Tom Homan Chimes In With Direct Challenge After Pope’s Latest Criticism Of President Trump

The war of words between Pope Leo XIV and President Donald Trump continues, with additional figures adding to the ongoing debate.

Trump’s border czar Tom Homan is among those who have weighed in, offering a direct and public challenge to the pontiff.

Here’s how Fox News reported it:

Differing from Vice President JD Vance, who said that “in some cases it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality,” Homan said he is “open to discussion with any of them.”

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Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Homan, a “lifelong Catholic,” said, “I wish they’d stay out of immigration, they don’t know what they’re talking about.”

However, Homan asserted that the pope’s opinion would change if he understood that “illegal immigration is not a victimless crime.”

“If they wore my shoes for 40 years, and talked to a 9-year-old girl that got raped multiple times, or stood in the back of a tractor trailer with 19 dead aliens at my feet, including a 5-year-old boy that baked to death, if they understood the atrocities that happened on the open border, I think their opinion would change,” he said.

Trump’s border czar went on to say that despite intense criticism over the president’s immigration policy, “He’s saving thousands of lives a year because he has a secure border.”

“Where President Trump had the most secure border in the lifetime of this nation, right now, lives are being saved,” he emphasized.

In light of this, Homan said, “I welcome discussion with any of them, because they don’t understand illegal immigration is not a victimless crime.”

“Human traffickers are out of business, right? The cartels are going bankrupt because of that secure border. I wish they’d understand that,” he lamented. “Because if they did, I think they’d have a different opinion.”

The pope has continually received significant backlash due to his stance on immigration and other important issues:

Q: "What are your thoughts about President Trump and Vice President Vance's comments about the Pope?"

Speaker Mike Johnson: "Obviously if you weighed into political waters I think you should expect some political response." pic.twitter.com/9PMM6ZOdQc

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) April 15, 2026

You’ve got to be kidding me.

Meanwhile he hasn’t lifted a finger to help persecuted Christians in Syria and Nigeria…

Very dangerous. https://t.co/1n0ExttMq6

— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) April 14, 2026

Your Holiness, you say you're not afraid of Trump – fair! But don't we all fear God more?

Why speak out against the U.S. but stay silent on the Iranian regime killing tens of thousands of its own people this January?

Doesn’t Gospel call for justice for all innocents? 🙏…

— Shahrouz (@shzsbt) April 13, 2026

As for Trump, the New York Post covered his recent comments about the pope:

“I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Country that was sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers, into our Country,” he continued.

“And I don’t want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do, setting Record Low Numbers in Crime, and creating the Greatest Stock Market in History.”

Trump’s rambling post comes just one day after Pope Leo condemned the “idolatry of self” and “delusion of omnipotence” at play in the US-Israel war in Iran during a prayer service in Rome.

While Leo hasn’t called out Trump by name, he has consistently condemned the war in Iran and urged government officials on all sides to lay down their weapons.

During his historic Palm Sunday address, the pontiff plainly preached that God does not hear the prayers of disdainful world leaders with “hands full of blood” or those “who wage war.”

He has also implored the public not to use God’s name in vain, particularly in the context of war.

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Here’s a clip of Homan’s remarks:

Border czar Tom Homan, to question on Trump feud with Pope Leo XIV: "I'm speaking for myself, a lifelong Catholic. I wish they'd stay out of immigration…If they understood the atrocities that happen on an open border, I think their opinion would change." pic.twitter.com/ZKVgKmy96D

— CSPAN (@cspan) April 14, 2026

What’s your take?