Donald vs. Leo : who will win?

A clash at the top: that is how one might describe the confrontation that recently erupted between Donald Trump and Robert Francis Prevost, alias Léon XIV, born in Chicago 70 years ago and elected Pope on 8 May 2025.

Recent events have just provided us with the most spectacular episode yet.

Since the Easter celebrations at the end of March 2026, and then throughout Léon XIV’s trip to Africa from 13 to 23 April this year, the world has watched, dumbfounded, as a near-daily barrage of attacks, insults, diatribes and/or images targeting the Bishop of Rome has emanated from Donald Trump or his inner circle.

Delivered in a tone and with a vehemence wholly inappropriate for the head of the Catholic Church, these attacks have stunned public opinion.

As if the United States did not have enough wars on its hands, the 47th American President sparked a new one by targeting the 267th successor of Saint Peter...

Two men, two Americans, two personalities, two world leaders at opposite ends of the spectrum now find themselves face to face. The first is at the helm of the world’s greatest power; the second reigns over the microstate of the Vatican whilst also standing at the head of the Catholic Church and its 1.4 billion faithful.

To say that the contest is uneven is an understatement. The Pope and the President are not in the same league. Hence the significance of this clash, as unique as it is unprecedented, which has just revealed its full scale and whose outcome and stakes are decisive. The ridiculousness of some of the ‘anti-pope’ attacks orchestrated by the White House should not fool anyone. What is at stake risks, in fact, having far more significant and unpredictable repercussions than the seemingly entertaining nature of this episode in international relations, which is worthy of a Netflix series.

These events raise many questions. First of all, who are the people behind them, and what are they after? For Donald Trump is far from being the only one who wanted to start this game. How and why is theology so often invoked in the political debate in the United States, and is it, therefore, natural that the first American pope (Robert Francis Prevost has also held Peruvian nationality since 2015, the year of his appointment as Bishop of Chiclayo) should have been drawn into the religious battle that is shaking up the domestic political life of his country? What are the weapons of each of the coalition’s players? Their allies? Their respective aims? How many rounds have been won or lost by each side since hostilities began? And ultimately, above all, who will prevail? “The Mar-a-Lago golfer” (1) or the “Castel Gandolfo tennis player” (since that is how he unwinds every Tuesday at the papal summer residence, swapping his white cassock for a simple pair of Nike shorts)?

To make sense of this important match, a flashback is in order. For its origins actually date back a few months. More …