The National Catholic Register (NCRegister) portal reports on April 16, 2026, that U.S. President Donald Trump downplayed his public criticism of the usurper Leo XIV, claiming he has “nothing against the Pope” while continuing to falsely assert that Leo believes Iran “can have a nuclear weapon.” Trump stated, “I want him to preach the Gospel,” while simultaneously defending his military aggression against Iran and boasting that “they won’t have [a nuclear weapon].” The article notes Trump’s support among Catholics has dipped to 48% approval, with 52% disapproving of his actions in Iran. This exchange between a secular warlord and the occupant of Peter’s throne reveals the complete bankruptcy of both worldly power and the conciliar sect’s false authority, neither of which possesses any legitimate mandate from Christ the King.
The “Gospel” of Carnal Warfare
Trump’s declaration — “I want him to preach the Gospel” — is a grotesque parody of Catholic teaching on the relationship between temporal and spiritual authority. The president of a secular republic, a man who has never professed the Catholic faith, presumes to instruct the occupant of the Vatican on what his duty is. This is not merely political posturing; it is the logical fruit of the very indifferentism and laicism that Pope Pius IX condemned in the Syllabus of Errors (1864), where he anathematized the proposition that “In the present day it is no longer expedient that the Catholic religion should be held as the only religion of the State, to the exclusion of all other forms of worship” (Proposition 77), and that “The Roman Pontiff can, and ought to, reconcile himself, and come to terms with progress, liberalism and modern civilization” (Proposition 80).
Trump’s “Gospel” is the gospel of raison d’état, of raw military power, of “you cannot let [Iran] have a nuclear weapon” because “they would use it.” This is the language of the Prince of this world, not of the Prince of Peace. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36), and Pope Pius XI, in Quas Primas (1925), taught that Christ’s kingdom “is primarily spiritual and relates mainly to spiritual matters.” The true Gospel commands nations to submit to the sweet yoke of Christ, not to launch wars of aggression against sovereign peoples. Trump’s boast — “They’ve already agreed not to have [it]. That’s good news” — is the language of imperial coercion, not of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Usurper Leo XIV and the Conciliar Sect’s Bankruptcy
The article refers throughout to “Pope Leo XIV” without any critical distance, treating the occupant of the Vatican as though he were the legitimate successor of St. Peter. This is the fundamental deception upon which the entire conciliar edifice rests. As the theological sources demonstrate, a manifest heretic “by that very fact ceases to be Pope and head, just as he ceases to be a Christian and member of the body of the Church” (St. Robert Bellarmine, De Romano Pontifice). The post-conciliar occupants of the Vatican have repeatedly taught and ratified heresies — from the false religious liberty of Dignitatis Humanae to the ecumenism of Unitatis Redintegratio — all of which were condemned by the pre-conciliar Magisterium.
Pope Pius IX, in Cum ex Apostolatus Officio (1559), declared that if any Roman Pontiff “has defected from the Catholic Faith or fallen into some heresy… his promotion or elevation… shall be null, void, and of no effect.” The entire line from John XXIII onward falls under this condemnation. Leo XIV — Robert Prevost — is not the Pope. He is the current usurper of an office he cannot legitimately hold, presiding over a paramasonic structure that has systematically dismantled the Catholic faith.
The article’s description of Leo “calling for peace while criticizing the ongoing U.S.-led war against Iran” is characteristic of the conciar sect’s modus operandi: issuing vague, naturalistic appeals to “peace” that never once invoke the Kingship of Christ, the necessity of conversion, or the supernatural end of man. This is the false peace of the world, not the “peace which the world cannot give” (John 14:27). Pope Pius XI warned in Quas Primas that “the hope of lasting peace will not yet shine upon nations as long as individuals and states renounce and do not wish to recognize the reign of our Savior.” Neither Trump nor the usurper Leo has any interest in this peace.
The National Catholic Register: Servant of Two Masters
The NCRegister portal, a product of the EWTN network, presents this exchange with journalistic neutrality, as though it were merely another political story. There is no mention of the sedevacantist position, no questioning of Leo’s legitimacy, no invocation of Catholic teaching on the duties of Catholic states. The article simply reports Trump’s false claim that Leo said “Iran can have a nuclear weapon” with the mild qualification that “it is unclear why Trump has repeatedly claimed” this. This is the hallmark of the conciliar media: reporting heresy and apostasy as though they were normal political discourse.
The article notes that Trump’s Catholic support has dipped to 48%, with 52% disapproving of his Iran war. This statistic is presented as mere political analysis, not as a moral judgment. But from the perspective of integral Catholic faith, the question is not whether Catholics approve or disapprove of Trump’s war — it is whether any Catholic can support an unjust war of aggression against a sovereign nation. Pope Pius XII, in his 1948 Christmas address, outlined the conditions for a just war that modern warfare cannot satisfy. The Catechism of the Council of Trent teaches that it is lawful to wage war only to “repel injury” and “to recover what has been unjustly taken.” Trump’s war against Iran — launched, by his own account, to prevent a nuclear program that Iran has allegedly already agreed to abandon — meets none of these criteria.
The Silence About Supernatural Realities
The most damning omission in this entire exchange — between Trump, the usurper Leo, and the NCRegister — is the complete absence of any supernatural framework. There is no mention of the state of souls in Iran, no call for the conversion of the Iranian people to the Catholic faith, no invocation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, no reference to the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as the only true remedy for the sins of nations. Trump wants to “preach the Gospel” while waging war; the usurper Leo calls for “peace” without demanding submission to Christ the King; and the NCRegister reports it all as though the Catholic faith were merely one opinion among many in the marketplace of ideas.
This is the abomination of desolation. As Pope Pius IX lamented in the Syllabus, the modern world has reached the point where “The Roman Pontiff can, and ought to, reconcile himself, and come to terms with progress, liberalism and modern civilization” (Proposition 80). The conciliar sect has done precisely this — reconciled itself with the world, embraced religious indifferentism, and abandoned the supernatural mission of the Church. Trump’s “Gospel” and Leo’s “peace” are two sides of the same counterfeit coin: both reject the Kingship of Christ, both operate within a purely naturalistic framework, and both lead souls to perdition.
Conclusion: Return to Christ the King
The exchange between Donald Trump and the usurper Leo XIV is not a scandal that should surprise the faithful. It is the inevitable consequence of the conciliar revolution, which replaced the supernatural mission of the Church with naturalistic humanitarianism, and which installed a line of usurpers who have systematically dismantled the Catholic faith. The remedy is not to choose between Trump’s militarism and Leo’s false pacifism — it is to reject both and return to the immutable teaching of the Church: “The peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ” (Pius XI, Quas Primas).
As Pope Pius IX declared in Quas Primas — no, in the Syllabus of Errors — the Church has never disobeyed the divine command to render to God what is God’s and to Caesar what is Caesar’s. But Caesar must himself be subject to God. Neither Trump nor any temporal ruler has the right to wage unjust war, and neither Leo XIV nor any usurper has the right to occupy the Chair of Peter. The faithful must hold fast to the integral Catholic faith, reject the conciar sect and all its works, and pray for the restoration of the true Church — extra quam nulla salus (outside of which there is no salvation).
Source:
Donald Trump on Spat With Pope Leo XIV: ‘I Have Nothing Against the Pope’ (ncregister.com)
Date: 16.04.2026