The battle between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV continues. On Tuesday night, Vice President JD Vance — who converted to Catholicism in 2019 — accused Pope Leo XIV of not understanding the Church’s stance on war, saying it was “very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology.” But Leo held his stance and wasn’t afraid to take some jabs at the president, calling the name of his Truth Social platform “ironic.” This isn’t the White House’s first run-in with a pope. Trump, and sometimes Vance, were in a long-running conflict with Pope Francis going all the way back to the 2016 Republican presidential primary, when Francis indirectly suggested that Trump “was not a Christian,” because of his focus on “building walls…and not bridges.” Back then, even Trump’s fellow GOP primary contenders, including Catholics like then-Sen. Marco Rubio, backed him up. As a result, Trump might be surprised by how much stronger the backlash is this time. Read more about why Leo is a feistier opponent than the administration might have expected at the link in our bio. 📸: Guglielmo Mangiapane/AFP via Getty Images #PopeLeoXIV #Trump #Pope #IranWar #JDVance