The New Pope Is “Not a Fan” of Donald Trump? What His Old Social Media Posts Actually Reveal
When Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected pope in May 2025 and took the name Pope Leo XIV, the world immediately began searching for clues about the first American-born leader of the Catholic Church.
Who was he?
What did he believe?
How would he lead the Church?
And, perhaps inevitably in today's political climate, what did he think about Donald Trump?
The internet did not have to wait long for one possible answer.
Shortly after his election, old posts from an X account associated with Robert Prevost began circulating widely. The posts included links, reposts, and messages criticizing positions associated with Trump and Vice President JD Vance—particularly on immigration and the treatment of migrants.
Suddenly, social media was filled with a dramatic claim:
“The new Pope is NOT a fan of Donald Trump!”
But is that really what the posts prove?
The answer is more complicated than the viral headline suggests.
The resurfaced social media activity does show that, before becoming pope, Prevost publicly shared material critical of certain Trump administration policies and strongly disagreed with some statements made by JD Vance. However, it would be inaccurate to reduce his entire outlook to a simple personal dislike of Donald Trump.
The posts reveal something more interesting: a religious leader whose public statements appeared to place Catholic teaching on migrants, human dignity, and care for vulnerable people above political loyalty.
A New Pope and an Unexpected Digital History
For centuries, people trying to understand a newly elected pope might have examined old sermons, books, theological writings, or interviews.
Pope Leo XIV presented the modern world with something different.
A social media history.
Before his election, Robert Prevost had an account on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, using the handle @drprevost. The account had been active for years and included posts and reposts connected to Catholic life, Church issues, social concerns, and occasionally American politics.
After white smoke rose from the Vatican and Prevost emerged as Pope Leo XIV, people immediately began examining that digital record.
What they found attracted enormous attention.
Several posts appeared critical of immigration policies associated with Donald Trump.
Others took issue with arguments made by Vice President JD Vance.
For supporters and critics of the Trump administration alike, the discovery became a major talking point.
Was the new pope sending a political message?
Was he secretly aligned with one American political party?
Would the Vatican now openly clash with Washington?
Or were people reading too much into a handful of posts written before he became pope?
Those questions quickly became part of the global discussion.
The Post About JD Vance
One of the most widely discussed posts appeared in February 2025, before Prevost became pope.
He shared an article carrying the headline:
“JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others.”
The article addressed comments Vance had made about the Christian concept of ordo amoris, or the “order of love.” The discussion centered on whether people have a moral obligation to prioritize those closest to them—such as family and community—before extending concern more broadly to people around the world.
The issue became particularly connected to the debate over immigration.
Prevost's decision to share the article was interpreted as a direct disagreement with Vance's argument. He later shared additional commentary discussing the same broader theological and political debate.
That was enough to make headlines.
After all, it is one thing for an anonymous social-media user to criticize a vice president.
It is quite another for the person who would soon become pope to have publicly shared such criticism.
Yet the deeper issue was not necessarily personal hostility.
The argument centered on a fundamental question:
How should Christians understand their responsibility toward strangers, migrants, refugees, and people outside their immediate communities?
That question has existed for centuries.
And it is not limited to Donald Trump or JD Vance.
Immigration Was a Major Theme
The posts that attracted the most attention involved immigration.
Catholic teaching has long emphasized the dignity of migrants and refugees while also recognizing the authority of governments to regulate their borders. That balance has often produced disagreements about where compassion ends and state authority begins.
Prevost's old social-media activity appeared to emphasize the humanitarian side of that debate.
In April 2025, shortly before his election as pope, the account reposted criticism related to the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador. The post questioned whether people could witness human suffering and remain silent.
That repost became one of the most widely circulated examples used by people arguing that the future pope had directly criticized the Trump administration.
Other older posts and reposts also reflected concern about immigration policy, racism, the treatment of undocumented immigrants, and other social issues.
But calling this evidence that the pope simply “hates Trump” would go further than the available evidence supports.
Disagreeing with a politician's policies is not necessarily the same thing as personally disliking that politician.
Trump Welcomed the Election of an American Pope
The situation became even more interesting because Donald Trump did not initially react to Leo XIV's election with hostility.
Instead, Trump congratulated the newly elected pope and described the selection of an American-born pontiff as a great honor for the United States.
JD Vance also offered congratulations.
At the time, there was no public confrontation between the newly elected pope and the White House.
The tension was largely being discussed by journalists, commentators, and social-media users who were examining Prevost's previous posts and wondering what they might mean for future relations.
That distinction matters.
The old posts provided clues about his views.
They did not automatically predict a political war between the Vatican and the White House.
Pope Leo XIV Is Not a Typical American Politician
One of the biggest mistakes in interpreting the story may be trying to place Pope Leo XIV neatly into America's political system.
In the United States, people often ask a simple question:
Is he Republican or Democrat?
But a pope does not fit easily into that framework.
Catholic teaching can create positions that appeal to people across the political spectrum.
For example, a Catholic leader may strongly defend migrants and criticize harsh deportation policies while also opposing abortion.
They may advocate for the poor while also holding traditional positions on marriage and other social issues.
They may criticize racism and inequality while opposing policies favored by progressive politicians.
This can be confusing to people who are accustomed to treating politics as a competition between two clearly defined teams.
But the Catholic Church does not fit perfectly inside either party.
The same pope who challenges conservative politicians on immigration could also disagree with liberal politicians on other moral questions.
That is why describing Leo XIV simply as “anti-Trump” may be more useful as a viral headline than as a complete explanation of his worldview.
