A bitter political and religious clash has erupted after US House Speaker Mike Johnson publicly defended Donald Trump and JD Vance amid their escalating feud with Pope Leo XIV. What began as sharp criticism of the pontiff has now widened into a fraught confrontation over war, morality and religious authority, drawing in millions of American Catholics and sharpening divisions within the Republican Party.
The controversy centres on Trump's attacks on the pope, whom he described as 'weak' on crime and 'terrible' on foreign policy, alongside a broader dispute over US conduct abroad and the role of religious leaders in political life. Johnson's intervention has intensified scrutiny of how political figures engage with faith institutions, particularly as tensions rise over US foreign policy.
