suggest Leo might not hold back from criticizing Trump's actions in office if he believes it's warranted. And it raises questions about how the the next presidential-papal relationship will unfold.
Trump has not addressed the social media posts shared by Leo before he became pope. So far, he's only congratulated Leo.
"To have the pope from the United States of America, that's a great honor," Trump told reporters on May 8, making a surprise appearance outside the West Wing shortly after 133 cardinals from across the globe chose Prevost on the second day of the papal conclave in Rome. "I was watching and they said, 'He's from America.' And I said, 'That's great.'"
Leo, considered a surprise pick, spent most of his career as a missionary in Peru and has dual Peruvian nationality. He became a cardinal only in 2023.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Leo's past criticism of the president and vice president.
But some Trump supporters have already expressed their opposition to Leo.
Conservative social media influencer Laura Loomer, who has a close personal relationship with Trump, posted a string of anti-Leo tweets to her 1.6 million followers, including calling him a "Marxist puppet" and complaining that he's "anti-MAGA" and "WOKE" and supports "Open Borders.
What has Pope Leo said about Trump and Vance's positions?
On Feb. 3, Leo shared an opinion article on X written by Cuban-American author Kat Armas with the headline: "JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others."
The author took exception with comments Vance, who is Catholic, made in a Jan. 29 Fox News interview when the vice president said: "There is a Christian concept that you love your family and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then after that, prioritize the rest of the world. A lot of the far left has completely inverted that."
On Feb. 13, Leo shared a different article on X that also took aim at Vance's interpretation of the “order of love” to justify the Trump administration scaling back foreign aid programs.
"Mr. Vance supports a policy that does not allow migrants forced to leave their homes by violence and extreme hardship even to apply for asylum, a right legally enshrined in the U.S. Refugee Act of 1980," theologian Stephen J. Pope writes in the article. "Catholic ethics values an ordered patriotic love of one’s country, yes, but not a nationalistic xenophobia that refuses to see fellow human beings in extreme need as one’s neighbors."
On April 14, Leo retweeted criticism of Trump and President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele's response to the deportation of El Salvadorian national Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a resident of Maryland. Trump and his administration have vigorously defended the removal of Abrego Garcia, even though Department of Justice lawyers have said it was carried out in error.
The commentary embraced by Leo is not unlike the occasional statements the late Pope Francis made about Trump's approach to immigration, including Trump's long-touted wall at the U.S.-Mexico border.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Francis told reporters regarding Trump, "A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not the gospel." Trump responded that the pontiff’s remarks were “disgraceful.”
But one year later, Trump played nice and met Francis four months into his first term as part of his first trip abroad as leader of the free world. The private meeting took place on May 24, 2017 at Vatican City.
"Honor of a lifetime to meet His Holiness Pope Francis. I leave the Vatican more determined than ever to pursue PEACE in our world," Trump said at the time.
After the election of Leo, Trump said he looks forward to his first meeting with Pope Leo XIV. "It will be a very meaningful moment!" Trump said.
Just like the meeting with Francis, Trump and Leo might have to put differences aside.
Contributing: Reuters.
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.