PAPAL BULL

Trump Makes Desperate Pope Pitch to Sell His Surrender

The president is now amplifying the pope’s words as he faces growing backlash over a deal critics describe as a monumental failure.

President Donald Trump is now so eager to sell his embattled Iran deal that he has turned to an unlikely ally: the very pope he has spent months publicly attacking.

Trump on Thursday shared a glowing statement from Pope Leo XIV praising efforts to end the conflict and avoid further bloodshed in the Middle East.

The 80-year-old president followed it up soon after with his own all-caps post on Truth Social.

“OIL IS FLOWING, IRAN CAN NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON (THE WORLD WILL BE SAFE!), THE STOCK MARKETS ARE ROARING, JOBS ARE AT RECORDS, AND PRICES ARE DROPPING (AFFORDABILITY!). OUR COUNTRY IS STRONG, SAFE, AND RESPECTED LIKE NEVER BEFORE. “YOU’RE WELCOME!” he wrote.

The Pope’s endorsement was made earlier this week, after months of increasingly bitter exchanges between Trump and the Vatican.

Trump repeatedly blasted the pontiff over immigration, accused him of being weak on crime, and suggested he was naive about foreign policy.

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The Vatican, meanwhile, criticized the administration’s migrant policies and repeatedly warned against military escalation with Iran.

But Trump is now eagerly amplifying the pope’s words as he faces growing backlash over a deal critics say gives Iran significant concessions while delivering few immediate guarantees in return.

“I welcome with satisfaction the reaching of an agreement between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America, which will be signed on Friday, as an encouraging result of patient work in dialogue and negotiation,” the Pope had posted on Monday before the text of the Memorandum of Understanding had been unveiled.

“I hope that the agreement may help strengthen mutual trust, security, and stability in the Middle East, promoting paths of dialogue and cooperation among peoples.”

Under the framework, Iran would regain access to frozen assets, receive sanctions relief, and continue to use the Strait of Hormuz as leverage.

But broader questions surrounding nuclear power, missiles, regional proxies, and long-term enforcement remain unresolved, with some critics describing the deal as a monumental strategic failure.

“This agreement is far worse than I expected,” said former US Ambassador Michael McFaul, now a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution.

“To reopen the Strait—a Strait that was open before the war—we and our partners are transferring billions to the autocrats. We get nothing else—no elimination of enriched uranium, missiles, or terrorist support."

The backlash has extended well beyond Democrats, with some Republicans lashing out at the agreement, while foreign policy hawks have warned that the framework could leave Iran in a stronger strategic position than before the war began.

“This will go down as a tremendous foreign policy blunder,” said GOP Senator Bill Cassidy, who recently lost his seat after Trump endorsed his opponent in his primary race.

With criticism mounting, Vice President J.D. Vance was dispatched on Thursday to serve as the administration’s chief salesman for the deal.

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Vance has spent the week defending the agreement in television appearances and will front the briefing room in the absence of Karoline Leavitt, who is on maternity leave.

That has fueled growing speculation inside Washington that Vance is also being positioned as a convenient fall guy if the agreement unravels, with Trump himself joking at the G7 that he would take credit if the deal succeeds but blame Vance if it fails.

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The president also took to social media at 4:32 am on Thursday morning to hit out at “fools” who trashed the memorandum of understanding.

“These fools, who think I haven’t been tough enough on Iran, when the Stock Market Just Hit A RECORD HIGH, and Oil prices are ‘tumbling’ down, are either jealous, bad people, or stupid. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” the 80-year-old president wrote.

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Farrah TomazinPolitical Correspondent

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