Trump Casts God As 'Co-Commander' In Iran War, Pope Says 'No'

This week, Donald Trump did what Donald Trump does best: blurring the lines between fact and fiction to cast himself as God's chosen instrument, and to proclaim divine sanction for the war in Iran.

Trump's Truth Social Post - a chaotic AI-generated jumble with a stern-yet-benevolent looking president in a biblical-style robe 'blessing' an apparently sick man, with yet more 'goodness' radiating out of him - delivered, in his eyes, the ultimate rebuke to Pope Leo XIV and the Catholic Church, who had dared question the US President over the stuck-in-a-loop Iran war.

Iran war = 'divine' mission: Trump

For, in this narrative and in his world, God has chosen Trump - a role the president leaned into with gusto when he told reporters: "I believe God supports the US in the war against Iran".

On Truth Social the president taunted the pope - who said God would not listen to prayers from "hands full of blood" - for being a "weak leader" and a "very liberal person", and claimed he wanted Iran to have a nuclear weapon. The Vatican and the pope have denied this.

Trump's Jesus-style Truth Social post

Senior administration officials were quick to pick up the cue. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth - a born-again Christian - compared the fighter pilots' rescue to Jesus Christ's resurrection and called it an "Easter-style miracle".

God, the pope, and war for Catholic votes

Papal pushback has been strong and consistent; threats against the Iranian people were called out as "truly unacceptable" and in his Palm Sunday homily, the pope said God "does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them".

The 'Trump-as-Jesus' push - apart from underscoring the White House's growing use of propaganda videos to frame favourable rhetorics - followed a remarkable broadside on the pope.

This in a country supposed to have a constitutional separation between Church and State.

It also adds religious subtext to an already over-layered war.

Trump's divine re-branding could not only reshape how allies and adversaries view the fighting, but also how 1.4 billion Catholics around the world - including over 70 million in the US alone, who will vote in November mid-term elections - might see the Iran war if cast as a 'holy war'.

How those 1.4 billion might see a pope vs president face-off is unclear.

Trump vs the pope, war's new faultline

The pope's Easter Sunday message - "let those who have weapons, lay them down" - capped a series of anti-war remarks that included sharp responses to Trump's shocking threat "wipe out the Iranian civilisation" (cue another biblical reference) if the Strait of Hormuz isn't re-opened.

Trump was not named but the tone and message left little doubt the remarks were aimed at him and US officials who have boasted of military superiority and justified the war in religious terms.

The rupture came days after the pope's January State of the World address - the ecclesiastical equivalent of the president's State of the Union - and calls to reject "a diplomacy based on force, either by individuals or groups of allies".

Pope Leo XIV (File)

In a move that raised eyebrows, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the Vatican's US representative, was summoned to the Pentagon by Elbridge Colby, the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy.

The abrasive meeting that followed - The Free Press said Colby declared the US "has the military power to do what it wants and the Catholic Church had better take its side" - made headlines.

'Can Do What We Want, Church Better...': US Official's Alleged Snap At Pope

A second official reportedly spoke of the 14th century Avignon papacy; a period when the French king ordered attacks on the then-pope, Boniface VIII, to force the church to submit.

Both sides rushed to defuse the tension.

In separate statements, the two professed an eagerness to get along and described the meeting in January was frank but polite. "We have nothing but the highest regard and welcome continued dialogue with the Holy See," the Pentagon said. The Vatican said it was "grateful for the opportunities to meet with government officials... to discuss areas of mutual concern."

Vatican vs Pentagon

But in the midst of whatever reconciliation might be happening, the Truth Social post has underlined the core disagreement between president and pope.

That war cannot be hijacked as 'holy' or 'right'.

The pope's April 10 message - "God does not bless any conflict" - was his sharpest reprimand yet. "Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs," Leo said on X.

US President Donald Trump (File)

The Wall Street Journal quoted Father Antonio Spadaro, the undersecretary of the Vatican's dicastery for culture and education, as playing down any direct link to Trump. "The pope doesn't position himself as an adversary of Donald Trump. His critique is does not concern a leader, but the principle that makes war possible... rejects the use of God's name to legitimise violence."

Trump's attacks on the pope - "I don't want a pope who criticises the President of the United States" - followed this rejection and included a tirade about US military action in Venezuela.

Why faultline is bigger than Iran

In the 2024 presidential election, Trump won 55 per cent of Catholic voters, according to AP VoteCast, an extensive survey of the electorate.

Now, with his administration under heavy fire over the war and rising fuel prices, and the lack of an off-ramp after botched peace talks in Pakistan last week, the Republicans will likely need to lean heavily on those votes in November, or risk losing the House and possibly the Senate too.

Defeat in November will not only cripple Trump's executive power but set the stage for a Democrat comeback in 2028.

More immediate possible repercussions include an extra front - a theological one - for the US and Trump to fight as they try to justify the fighting in Iran as 'holy' while the Pope insists God does not bless any conflict.