Pope Leo says ‘not in my interest at all’ to debate Trump after president’s Truth Social meltdown at pontiff over Iran remarks

NewsWorldAmericasUS politicsPope Leo says ‘not in my interest at all’ to debate Trump after president’s Truth Social meltdown at pontiff over Iran remarks‘And yet as it happens, it was looked at as if I was trying to debate again the president, which is not in my interest at all,’ Leo said SaturdayGraig Graziosi in Washington, D.C. Saturday 18 April 2026 20:30 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":"b2960387","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/pope-leo-trump-debate-b2960387.html","title":"Pope Leo says ‘not in my interest’ to debate Trump after Truth Social meltdown "}}ClosePope Leo downplays feud with Trump: 'Debating the president is not my interest'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":"receiveInsideWashing...