President Donald Trump criticized Pope Leo XIV for meeting with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D-IL) in a social media post Saturday [1].

The clash highlights the ongoing friction between the U.S. president and the Vatican, blending domestic political rivalry with complex international diplomatic tensions.

Trump used his Truth Social platform on May 30, 2026, to rebuke the pontiff for the encounter [1]. The meeting between the Pope and the mayor took place in Rome at the Vatican on Thursday, May 28, 2026 [1, 2].

"Someone should explain to the Pope why he is meeting with a useless mayor," Trump said [3]. He said that Johnson "is useless" [4].

While some reports focus on the president's disdain for the Chicago mayor, other accounts suggest the attack is linked to a broader dispute. The Pope's diplomatic stance regarding the nuclear program of Iran has been a point of long-standing grievance for Trump [3].

Mayor Johnson responded to the controversy by downplaying the nature of the visit. "It was just two guys from Chicago talking," Johnson said [5].

Despite the mayor's characterization of the event, other reports described the encounter as a historic meeting between the head of the Catholic Church and the leader of the third-largest U.S. city [1].

“"Someone should explain to the Pope why he is meeting with a useless mayor."”

This incident underscores a pattern of the U.S. president using domestic political targets to signal dissatisfaction with the Vatican's global diplomacy. By framing the meeting through the lens of Mayor Johnson's performance in Chicago, Trump leverages local political conflicts to challenge the Pope's judgment and diplomatic autonomy.