Social Media Reposts Are Not Always Personal Declarations
Another important point is the nature of social media itself.
A repost can mean many things.
Sometimes a person shares an article because they agree with every word.
Sometimes they share it because they believe a particular argument deserves attention.
Sometimes they agree with the central point while disagreeing with other parts.
As the Los Angeles Times noted when examining Prevost's social-media history, reposts do not automatically establish complete endorsement of everything contained in the material being shared.
Nevertheless, patterns can still be meaningful.
Prevost's activity did not consist of one isolated post.
Several posts and reposts reflected concern about immigration and disagreement with particular positions associated with Trump and Vance.
That is why the story attracted so much attention.
The pattern suggested that these issues mattered to him.
A Pope's Role Is Different From a President's Role
Another reason the story generated confusion is that people often expect famous leaders to behave like political opponents.
If a president criticizes another president, the exchange may quickly become personal.
But the pope's role is fundamentally different.
Pope Leo XIV leads a global religious institution with followers across political, national, cultural, and ideological boundaries.
His responsibility is not limited to American voters.
He must speak to Catholics living in the United States, Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia, and every other part of the world.
He is also expected to represent moral and theological principles that may challenge governments regardless of which political party is in power.
A pope who criticizes one administration on immigration might criticize another government on poverty, war, human rights, religious freedom, or other issues.
That does not necessarily mean the pope supports one political party.
It may simply mean that Church teaching sometimes conflicts with government policy.
Why the Tweets Went Viral
The story became enormous partly because of the unusual nature of the discovery.
People are accustomed to political candidates having thousands of old posts.
But the election of a pope is different.
A papal conclave is one of the world's oldest and most traditional institutions.
Then, suddenly, the newly elected leader of more than a billion Catholics had a digital history that people could scroll through.
It created an extraordinary collision between ancient tradition and modern technology.
Within hours, screenshots of old posts were spreading across social media.
Supporters of immigration rights praised the apparent views.
Critics questioned whether the future pope had become too political.
Others began searching for additional posts that might reveal more about his opinions.
And the more people searched, the more the story grew.
Does This Mean Pope Leo XIV Will Fight Trump?
Not necessarily.
Political disagreement does not automatically mean permanent conflict.
A pope can criticize a government's policies while maintaining diplomatic and institutional relationships with that government.
The Vatican has dealt with presidents, monarchs, dictators, democracies, and governments of every political orientation throughout its history.
Its relationship with any particular leader is rarely based on complete agreement.
Pope Leo's public messages since his election have emphasized dialogue, peace, encounter, and resistance to polarization. In August 2026, he again called for dialogue and warned against social division and a culture of escalating hostility.
That broader message is important.
It suggests that understanding Leo XIV requires looking beyond one collection of old posts.
The real question is not simply:
“Does he like Donald Trump?”
A more meaningful question might be:
“What principles is he likely to defend when political leaders take positions that conflict with his understanding of Catholic teaching?”
The Bigger Issue: Faith and Politics
The viral tweets reveal a larger problem in modern society.
People increasingly interpret every public figure through a political lens.
If someone criticizes Trump, they must be a Democrat.
If they criticize Democrats, they must be Republican.
If they support one conservative idea and one progressive idea, people become confused.
But religious teaching often refuses to follow such simple divisions.
A Catholic leader may speak strongly about protecting unborn life and then speak equally strongly about protecting the dignity of migrants.
They may oppose racism while also defending traditional religious doctrine.
They may criticize economic inequality while disagreeing with secular political movements.
This is why Pope Leo XIV's social-media history became so difficult to categorize.
The posts suggested clear disagreements with Trump administration policies, particularly involving immigration.
But that does not make the pope a conventional American political figure.
What the Viral Headline Gets Right—and Wrong
So, is the statement “The new Pope is NOT a fan of Donald Trump!” true?
There is evidence supporting the idea that, before becoming pope, Robert Prevost publicly shared criticism of Trump administration policies and of JD Vance's arguments about immigration and Christian responsibility.
However, the phrase “not a fan” is an interpretation.
The available posts do not provide a complete picture of his personal feelings toward Trump.
What they more clearly demonstrate is disagreement.
They show that issues such as immigration, human dignity, and the treatment of vulnerable people were important enough for Prevost to share public commentary.
That is significant.
But it is different from claiming that the pope has declared himself a political enemy of the American president.
Final Thoughts
The resurfacing of Pope Leo XIV's old social-media posts created one of the most unusual political stories surrounding a papal election in modern history.
Before becoming pope, Robert Prevost shared posts that appeared critical of Donald Trump's administration and directly challenged ideas associated with Vice President JD Vance, especially on immigration and Christian obligations toward others.
Those posts gave the public a rare glimpse into the concerns of a man who would soon become one of the world's most influential religious leaders.
But the viral headline only tells part of the story.
The evidence supports saying that Pope Leo XIV has expressed disagreement with certain Trump administration policies.
It does not justify pretending that a few tweets explain everything he believes.
A pope is not simply a political commentator.
And Pope Leo XIV's views are likely to be shaped by Catholic teaching, pastoral responsibilities, and a global perspective that does not fit neatly into America's Republican-versus-Democrat divide.
The tweets may have caused a sensation.
They may have surprised Trump supporters.
They may have delighted critics of the administration.
But perhaps the biggest lesson is that Pope Leo XIV is unlikely to be easily placed into anyone's political category.
And for a world increasingly obsessed with choosing sides, that may be the most interesting part of the story.
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