Overview
- Robert Jeffress told Fox News on Saturday that President Trump has a better grasp of biblical teaching than Pope Leo XIV, and Trump shared the clip on Truth Social.
- Jeffress cited Romans 13 to argue the state must curb evildoers and said Trump told faith leaders in an Oval Office meeting that he had no choice but to hit Iran.
- Jeffress said Trump warned Iran was weeks from a powerful weapon, yet reporting cites U.S. intelligence assessments that Iran was not close to a nuclear bomb before the war.
- The episode followed Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s Thursday meeting with Pope Leo in Rome, which he called cordial as the administration tried to ease tensions.
- Critics blasted Jeffress’s remark as partisan loyalty over theology, while coverage noted his long alliance with Trump and past attacks on Catholicism that deepen the rift.