Pete Hegseth shrugs off Pope’s criticism of Trump and Iran war: ‘We know what authority we have’

NewsWorldAmericasUS politicsPete Hegseth shrugs off Pope’s criticism of Trump and Iran war: ‘We know what authority we have’‘Pope’s gonna do his thing, that’s fine,’ Hegseth said at Friday morning Pentagon briefingAriana Baio Friday 24 April 2026 19:26 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2964539","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/pete-hegseth-pope-leo-criticism-iran-b2964539.html","title":"Pete Hegseth shrugs off Pope’s criticism of Trump and Iran war"}}ClosePete Hegseth brushes off Pope Leo's criticisms of Iran war: 'Pope’s gonna do his thing'Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington emailGet our free Inside Washington emailEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_INSIDE_WASHINGTON","regTitle":"Inside Washington","subscriptionGroup":"inside_washington","subscriptionGroupId":"af764e04-87eb-45e6-a84b-a7455ba70a1e","type":"inside_washington","pathPrefix":"/news/world/americas/us-politics","associatedAuthors":["Eric Garcia","John Bowden"],"title":"Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox","mobileTitle":"Get our free Inside Washington email","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/insideWashington1_1.png","label":"I would like to receive morning headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts by email","newsletterKey":"receiveInsideWashingtonNews","regSourceSection":"US politics","regSourceMethod":"NSCs"},"isClimate":false}Defense Secretary...