Trump words risk ‘breaking apart’ US-Europe alliance, Pope says

Pope Leo XIV spoke out against U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent broadsides against Europe, saying the comments risked upending a longstanding transatlantic alliance.

“The remarks that are made about Europe also in interviews recently are, I think, trying to break apart what I think needs to be a very important alliance today and in the future,” the pope told reporters late Tuesday after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy near Rome.

Hours earlier, Politico had published an interview with Trump, in which the president chided European allies for their inability to achieve results while saying Russia had the upper hand in its war against Ukraine.

The Pope’s comments mark the strongest indication yet of his divergence from the president on the future of U.S.-European relations. Both are U.S. citizens, and though Trump often clashed with Leo’s predecessor, Francis, observers had hoped the two men’s common origin could help to keep the U.S. and Europe close.

Asked about Trump’s plan for Ukraine, the Pope said that “unfortunately” some of the aspects he had seen would bring about “a huge change in what was, for many, many years, a true alliance between Europe and the United States.”

Others in Europe have grown pessimistic over the future of relationship with the U.S., following decades of cooperation on matters such as trade and security since the end of World War II.

“What we once called the normative West no longer exists in this form,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in Berlin on Tuesday. “At best, it is still a geographical designation, but no longer a normative bond that holds us together.”

Zelenskyy was in Rome Tuesday to meet with the Pope and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni. The Ukrainian leader has faced recent setbacks – domestically, overseas and on the battlefield – as he attempts to end the war.

Italy’s strong support for Ukraine has become more conflicted recently as funds destined for military aid have dwindled and tensions within Meloni’s coalition have grown.

The Holy See earlier this year emerged as a potential venue for peace talks between Russia, the US and Ukraine, though no meeting has materialized.