Pope Leo Downplays Trump Spat During Angola Visit
Last update: April 19, 2026
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Pope on an 11-day, four-nation tour...
Pope Leo XIV said on Saturday he regretted that his Africa tour had been overshadowed by a war of words with Donald Trump, as he arrived in Luanda on the third leg of his trip.
The pontiff travelled through the Angolan capital in his popemobile to meet Joao Lourenco, greeted by hundreds of cheering residents lining the route.
Speaking to journalists on his flight from Cameroon, Leo said remarks he made earlier in the tour had been misinterpreted as a response to Trump, stressing he had no interest in engaging the U.S. leader.
He pointed to comments about “tyrants” he delivered in Bamenda, saying the speech had been prepared before Trump’s criticism of him and his message of peace.
“And yet it was perceived as if I were trying to start a new debate with the president, which doesn't interest me at all,” Leo said.
The comments, made during a high-security visit to the separatist-hit region, were widely interpreted in U.S. media as a reference to Trump. Leo said the narrative surrounding the exchange had not been entirely accurate.
Trump said on April 12 he was “not a big fan” of the pope and accused him of “toying with a country (Iran) that wants a nuclear weapon”.
During his 11-day, four-nation tour, which began in Algeria, Leo has repeatedly warned against corruption, resource exploitation and the risks posed by artificial intelligence.
Addressing officials in Luanda, he condemned the “social and environmental disasters” linked to material exploitation in resource-rich Angola.
“How much suffering, how many deaths, how many social and environmental disasters are caused by this logic of exploitation,” he said.
He also urged Angolan authorities not to fear dissent, amid criticism of restrictions on freedom of expression under the ruling MPLA party, in power since independence in 1975.
Angola, one of Africa’s top crude oil producers, remains marked by deep inequality, with about a third of its 36.6 million people living below the international poverty line, according to the World Bank.
Leo, the third pope to visit the country after John Paul II in 1992 and Benedict XVI in 2009, is due to celebrate a large open-air mass on Sunday in Kilamba, on the outskirts of Luanda.
He will later travel to Muxima, home to a historic pilgrimage church, before heading to Saurimo and then departing for Equatorial Guinea.
