Por Agencias
redaccion@latinocc.com
President Donald Trump refused Monday to apologize to Pope Leo XIV after criticizing the pontiff for opposing the war in Iran, deepening a public clash between the White House and the first U.S.-born pope as the conflict entered its seventh week.
Trump, speaking during a hastily arranged question-and-answer session with reporters at the White House, also tried to explain a now-deleted social media post that showed him in a saint-like image laying hands on a sick man.
The president said he believed the image portrayed him as a doctor, not as Jesus.
The exchange added fresh tension to an increasingly visible divide between two of the most influential Americans on the world stage: a Republican president defending military action in Iran and a pope publicly calling for peace, dialogue and reconciliation.
“He was very much against what I’m doing with regard to Iran, and you cannot have a nuclear Iran. Pope Leo would not be happy with the end result,” Trump said when asked whether he would apologize for his remarks about the head of the Catholic Church.
Trump went further, saying, “I think he’s very weak on crime and other things, so I’m not” going to apologize.
“He went public,” Trump added. “I’m just responding to Pope Leo.”
The comments came after Leo pushed back on Trump’s criticism during remarks to reporters while flying to Algeria.
The pope said the Vatican’s calls for peace are rooted in the Gospel and should not be interpreted as a political attack on the president.
“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,” Leo told The Associated Press aboard the papal plane.
“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.”
Leo said he was not directly targeting Trump or any other leader in his broader appeals for an end to war in Iran and other conflicts.
Instead, he framed his position as a defense of the church’s mission in the world.
“I’m not afraid of the Trump administration or of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel, which is what the Church works for,” Leo said.
He added that he would continue denouncing war and urging diplomacy.
“I will continue to speak out strongly against war, seeking to promote peace, promoting dialogue and multilateralism among states to find solutions to problems,” he said.
The public back-and-forth underscored the widening rift between the Vatican and the White House at a time when the Iran war has become a defining issue in U.S. foreign policy and a flashpoint in international diplomacy.
The dispute also spread to social media, where Trump addressed criticism over an image posted Sunday night on his account.
The image showed him wearing a biblical-style robe and touching a bedridden man as light appeared to stream from his fingers.
Around him stood a soldier, a nurse, a praying woman and a bearded man in a baseball cap, all seemingly admiring the scene.
Above them were eagles, an American flag and cloudlike religious imagery.
The post triggered criticism from a broad range of observers, including some of Trump’s evangelical supporters, who objected to any suggestion that the president was comparing himself to Christ.
Trump dismissed that interpretation.
“I did post it, and I thought it was me as a doctor and it had to do with the Red Cross,” he said. “It’s supposed to be me as a doctor, making people better. And I do make people better. A lot better.”
He blamed “fake news” for the backlash and confusion surrounding the image.
The criticism was not limited to domestic opponents. Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, also condemned what he called a desecration of Jesus while defending the pope’s peace message.
The image was deleted from Trump’s account late Monday morning.
The president did not explain how or why it was removed.
CUBA
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said the U.S. has no valid reason to carry out a military attack against the island or to attempt to depose him.
Speaking in an interview on NBC News’ Meet the Press program, the president said an invasion of Cuba would be costly and affect regional security. But should it happen, Díaz-Canel said, Cubans would defend themselves.
“If the time comes, I don’t think there would be any justification for the United States to launch a military aggression against Cuba, or for the U.S. to undertake a surgical operation or the kidnapping of a president,” Díaz-Canel said, speaking through a translator.
He added: “If that happens, there will be fighting, and there will be a struggle, and we will defend ourselves, and if we need to die, we’ll die, because as our national anthem says, ‘Dying for the homeland is to live’.”
His comments come as tensions between Cuba and the U.S. remain high despite both sides acknowledging talks, although no details have been shared.
Díaz-Canel has accused the U.S. government of implementing a “hostile policy” against Cuba and said it has “no moral to demand anything from Cuba.” He noted that Cuba is interested in engaging in dialogue and discussing any topic without conditions, “not demanding changes from our political system as we are not demanding change from the American system, about which we have a number of doubts.”
Cuba blames a U.S. energy blockade for its deepening woes, with a lack of petroleum affecting the island’s health system, public transportation and the production of goods and services.
Cuba produces only 40% of the fuel it consumes, and it stopped receiving key oil shipments from Venezuela after the U.S. military attacked the South American country in early January, seized President Nicolás Maduro and took him to New York to face drug trafficking charges. Then, with cooperation from ruling party leaders, the Trump administration began implementing a phased plan to end Venezuela’s entrenched crisis.
