The Pope Bedevils Trump

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/opinion/pope-trump-hegseth-iran.html

https://archive.ph/oKI53

The Pope Bedevils Trump
April 18, 2026
By Maureen Dowd

...

But Pope Leo XIV, or Pope Bob, as the first American pope is sometimes affectionately called, may win me over.

President Trump has been rampaging around the globe like Grendel at dinner time, a rapacious, feral creature. Who could stand up to him?

The soft-spoken, humble Leo, who strives to unify, squared off against the bombastic, solipsistic Trump, who strives to divide. And watching the saintly pope school the amoral president is a blessed sight.

I’m sure His Holiness watched askance as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth cast the conflict with Iran as a holy war, trying to put God on the American side as our troops are asked to rain “death and destruction from above” on “apocalyptic” Iranian foes.

In March, Hegseth called for “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy,” asking God to “break the teeth of the ungodly.”

He also denounced the press as the “Pharisees,” plotting to harm the Trump administration the same way the Pharisees plotted to harm Jesus.

...