Will Leo bite? Vatican reporter on travelling with the Pope during Trump attack

NewsWorldEuropeAnalysisWill Leo bite? Vatican reporter on travelling with the Pope during Trump attackDuring Leo’s Africa tour, being inside the Vatican ‘bubble’ has been an almost surreal experience, Nicole Winfield writesThursday 16 April 2026 17:07 BSTBookmarkBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":false,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"CF1:2959139To1","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-leo-trump-africa-vatican-b2959182.html","title":"Will Leo bite? Vatican reporter on travelling with the Pope during Trump attack"},"popoverPlacementOverride":"bottom"}CloseFighters call truce as Pope Leo arrives in war-torn nationOn The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly international news dispatchEmail*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_On_The_Ground_Newsletter","regTitle":"On The Ground","subscriptionGroup":"on_the_ground","subscriptionGroupId":"14806361-6435-4d19-b06e-05326605fb01","pathPrefix":["/news/world/europe","/news/world/middle-east","/news/world/australasia","/news/world/africa","/asia"],"associatedAuthors":["Bel Trew","Sam Kiley"],"title":"On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","mobileTitle":"Get a weekly international news dispatch","lengthenedMobileTitle":"Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/onTheGround1_1.png","newsletterKey":"receiveOnTheGround","regSourceSection":"Europe","regSourceMethod":"NSCs"}}There is an odd sense of isolation when you are coveri...