Trump and Pope Leo XIV: Two contrasting figures with an unclear relationship ahead

President Donald Trump is no longer the only American with the most power or influence in the world. From now on, he shares that honor with Robert Francis Prevost, born in Chicago and elected this Thursday as the new Pope, Leo XIV. The relationship between the two — seemingly completely different in personality and opinion — will be crucial at a time when populism is on the rise, and isolationist and anti-immigration policies are growing worldwide.

The U.S. president was quick to celebrate Prevost’s election. “Congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was just named Pope. It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope. What excitement and what a Great Honor for our Country,” he posted on his platform Truth Social, immediately after Prevost appeared on the balcony before the faithful cheering him on in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. “I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!” Trump added.

In later comments to the press, the Republican reiterated: “To have the Pope from the United States of America that’s a great honor, that’s a great honor.”

Meanwhile, Vice President J.D. Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019 and is the highest-ranking U.S. politician practicing the faith, wrote on social media: “Congratulations to Leo XIV, the first American Pope, on his election! I’m sure millions of American Catholics and other Christians will pray for his successful work leading the Church. May God bless him!”

How the future relationship between Trump and Prevost will pan out remains a mystery. Leo XIV has spent most of his ecclesiastical career in Peru, of which he is a citizen, and in Rome. His profile within the U.S. Catholic Church is almost nonexistent.

Aligned with Francis

Ideologically, Prevost is aligned with the views of his predecessor, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francis, who appointed him prefect of the influential Dicastery for Bishops in Rome. This suggests that relations between Washington and the Vatican could be just as complicated as they were during the previous papacy. Francis had been highly critical of the hardline immigration policies of the current Republican administration.

The selection of his papal name already offers a clue about his priorities. Leo XIII was the first pope to sign an encyclical defending workers’ rights, while distancing himself from communism. He was a pontiff concerned with the living conditions of the poor, peasants, and workers. The choice of the name Leo XIV seems to indicate that he intends to continue down that path.

After the death of Francis and before the conclave began, the U.S. president had expressed his support for the Archbishop of New York, the conservative Timothy Dolan.

The U.S. president had also angered Catholics worldwide and drawn criticism from New York bishops when, last weekend, he posted an AI-generated image of himself on Truth Social, dressed in a white papal mitre and zucchetto. Trump had also joked to the press that he saw himself as a good papal candidate.

On an X (formerly Twitter) account under the name Robert Prevost, created in 2011, posts were made defending a range of ideas that are anathema to Trump. The posts from that account, apparently managed by Prevost, express support for reforming gun laws in the United States. Like Francis, the Prevost portrayed in that X account is an advocate of climate action and a supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement. In contrast, Trump prioritizes dismantling equality and diversity policies across all U.S. institutions, starting with the federal government itself.

Leo XIV also appears firmly opposed to the Trump administration’s immigration policies focused on mass deportations. The most recent post on the mentioned X account, from April 14, is a retweet of a message criticizing a meeting in the Oval Office between the U.S. president and his Salvadoran counterpart, Nayib Bukele, in which both refused to return Kilmar Abrego García, a Maryland resident who was deported by mistake despite a court order prohibiting it.

A 2018 post from the same account strongly condemns the family separation policy implemented during Trump’s first term: “There is nothing remotely Christian, American, or morally defensible about a policy that takes children away from their parents and warehouses them in cages. This is being carried out in our name and the shame is on us all.”

The newly elected Pope has also been very critical of Vance, the highest-ranking Catholic in the Republican administration. Trump’s number two had cited the ordo amoris, a medieval concept that he claimed meant Catholic doctrine prioritizes bonds with close family and friends. A notion that Pope Francis quickly dismissed. On February 3, the account attributed to Prevost wrote: “J.D. Vance is wrong. Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.”

These positions don’t sit well with the more hardline Trumpist circles. Far-right activist and blogger Laura Loomer, a staunch ally of the president, wrote on X that the new pope “is anti-Trump, anti-MAGA, pro-open borders, and a total Marxist, like Pope Francis.” She added: “Catholics don’t have anything good to look forward to. Just another Marxist puppet in the Vatican.”

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