POTUS vs. Pontiff: a brief history of US clashes with the Vatican

Donald Trumps latest feud with Pope Leo XIV is the rawest rupture in modern memory, but DC has long been at odds with the Holy See US President Donald Trump is once again at odds with the Vatican, this time hurling personal attacks and wild insults at Pope Leo XIV. Conflicts between the White House and the Vatican, however, are nothing new. From John Paul II's open defiance of George W.